Jim March
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
- Joined
- Oct 7, 1998
- Messages
- 3,021
I recently got pics from Scott Evans of the sheathwork he did for The Outsider. As you can see from these two shots it's almost as radical as the knife. Better yet, the concepts can be applied to other big blades, perhaps especially Khukuris.
Scott included pics on one of his small Hawksbill (4" blade) and a J-Frame revolver for scale.
This sheath is designed for tip-UP carry either strong side hip or more rearward over right kidney, in which case it's tied "fairly high" with only part of the grip poking out below belt (and waist-length jacket) level for Calif-legal open carry. It can also be laced tip-up between underarm pit and belt in "shoulder rig" fashion for concealment.
There's two main differences going on with this sheath:
1) Total lack of a molded-in kydex belt loop. By switching entirely to a "tie it down any old way" concept, the belt loop doesn't form a bulky point in any carry where it isn't used. Some sheathmakers have solved this by running a Kydex belt channel that "unbolts" to reveal laceholes; the belt loop can then be bolted at a different location or can be abandoned in favor of tie-downs like this.
2) The draw sequence of "out the side" versus a conventional "straight up". Obviously this makes for a MAJOR change in where and how you can mount it; I often carry it strong-side vertical & tip UP, which puts the entire grip just below the level of my motorcycle jacket - and the grip hangs right at the level of my hand at full extention. This isn't a problem because I can sweep the snap off with a backwards stroke and sweep the grip straight forward and "roll it" right up to a draw. It's fast, it's radically different from any other draw and it gets attention!
Please understand that Scott of Edgeworks worked from crude "concept drawings" I did. I ended up making two slight mods from the sheath you see pictured above; this is NOT meant as criticism of him, we've discussed this in some detail in EMail and I believe he'll produce a *perfect* setup for anyone who asks for similar ideas.
1) The snap material has been "stiffened". I took the "excess length" of webbing material and folded it back over the snap with a small bit of Kydex stiffening core in place, and then sewed it all down. In other words, there's a piece of .090" kydex about 3/4" inch long and slightly narrower than the strap nylon now laid "across" the snap...this makes "sweeping the snap back" much more reliable.
2) It turns out that to complete a draw of this type, at least 1" of grip must protrude out past the Kydex. Hence the sheath has been "shortened" a hair just out from the snap, eliminating the "outermost holes". This left enough grip to throw a forefinger around and begin the "forward motion" of the draw. It's a design element Scott will have no problem doing for the next one. Please note that Scott was working on the assumption that this sheath had to retain the blade even in a motorcycle crash, so he was "heavy on the side of caution" in doing the retention.
Now, getting away from talking about slight improvements, let's talk about what he did RIGHT! First off, the laceholes that are "in front of the blade's cutting edge on draw" are recessed into a channel, to avoid them being snipped on draw. Better yet, he used wonderfully stiff .125" Kydex on the "base plate" underneath but did something very creative on the "upper surface": he used one layer of .060 and then glued a second to that in a specific "pattern" that gave stiffness at the grip retention area where in needed to be but "springy flexibility" across the middle where it needed to spring & twist open to allow the draw. This "composite thicknesses" across the top wasn't something I'd predicted a need for but it makes perfect sense, and *works*.
Upshot is, I'd send *anyone* in need of sheathwork to Scott. This rig is possibly one of the most radical ever and needed special thought and a bit of tweaking but that's not a slam on him; I hope others find these ideas somewhat cool and applicable and talk to him ASAP.
http://www.tacticalholsters.com/
Jim March
[This message has been edited by Jim March (edited 21 January 1999).]
Scott included pics on one of his small Hawksbill (4" blade) and a J-Frame revolver for scale.
This sheath is designed for tip-UP carry either strong side hip or more rearward over right kidney, in which case it's tied "fairly high" with only part of the grip poking out below belt (and waist-length jacket) level for Calif-legal open carry. It can also be laced tip-up between underarm pit and belt in "shoulder rig" fashion for concealment.
There's two main differences going on with this sheath:
1) Total lack of a molded-in kydex belt loop. By switching entirely to a "tie it down any old way" concept, the belt loop doesn't form a bulky point in any carry where it isn't used. Some sheathmakers have solved this by running a Kydex belt channel that "unbolts" to reveal laceholes; the belt loop can then be bolted at a different location or can be abandoned in favor of tie-downs like this.
2) The draw sequence of "out the side" versus a conventional "straight up". Obviously this makes for a MAJOR change in where and how you can mount it; I often carry it strong-side vertical & tip UP, which puts the entire grip just below the level of my motorcycle jacket - and the grip hangs right at the level of my hand at full extention. This isn't a problem because I can sweep the snap off with a backwards stroke and sweep the grip straight forward and "roll it" right up to a draw. It's fast, it's radically different from any other draw and it gets attention!
Please understand that Scott of Edgeworks worked from crude "concept drawings" I did. I ended up making two slight mods from the sheath you see pictured above; this is NOT meant as criticism of him, we've discussed this in some detail in EMail and I believe he'll produce a *perfect* setup for anyone who asks for similar ideas.
1) The snap material has been "stiffened". I took the "excess length" of webbing material and folded it back over the snap with a small bit of Kydex stiffening core in place, and then sewed it all down. In other words, there's a piece of .090" kydex about 3/4" inch long and slightly narrower than the strap nylon now laid "across" the snap...this makes "sweeping the snap back" much more reliable.
2) It turns out that to complete a draw of this type, at least 1" of grip must protrude out past the Kydex. Hence the sheath has been "shortened" a hair just out from the snap, eliminating the "outermost holes". This left enough grip to throw a forefinger around and begin the "forward motion" of the draw. It's a design element Scott will have no problem doing for the next one. Please note that Scott was working on the assumption that this sheath had to retain the blade even in a motorcycle crash, so he was "heavy on the side of caution" in doing the retention.
Now, getting away from talking about slight improvements, let's talk about what he did RIGHT! First off, the laceholes that are "in front of the blade's cutting edge on draw" are recessed into a channel, to avoid them being snipped on draw. Better yet, he used wonderfully stiff .125" Kydex on the "base plate" underneath but did something very creative on the "upper surface": he used one layer of .060 and then glued a second to that in a specific "pattern" that gave stiffness at the grip retention area where in needed to be but "springy flexibility" across the middle where it needed to spring & twist open to allow the draw. This "composite thicknesses" across the top wasn't something I'd predicted a need for but it makes perfect sense, and *works*.
Upshot is, I'd send *anyone* in need of sheathwork to Scott. This rig is possibly one of the most radical ever and needed special thought and a bit of tweaking but that's not a slam on him; I hope others find these ideas somewhat cool and applicable and talk to him ASAP.
http://www.tacticalholsters.com/
Jim March
[This message has been edited by Jim March (edited 21 January 1999).]
