Kydex Sheath Melted in the Sun (pictures fixed)

[Chris Meyer]

Greetings everyone,

I had an unusual issue with a Kydex sheath recently. About six years ago I made an Elmax knife for my Sister-in-Law. I provided her with two sheaths; one leather and one Kydex. Recently, I learned that the Kydex sheath had failed.

My Sister-in-Law took the knife and Kydex sheath along on a river rafting trip. At one point, she put the sheathed knife in a clear waterproof bag and left it in the sun. Apparently, the Kydex got so hot that it tried to revert to its original form, and lost its retention properties. My daughter was on the same trip, and she left her Croc shoes in a waterproof bag in the sun. Her shoes melted into a blob. I had never heard of Kydex overheating in the sun, so I wondered if anyone else had run into the same problem.

I tried to re-form the Kydex with a heat gun, but the material discolored. I gave up and just made a new Kydex sheath.

I think I finally got the images posted correctly. Assuming I do, I would like to thank Old Biker for his post explaining how to post images from Google photos. Thanks!

Also, thanks for the replies everyone. I never thought that this would be such a common issue for Kydex sheath. -Chris

 

[killgar]

What can be formed by heat can be deformed by heat.

I have a knife that came with a high-quality kydex sheath. It has loosened up significantly a few times as a result of natural, ambient heat and exposure to sunlight.

Black kydex is even more prone to heat damage from direct sunlight as anything colored black will absorb heat.

 

[David Mary]

Kydex is great, but Boltaron is better. It has several degrees higher a temperature tolerance before deforming. It's my primary sheath material now. Kydex once in a while, still, if I am making a sheath with a special color Boltaron doesn't come in.

 

[Mikke]

Don't see the pictures (probably my work filter that kills them), but if it got hot enough to melt Crocs, I'm not surprised it ruined the Kydex sheath as well.

 

[Bigfattyt]

No pics showing for me either.

 

[rhino]

I had one of the original Blade-Tech kydex belt holsters back in the day. I left it in the garage during the summer for a few weeks and when I tried to use it again, it had collapsed enough due to the heat to prevent inserting the gun. It would happen more quickly in direct sunlight. On the upside, I sent it to Blade-Tech and they either reformed it or sent a new holster to me at no charge.

 

[killgar]

Greetings everyone,

I had an unusual issue with a Kydex sheath recently. About six years ago I made an Elmax knife for my Sister-in-Law. I provided her with two sheaths; one leather and one Kydex. Recently, I learned that the Kydex sheath had failed.

My Sister-in-Law took the knife and Kydex sheath along on a river rafting trip. At one point, she put the sheathed knife in a clear waterproof bag and left it in the sun. Apparently, the Kydex got so hot that it tried to revert to its original form, and lost its retention properties. My daughter was on the same trip, and she left her Croc shoes in a waterproof bag in the sun. Her shoes melted into a blob. I had never heard of Kydex overheating in the sun, so I wondered if anyone else had run into the same problem.

I tried to re-form the Kydex with a heat gun, but the material discolored. I gave up and just made a new Kydex sheath.

I think I finally got the images posted correctly. Assuming I do, I would like to thank Old Biker for his post explaining how to post images from Google photos. Thanks!

Also, thanks for the replies everyone. I never thought that this would be such a common issue for Kydex sheath. -Chris

Beautiful work all the way around. Knife, leather sheath, kydex sheaths