Kydex Tek Lok dangler sheath with pack belt

C_Claycomb

C_Claycomb

Joined
Dec 11, 2000
Messages
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Over the years I have tried several different ways to carry a knife while in the field; leather, Kydex, horizontal cross draw, both sides vertical, baldric on a shoulder cord, neck and danglers. My favorite has been horizontal cross draw, but this sucks as soon as you put a pack on with a waist belt. On some passed projects I have made up detachable dangler loop systems which can be unscrewed and replaced with a Tek Lok for horizontal carry, but unscrewing and reassembling in the field is inconvenient and the chance to lose the screws is too high.

This time I tried something a bit different and I am curious what other people will think. My main concern is that it might be seen as weak. I have yet to break any sheath mountings, but I have heard others doing so. I don't know whether the flexibility while in dangler mode will help or not.

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With the dangler D-ring mount removed, the sheath goes straight on the belt with the Tek Lok. The quick release buckle in this version is small enough that it can pass through the D-ring, so the ring can be used to rig with paracord for across the shoulder sling carry, or around the neck, without the 3/4" webbing getting in the way. I will probably put a screw through the D-ring molding to reinforce the Kydex, and I think it might all have worked better with a large Tek Lok, but I don't have any of those on hand.

Going to get to try it out a bit next week, then make mods if needed.
 
Very nice I like the look and the idea of it, it's kind of like a drop leg knife with kydex[emoji106][emoji106]


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Looks like a good setup to me. My only question is, in dangle mode, if you draw one handed how do you keep from running the sharp edge against the kydex since the bottom isn't anchored?
 
Most of my sheaths are tighter than this one, and pulling on the knife, even with the sheath anchored does not give a controlled or smooth draw. In this case pushing with the thumb of the drawing hand allows for a very smooth and controlled withdrawal. The knife still clicks into place and doesn't shake out when upside down (I didn't go crazy trying though). The paracord on the end of the sheath is long enough that I can tie down to my thigh, but that would just be to stop it from flapping, not really to make drawing better. Hope I have understood you correctly ;)
 
Looks like a great idea. I generally like a dangler type sheath in the woods/outdoors.
 
I see what you are saying. That is the draw method I use on my Rat3 and Spyderco Enuff. But both of those are mounted to my belt and I don't have a setup like the one you made. Just wasn't sure if it would work the same. Makes since though. :thumbup:
 
That's pretty innovative! I don't recall ever seeing an attachment setup like it. The only thing which seems a bit off to me is that triple layer of kydex by the D ring...

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That seems like it could get awkward and catch on a lot of things. Maybe if that didn't overlap it would be less cumbersome?
 
I am hoping that because the overlap faces downward, it will be less likely to catch on things. I do know what you mean though. If the whole thing was leather it could be made to look a lot neater, but I wanted the water imperviousness of plastic. I am interested to see if it was a crazy good idea, or just a crazy idea!

Thanks for the encouragement chaps :)

Chris
 
I like it. That's a great idea and a great concept on the whole setup. I don't recall seeing a sheath made that way before either, with the "taco hinge" at the bottom. That's innovative.
 
C_Claycomb said:
I am hoping that because the overlap faces downward, it will be less likely to catch on things. I do know what you mean though. If the whole thing was leather it could be made to look a lot neater, but I wanted the water imperviousness of plastic. I am interested to see if it was a crazy good idea, or just a crazy idea!
Click to expand...

I don't think it's a crazy idea. Most innovations come about because someone didn't adhere to convention, but instead said "what if?". Here's a thought, and ironically it's a what if...

What if you moved the overlap closer to the D ring and then used a pair of those screw terminals like you have on the rest of the sheath? Since they'd match I don't imagine it would look out of place, and for sure it would hold firm.
 
You could put the overlap at the end opposite the D. Make one end a bit longer, curl it over the other end. 3 layers should stop it pulling through, The whole thing should look neater.
 
That isn't a bad idea mtangent. Not quite sure how I would do the pull-through stop, but it would be neater without the overlap up at the D-ring. The Kydex I am using is nearly 2mm thick and there isn't space for three layers to fit in the Teklok comfortably, but they aren't enough by themselves to be an adequate stopper. Hmmmm...need to go do some doodles :D

The taco hinge works quite well, but it is a bit of a pain to get right. The centerline of the knife needs to be pointed at it at very close to 90 degrees otherwise it looks sloppy. Doesn't help that my press is rubbish, doesn't make things easy for me. Before I do any more sheaths a new press is on the to-do-list. Found the KydexPro website and got some new ideas for a press.
 
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