KMEF Sheath

stickfred · Oct 4, 2010

Hey Gang,

I just got my Kami Medical Emergency Fund sheaths today, tried them out on my variety of khukuries and wanted to pass on how it went. I'll list the model, it's overall length and the amount of steel showing (except for the spine of the UBE the steel showing is from the bolster). Also, although there is some steel exposed from the bolster to the leather, there was no sharpened steel exposed on any models I tried. I got the snap engaged on all models. YMMV.

Katunje-15.75"
WWII-16.5"
18th Century-18.5" (cho shows, maybe 1.25")
Hanuman-18.75" (tight, 1" shows)
Baby Ganga Ram Special-18" (.5" shows)
ASTK-17.75" (.5" shows)
CAK-16.25"
Ek Chirra Chitlangi-18"
Chainpuri-18.5"
Gelbu Special-18.5" (.5" shows)
Salyan-15.5"
Malla-18"
Uncle Bill Especiale-18.5" (.25" of spine shows at opening due to tip coming back up)
Pen Knife-12.5"

Didn't put it on my belt as I was just checking to see if the 18" ones would fit. Looks like they are good to go as far as I can tell. I'll probably order two more here soon. Hope this helps.

Steve Tall, I want to thank you again for this fine idea. In addition to helping the craftsmen that do such fine work for us, we get a good deal in the process.

Peace

Rick

Steve Tall · Oct 4, 2010

Thanks for all that data, Rick. :thumbup:

Let's keep those sheath orders coming in to Yangdu.
A good sheath for a good cause.

warty · Oct 4, 2010

well I just got mine today and you have saved me the trouble of doing the post.

Thanks SF! I am gonna be emailing fr two more of these and Thanks again Steve!

bennyjenkins · Oct 4, 2010

Warty, did you try one on your M-43?

stickfred · Oct 4, 2010

bennyjenkins, although I don't have an M43 anymore I wrote its specs down and feel that an 18" should fit with about a half inch of steel exposed from top of sheath to bolster. An 18.25" or 18.5" may show a little more. The Ganga Ram Special is my widest blade at 2 3/8" and fits pretty well.

Also, I only quickly inserted each one in to get the general feel. I found with one blade that I was able to move the tip around and got the blade to drop into the sheath a little more. As always, YMMV but it sure seems like a decent deal that should fit any 18" khukuri.

7rip13a · Oct 4, 2010

Thanks for the info Rick. Regarding the use of these sheaths on smaller khuks like your Pen knife, would you recommend it? Sounds like there'd be an awful lot of space for the khuk to move around in.

stickfred · Oct 4, 2010

I'll put the Pen in the sheath and strap it on for a while tomorrow and let you know how it goes. I did feel a little silly seeing if the Pen would fit...of course it would. You do bring up a good question, though, I'll let you know tomorrow.

warty · Oct 4, 2010

bennyjenkins said:
Warty, did you try one on your M-43?

warty doesn't have an M43.

sorry.

alexs · Oct 5, 2010

I have tried fitting my M-43 in a very similar button sheath made by HI for my 17.5" FF and it's a no go. Not long enough by about .5". Not that it matters much, other than aesthetically.

stickfred · Oct 5, 2010

7rip13a, you are right about having a lot of space for the Pen to move around in the sheath. The 12" Pen Knife won't work in this sheath. The Pen Knife's blade is 8.25" which is the size of the opening on the sheath, so the point could swing through the opening. After putting the sheath on with the Pen in it I found that the bolster swings back and clears the top of the sheath and slides down with the handle angled out through the opening. Despite its belly and due to the 5/16" thickness of the blade, the Pen can also slide out of the sheath with relative ease if it were angled. If anyone else gets one of these sheaths and has a thicker bladed 12" khuk, perhaps they could try it out and see if theirs fares any better than the Pen Knife.

Good thinking there 7rip and thanks for the question.

7rip13a · Oct 5, 2010

No problem Rick, thanks for testing it out. Not too many of us often use 12" khuks anyway, I find that when I do use my little AK, the regular sheath is more than adequate due to the overall lower weight.

warty · Oct 6, 2010

I think this weekend I will do this with pictures. This will give a much better idea of how things fit.

I do want folks to understand, I don't have a lot of the typical khukuries but I will post what I have, OK?
I sold a lot off of those I was simply not using any longer. So I mostly have really large khuks at this point.
I still have found a lot of them fit reasonably well though, so I will be at work this weekend.

Unless I get some help putting my new garage door opener in, then that trumps this idea.
Of course once I get it done, I can do it so depending on how smoothly it goes, I can get this done too.

Even with a bad back.

alexs · Oct 7, 2010

warty said:
I think this weekend I will do this with pictures. This will give a much better idea of how things fit.

I do want folks to understand, I don't have a lot of the typical khukuries but I will post what I have, OK?
I sold a lot off of those I was simply not using any longer. So I mostly have really large khuks at this point.
I still have found a lot of them fit reasonably well though, so I will be at work this weekend.

Unless I get some help putting my new garage door opener in, then that trumps this idea.
Of course once I get it done, I can do it so depending on how smoothly it goes, I can get this done too.

Even with a bad back.

Way ahead of you, though I am sure yours will look better and show more models.

Foxy Folly about 17.5"

BGRS at about 16.75"

BGRS/Bonecutter at about 16.25"

CAK at 16.5"

M-43 pushing 18.5" (I don't recommend this, but it can be done)

Tamang at 16", just for kicks really

EDIT: does anyone know how to stop bladeforums or photobucket from rotating my pictures every which way when posting?!

alexs · Oct 7, 2010

Warty, you may notice that my blades now show signs of Renaissance Wax (I didn't buff them when I put it on). Thank you so much for your suggestion; I really love that thing. Not just on blades, but wood, leather, my squat rack and other steel equipment out in the rain and in LA humidity, etc. This thing is magical, highly recommended.

alexs · Oct 7, 2010

Oh, a very important note: THANK YOU, STEVE TALL! I can't stress this enough, this was one of the best ideas I have heard in a long time, and to actually put it to fruition and the work that went into that... I just love it!

Steve Tall · Oct 7, 2010

Thanks, alexs, for the kind words and the great photos.

warty · Oct 7, 2010

they would only have been better because I would have cropped the shot a bit more, otherwise I think you have pretty well covered things and save me the trouble. I will therefore not be doing this and I thank you for saving me the trouble.

stickfred · Oct 7, 2010

Thanks for your pictures alexs. I know that they will help others to see how versatile this sheath can be.

Also, in my initial posting I had the Hanuman showing about an inch of blade, much like your M43. I surprised myself later when inserting the Hanuman and found that it had a little wiggle room and settled down further into the sheath nearly to the bolster. Only about an eighth of steel was showing. I was surprised since the Hanuman is 18 3/4" long with a 1/2" spine. Maybe the M43 won't wiggle due to blade shape, I just thought I'd throw it out there.

Thanks again for the pictures. Good work.

warty · Oct 13, 2010

well, here are a couple I have tried out so far...

an 18.5" YCS...

and yesterday I received more sheaths so I tried my Friendship knife in one...

another great fit!

Sirupatis and Chitlangis in general seem to have far too much wiggle room due to their thin blade profiles. I need to give my ASTK a try but I am working on the handle right now and it is at a point where I can't be picking it up until it is dry.