Kydex Sheath

I had a customer say he was going to send me a Cold Steel "khukuri", but he hasn't gotten back to me yet. If you are interested in one for yourself, we can discuss some options. Since I've never made one for a knife of that style/size, I would be willing to do it on good faith, send it to you, then if you are happy with it you could send an agreed-upon payment. If you didn't like it I could get the sheath back and re-use the material for smaller projects, belt clips, etc. What size/style khukuri are you considering?

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My Custom Kydex Sheath pagehttp://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Lab/1298/knifehome.html
Palmer College of Chiropractic
On Two Wheels
 
If he can come up with a good tactical sheath for a 15" AK, I have a NIB Cold Steel LTC with his name on it.
 
Springcop, Jim March has had a custom Kydex sheath made for a knife that while not exactly a khukuri, the basic principles he used in the sheath design would translate well.

Chiro, to be specific, Jim had the sheath made so that you could do a draw by using a partial lift and then a pull out motion instead of a complete draw. The knife was held in place at the tip completely by Kydex (hence the need for the partial draw), but most of the blade was just held in by the pressure of the molded Kydex on the sides.

Any ideas on something like this?

-Cliff
 
Well, it would obviously be impossible with a khukuri like an AK to construct the sheath like you would for a normal knife. You simply wouldn't be able to pull the thing out of the sheath because the end is wider than the part at the handle.
For my design I would make it as tight as possible st the end for as much length as possible, then I'd be forced to just have the pressure of the Kydex itself keeping the rest of the blade protected and in check. Again, it's tough to say how well this would work without seeing one of these things firsthand. Depending on how much of it was held together at the end with screws, you could probably draw it the way you mention it, Cliff. In any case, it would be a big, probably ugly, sheath, but it would work! Wouldn't be cheap, either, as it would use a huge amount of material. I'm willing to give it a shot, though, if anyone is interested, and we can sit down and discuss what a fair price would be for it...

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My Custom Kydex Sheath pagehttp://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Lab/1298/knifehome.html
Palmer College of Chiropractic
On Two Wheels
 
Springercop: I am working on a Kydex sheath project with Edgeworks. We are designing it to work with most 15 - 16 inch khukuris (both HI and GH). The prototype should be finished in about a week. Once production starts, it should cost about $30.00. The project started when I was looking for some kydex product to sell with the GH khukuris for a customer who wanted to jump with his Bhojpure. Of course, the jumpmaster wouldn't let him near the plane with the traditional sheath. Anybody have any suggestions for features, please leave them in the non-specific forum, and I'll try to incorporate the most popular requests.

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Craig Gottlieb
Gurkha House
Blade Forums Sponsor
 
Please log me on for a WWII and BAS when available. I purchased a kydex sheath for a 9" CS Tanto that had the military style attachment as on the M9 holster to fit on a GI pistol belt that works well. What about an IWB sheath for a 12" sirupati??

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Greg


 
Chiro75 :

it would be a big, probably ugly, sheath, but it would work
Click to expand...

That would be about right.

I'm willing to give it a shot, though, if anyone is interested
Click to expand...

Sounds good, I have a large (18") khukuri coming soon. I'll drop you an email about it.

-Cliff
 
Well Craig, put me down for a Kydex sheath when u get them in. Also will it fit the Panawal that I won in the Ghurka House raffle?? I think the Panawal is a bit larger than a B.A.S . what do u think , would it fit or can u have one made. Also the Panawal is still undergoing some testing, not to the degree that the more experienced forumites may do, but it is holding up well!
 
Cliff EMailed me with questions on the Outsider's sheath system, but I came across this thread before getting a chance to reply in private.

Cliff, I'll basically answer all the questions here since there's clearly others interested.

This is my own design known as The Outsider:
outscan3.jpg


It was designed around having the same sort of "overhead smash" ability the Khukuri is justifiably famous for, yet retain better stabbing ability and the Bowie Backcut technique plus better handguards.

The design is about 1/3rd the result of fine-tuning by the wonderful custom maker I commisioned it with, Harald Moeller of BC, Canada. Harald and I exchanged plexiglas mockups; he helped perfect the "heft and balance" issues but most of the concepts are mine.

Anyways. In addition to designing the knife, I designed a sheath for it:

outsheth.gif


Scott Evans of Edgeworks Tactical helped refine it with two major additions:

1) He came up with a dual-layer top piece made of two layers of .060-grade Kydex glued together. That allowed the top sheet to "flex" enough to make the whole thing work.

2) He realized that the laceholes in front of the primary edge draw area needed to be recessed in a channel to avoid being snipped.

The pictures of his final product can be seen here:

outkydx1.jpg


outkydx2.jpg


My usual carry is tip UP, with leather lace forming beltloops at a point right about halfway up the sheath. The 5" or so of sheath/knife that's ABOVE the belt gets tucked underneath a shirt, sweater, waist-length jacket or whatever so that what's visible is mainly the grip. It's still California-legal open carry but it's not as "total sheeple freakout" as it might otherwise be.

Once I got the finished knife and sheath, I made two minor refinements:

1) I cut the baseplate (.120" Kydex) shorter so that about 1" of pommel hangs below the sheath. On Scott's photos, that means the two laceholes furthest towards the pommel have been cut off.

2) I took the extra material on the snap nylon and folded it backwards over a small bit of 3/4" long by 1/4" wide Kydex, and sewed it all around the Kydex. Meaning, that bit of material past the snap is "stiffened".

The draw sequence: you throw your "trigger finger" around behind the pommel, unsnap the snap with your thumb sweeping backwards, then with forefinger pull the grip straight forward and up until it's horizontal. You then do a "drummer's drumstick roll" in the same direction to bring the blade to bear.

The BIG advantage is that the clothes that cover about half the blade length sheathed do NOT have to be swept out of the way prior to draw. You can be standing there calmly, hand hanging at side, and start the draw with "no prior warning". With modest practice it can be blazingly fast; Walt Welch has seen me draw. Plus it's "semi open carry" with low freak-factor for the blade size.

And the "out the side" draw sequence means less fumble-factor...I actually pattered it loosely after an IPSC racegun speed-draw holster.

Anyways, I like it, and I think the concepts could translate directly to a Khukuri.

Jim March
Equal Rights for CCW Home Page
http://www.ninehundred.com/~equalccw
 
I`m a jumpmaster and Pathfinder qualified.Informally,I`m a rigger.I insist on packing my own `chutes if, the choice is presented.I was in a hurry once and just stuffed it in.The rigger said,sir,you can`t do that.I told him,I`m jumping it,I`ll pack it the way I want it ,as you were!It opened. We never paid much attention to this issue.Perhaps we should look more closely.I knew what I was doing but, tales are still told about the COL. who stuffed his `chute like a laundry bag.How did I get this old? I`m jumping it,stand down, was a joke for a while.

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If you think this is bad;I read James Joyce.

[This message has been edited by ghostsix (edited 10 July 1999).]
 
Ghostsix, the rigger who used to pack our chutes told me that just stuffing the chute into the pack worked just as well as taking an hour to pack it meticulously.

Uncle Bill
 
The riggers used to say that if it did not work,they would replace it;no questions asked,(or answered)).
 
Reminds me of an old Italian uncle of mine who was a barber. Satisfaction guaranteed or your hair returned.

Uncle Bill
 
Springercop, you've got it. I don't know if it will fit the Panawal, but I'll sure see about it. If it does, you've got one.

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Craig Gottlieb
Gurkha House
Blade Forums Sponsor
 
Springercop, you've got it. I don't know if it will fit the Panawal, but I'll sure see about it. If it does, you've got one. It is bigger than the Ang Khola, but I think it may fit - especially if we make two versions (once the style is right, size shouldn't be a problem to adjust).

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Craig Gottlieb
Gurkha House
Blade Forums Sponsor
 
Jim , thanks for the info. Chiro, that is the sort of basic function I am thinking of, any comments?

-Cliff
 
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