- Joined
- Apr 21, 2011
- Messages
- 221
So. In a shameless attempt to start threads to get my BH# I will be reviewing my now 2-week-old kydex sheath for my BK-14. Shameless, but not being a prick. There is content here, I swear! 
If you want the full review, read on.
I was poking around the becker section and happened upon the topic 'sheath dulling knives' about how the stock sheaths for the 11 and 14 dull the knife. I had noticed this before, but I figured it was my sharpening, or that I was crazy. Well, I mean I knew I was crazy, but I figured I'd made an 'oops' sharpening (I sharpen free hand) and changed my angle in a spot there. As it turns out it was the sheath, and a pretty minor thing, easily fixed, and even then it wasn't dull dull, stupid dull. It just lost that little bit extra.
I happened upon azwelke's thread right here on bladeforums: and bought the digicam on impulse.
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...ydex-sheaths-azwelke?daysprune=-1#post9594667
That brings us here, now, 3 weeks? later? About? Yeah.
BUT, you can read one of those fancy-schmancy reviews of 'how kydex works' or 'kydex vs. leather' anywhere. Me? I just watched deadliest warrior. We're going to take some points, do some tests, and then I'll run them through my BS simulator (courtesy of Slytheran studios)
This thread would be great if I had a budget... Sadly, all I can afford is the red text and smiles :jerkit:
Retention: What do I mean? Is this going to hold yer knife? Are you going to be buying new BK-14s every other week because you're losing them? I know you're buying them NOW for fun, but you want to make sure to keep them, especially with the 14s and 11s being the most likely candidate for a project knife. Sure it's a 30$ knife. But you might have spent 50 man hours of work on it between stripping it, making some custom scales, convexing it. You want to keep it around.
Advantage: Kydex
The bottom line: azwelke's kydex just holds tighter. The retention on the stock sheath, what kabar calls their black nylon sheath is excellent. I am not worried about this knife falling out on me if I'm wearing it as a neck knife. The reason the advantage goes to the kydex in retention is that the nylon sheath will rattle on you. While that might not sound like a lot. A rattle is wear on a blade finish. Now, these are working knives, so it ain't a beauty contest. The thing I get from not hearing it rattle is security. I hear that click click. I'm constantly reaching up to check on my knife. With the kydex, not so much.
Mounting options: What do I mean? Well sure, the sheath will HOLD the knife, but something else needs a way to HOLD the sheath. That's where the mounting options come in. How can you tie your sheath to something else, or wear it around your neck?
Advantage: BK&T nylon
The bottom line: More holes. Yep. It's like that. More holes on the BK&T nylon. I can carry blade up neck, blade down neck, sideways scout carry on a 2' tactical belt, vertical on a 2' tactical belt. The kydex isn't bad, but it isn't AS good. It has the more popular carry options. You can put a tek lok on it, you can neck it, and if you get a few tek loks you can mount it in ALMOST as many ways as the BK&T. But it still falls just short
Ergonomics: What do I mean? Well, holding your knife is great, and being able to tie it to your belt and pack is great also. But if you got sharp edges and it hurts to operate. If it holds the knife too tight and makes it a risk every time you take it out. If it's large and cumbersome, hard to carry, pokes you when you sit down, etc. etc. etc. The the ergo sucks, and the sheath also prolly sucks.
Advantage: Kydex
The bottom line: Size. Sure the stock sheath has potentially more carry options, but the kydex has the one I really want (neck carry) and the possibility of adding another I might want later (tek lok) Despite it's size, the BK&T nylon was a comfortable carry, being relatively flat. But where it was okay, the kydex was better. Smaller, lighter, and one way. If I have to grab for the kydex and I'm not looking for whatever reason (suppose I'm wearing it under my shirt) I instantly know which side is the blade, and which side to put my thumb. The BK&T is much more symmetrical. Sure the handle is angled for a certain carry. But why turn down an additional advantage? Suppose you're hot and tired, all your faculties aren't there and you just grab the knife and pull?
Extras: What do I mean? Well, what does the sheath do for you? Does it have a pouch for a survival kit? Does it have a fero rod slot? Does it have a tiny pouch and additional slot for a Remora? Come on! Give me something!
Advantage: Tie. That's right. Tie. And here's why:
The bottom line: I was sure, with its drainage hole in the bottom, the BK&T would pull this one. But azwelke does some fine work. As you can see. His also has the drainage hole. Mine is a neck carry, so I don't care. But I plan on getting a tek lok for use with my daypack. When I do, it's nice to know that both of these options will let the wet out if need be.
Flaws: Here's the big one. This is the king, the biggest thing we're looking at. Sure it's great, holds well, is held well, lets the wet out... But it's made of tuna fish. And the smell is awful after about 10 minutes in the heat. Are there any glaring flaws with either of these systems?
Advantage: Kydex
The bottom line: As I said in the introduction of why I got this sheath. The BK&T nylon has a tendency to dull your blade as you unsheathe it. I bought this instead of fixing the BK&T, but mostly because I just wanted a kydex neck sheath for my 14. If you want to fix your BK&T sheath, it's not hard. Get a nail file, the crap disposable kind like this and rub away the spots that might touch the blade. Also, if you pull against the spine when you unsheathe and don't let the blade touch the nylon, you'll be fine. That being said, this is my 'sharp' knife when I'm out. I carry a 2 or a 9 for grunt work, when I take this out to bushcraft something, or to open something, or even just food prep, I want it as sharp as I can get it, and as sharp as it was when I put it in. Pulling against the spine is great, unless it's a hundred degrees out and you forget.
Now, the moment you're all been waiting for:
BS SIMULATOR!
We've pitted these sheaths against each other. Armed each sheath with the BK-14 knife, and let them fight! Sadly. They just... Sat there... And... Held the knife. Can you blame them for wanting to hold such an awesome knife though?! I mean really!
However, one held the knife better than the other, and that winner today is: Kydex by Azwelke.
The bottom line: At 20-25$ shipped, I feel it was money well spent. The workmanship on this is superb. There are no rough edges. Everything has been smoothed so there is no risk of catching an edge on fabric. The thumb ramp to release the knife has been reheated after the kydex was molded and shaped to give excellent leverage to release the knife. The eyelets are well done leaving nothing out that could be possible caught or torn or even worse, the possibility of them falling out on a carry system. It's just some damn fine work, and I'm proud to own it, and proud enough of it to brag on it to a forum full of people who will know if I'm FoS.
Hope you enjoyed the read. I'll be going on vacation Monday for a week. Expect pictures, and tests, and reviews, when I get back.
If you don't feel like reading it. I'll sum it up: The BK&T sheath is pretty good. The kydex is better.Good god man, we have the attention span of fleas, this is way too much for us to take in
If you want the full review, read on.
I was poking around the becker section and happened upon the topic 'sheath dulling knives' about how the stock sheaths for the 11 and 14 dull the knife. I had noticed this before, but I figured it was my sharpening, or that I was crazy. Well, I mean I knew I was crazy, but I figured I'd made an 'oops' sharpening (I sharpen free hand) and changed my angle in a spot there. As it turns out it was the sheath, and a pretty minor thing, easily fixed, and even then it wasn't dull dull, stupid dull. It just lost that little bit extra.
I happened upon azwelke's thread right here on bladeforums: and bought the digicam on impulse.
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...ydex-sheaths-azwelke?daysprune=-1#post9594667
That brings us here, now, 3 weeks? later? About? Yeah.
BUT, you can read one of those fancy-schmancy reviews of 'how kydex works' or 'kydex vs. leather' anywhere. Me? I just watched deadliest warrior. We're going to take some points, do some tests, and then I'll run them through my BS simulator (courtesy of Slytheran studios)
This thread would be great if I had a budget... Sadly, all I can afford is the red text and smiles :jerkit:
Retention: What do I mean? Is this going to hold yer knife? Are you going to be buying new BK-14s every other week because you're losing them? I know you're buying them NOW for fun, but you want to make sure to keep them, especially with the 14s and 11s being the most likely candidate for a project knife. Sure it's a 30$ knife. But you might have spent 50 man hours of work on it between stripping it, making some custom scales, convexing it. You want to keep it around.
Advantage: Kydex
The bottom line: azwelke's kydex just holds tighter. The retention on the stock sheath, what kabar calls their black nylon sheath is excellent. I am not worried about this knife falling out on me if I'm wearing it as a neck knife. The reason the advantage goes to the kydex in retention is that the nylon sheath will rattle on you. While that might not sound like a lot. A rattle is wear on a blade finish. Now, these are working knives, so it ain't a beauty contest. The thing I get from not hearing it rattle is security. I hear that click click. I'm constantly reaching up to check on my knife. With the kydex, not so much.
Mounting options: What do I mean? Well sure, the sheath will HOLD the knife, but something else needs a way to HOLD the sheath. That's where the mounting options come in. How can you tie your sheath to something else, or wear it around your neck?
Advantage: BK&T nylon
The bottom line: More holes. Yep. It's like that. More holes on the BK&T nylon. I can carry blade up neck, blade down neck, sideways scout carry on a 2' tactical belt, vertical on a 2' tactical belt. The kydex isn't bad, but it isn't AS good. It has the more popular carry options. You can put a tek lok on it, you can neck it, and if you get a few tek loks you can mount it in ALMOST as many ways as the BK&T. But it still falls just short
Ergonomics: What do I mean? Well, holding your knife is great, and being able to tie it to your belt and pack is great also. But if you got sharp edges and it hurts to operate. If it holds the knife too tight and makes it a risk every time you take it out. If it's large and cumbersome, hard to carry, pokes you when you sit down, etc. etc. etc. The the ergo sucks, and the sheath also prolly sucks.
Advantage: Kydex
The bottom line: Size. Sure the stock sheath has potentially more carry options, but the kydex has the one I really want (neck carry) and the possibility of adding another I might want later (tek lok) Despite it's size, the BK&T nylon was a comfortable carry, being relatively flat. But where it was okay, the kydex was better. Smaller, lighter, and one way. If I have to grab for the kydex and I'm not looking for whatever reason (suppose I'm wearing it under my shirt) I instantly know which side is the blade, and which side to put my thumb. The BK&T is much more symmetrical. Sure the handle is angled for a certain carry. But why turn down an additional advantage? Suppose you're hot and tired, all your faculties aren't there and you just grab the knife and pull?
Extras: What do I mean? Well, what does the sheath do for you? Does it have a pouch for a survival kit? Does it have a fero rod slot? Does it have a tiny pouch and additional slot for a Remora? Come on! Give me something!
Advantage: Tie. That's right. Tie. And here's why:
The bottom line: I was sure, with its drainage hole in the bottom, the BK&T would pull this one. But azwelke does some fine work. As you can see. His also has the drainage hole. Mine is a neck carry, so I don't care. But I plan on getting a tek lok for use with my daypack. When I do, it's nice to know that both of these options will let the wet out if need be.
Flaws: Here's the big one. This is the king, the biggest thing we're looking at. Sure it's great, holds well, is held well, lets the wet out... But it's made of tuna fish. And the smell is awful after about 10 minutes in the heat. Are there any glaring flaws with either of these systems?
Advantage: Kydex
The bottom line: As I said in the introduction of why I got this sheath. The BK&T nylon has a tendency to dull your blade as you unsheathe it. I bought this instead of fixing the BK&T, but mostly because I just wanted a kydex neck sheath for my 14. If you want to fix your BK&T sheath, it's not hard. Get a nail file, the crap disposable kind like this and rub away the spots that might touch the blade. Also, if you pull against the spine when you unsheathe and don't let the blade touch the nylon, you'll be fine. That being said, this is my 'sharp' knife when I'm out. I carry a 2 or a 9 for grunt work, when I take this out to bushcraft something, or to open something, or even just food prep, I want it as sharp as I can get it, and as sharp as it was when I put it in. Pulling against the spine is great, unless it's a hundred degrees out and you forget.
Now, the moment you're all been waiting for:
BS SIMULATOR!
We've pitted these sheaths against each other. Armed each sheath with the BK-14 knife, and let them fight! Sadly. They just... Sat there... And... Held the knife. Can you blame them for wanting to hold such an awesome knife though?! I mean really!
However, one held the knife better than the other, and that winner today is: Kydex by Azwelke.
The bottom line: At 20-25$ shipped, I feel it was money well spent. The workmanship on this is superb. There are no rough edges. Everything has been smoothed so there is no risk of catching an edge on fabric. The thumb ramp to release the knife has been reheated after the kydex was molded and shaped to give excellent leverage to release the knife. The eyelets are well done leaving nothing out that could be possible caught or torn or even worse, the possibility of them falling out on a carry system. It's just some damn fine work, and I'm proud to own it, and proud enough of it to brag on it to a forum full of people who will know if I'm FoS.
Hope you enjoyed the read. I'll be going on vacation Monday for a week. Expect pictures, and tests, and reviews, when I get back.
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