Kydex and Fire

[Burke]

I'm currently taking a class to get my federal interagency fire-fighter's license, with a view to going out west this summer and fighting wildfires...anybody have any experience with Kydex in the high heat conditions typical of this kind of work?

 

[Tmac]

Hi Burke,

I think that's a negative on that one. I made a Kydex/Concealex rig for a fire-fighter friend to try in a hot house, and if it wasn't for the eyelets he would have lost the knife. It turned into twisted melting mess. You can get kydex to form with only a hair dryer. With being outside and having some of the convection currents outside this might keep the kydex cooler. You might want to bring a piece of kydex out with you to see how much it gets affected. One thing kydex really smells when it's burning.

Good luck and stay safe,
Tom

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"A handful of patience is worth more than a bushel of brains"
AKTI Member A001010

 

[R Dockrell]

Used to fight a few good BBQ's every year when I worked in the forestry. Still find the odd grass fire on the prairies.
I would not sugjest exposing any heat forming plastic to temperatures that blister the paint off of trucks.
Now if it was for carry under turnout gear, well maybe. But I think that the plastic would transfer and hold more heat than a leather sheath.

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Robert
Flat Land Knife Works
rdblad@telusplanet.net
http://members.tripod.com/knifeworks/index.html

 

[Ken C.]

As a firefighter I can personally attest to the fact that Kydex should not be used or carried by anyone in the fire protection field. I had a first hand experience with a small Kydex sheath melting inside the pocket of my turnout coat. My suggestion is to use and old leather sheath if you need to carry a knife.

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Ken
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"Don't interfere with anything in the Constitution. That must be maintained, for it is the only safeguard of our liberties.
----Abraham Lincoln

 

[Burke]

Thanks guys. Yeah, I sort of had a hunch about that...guess I'll have to look into some leather.

 

[phantom4]

The answers on kydex are about what I expected. What about Micarta handles in high heat situations? How well does it hold up?

phantom4

 

[Ken C.]

I have some experience with this also, seeing that the knife had a Micarta handle.
This is what I found. As stated in my earlier post the Kydex was shot (what was I thinking? I know better!)

and made a huge mess. The Micarta on the other hand really held up considering the enviroment it was exposed to. It was a little discolored, and separated at one spot near the thong hole, nothing to bad though. Ultimately, I retired this knife due to its more than paying its dues, I didn't want to expose it to anything more severe so it now sits in my tacklebox (actually, this could be worse for it!). I would look at something with a G-10 handle, it is IMHO more heat resistant than Micarta.


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Ken
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"Don't interfere with anything in the Constitution. That must be maintained, for it is the only safeguard of our liberties.
----Abraham Lincoln

[This message has been edited by remster135 (edited 03-22-2001).]