Leather or Kydex for a sheath?

T

trailside22

Joined
Sep 8, 2005
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400
Which do you prefer for you sheaths for your fixed blades and why? I am going to have one made and want to see what your thoughts were. Thanks!
 
I like em both...kydex gives you a lot of options for carrying a fixed blade, folder, or god knows what else. Kydex can be modified fairly easy, and your only limited to your imagination. Now leather on the other hand, you could probably do about any carry option that can be done with kydex, but not as easy. Overall I like kydex for every day utility uses. However if I had to pick just one, I would go with the leather.
 
I have to agree With Joncevans with leather yes kydex has some carrying advantages but it tears the crap out of your knife's finish. I don't know about anyone else but when I see a big ole scratch down the middle of my expensive blade that I did not create myself it makes the old Blood presure jump a few hundred PSI. Also I like the way leather ages and takes on it's own personality. I just purchased a Sog Tech Bowie with the black finished blade "Very nice looking I might add" and without thinking I stuck it in the kydex sheath when I pulled it out you guessed it Scratchola.
 
In general, it's dirt or debris inside a kydex sheath that does the scratching, not the material itself. If a sheath is molded without any "freeplay" around the blade, you can get rub marks - there's a difference. A sheath molded with "freeplay" built into it will not mark your blade unless your draw is sloppy enough to cause the blade to contact the inside of the sheath. Both leather and kydex have their applications.
 
Kydex is kinda noisy on my blade.

Leather is silent.

Kydex is better for wet / extreme climates (probably chemical stuffs too).
 
I prefer kydex on smaller knives, because the sheath is generally smaller and lets you carry it in your pocket easier if you like.
 
Overal I preferer kydex but leather is good too. To me it depends on what the knife is made to do and how you want it to look. My all time favorite is Cordura and Kydex.
 
I prefer Kydex. If you are in a hot environment, the heat doesn't affect it, like it does leather. It is more impervious to blood etc.
 
I like good old leather. There's nothing like a nice thick leather sheath. I have some knives that came with factory kydex sheaths, the first thing I did was make some nice leather sheaths for them.
 
For me it would depend on the knife. A traditional knife with natural handle material, I'd want a leather sheath. If the knife handle is some sort of plastic manmade material, then a plastic sheath would be just fine.

-Bob
 
I'm old school and proud of it. I want my weapons made of steel, and the devices to carry them made of leather...
 
I like leather better, although I do have several with Kydex. I think a well made leather sheath is as durable (maybe more so) than any Kydex. I feel both leather and Kydex can mark the blade so I never put collector knives in the sheath. The users go in and out of the sheaths all the time and get the scratches and rub marks but I always figured it is the nature of the beast as these knives get sharpened as well.
 
I prefer leather.

A well made leather sheath is practically a piece of art itself.
And I like the way leather ages and wears--it has a way of bringing back memories when you handle it.
Not to mention that the scent of leather is awesome!

Cheers,
Allen.
 
Kydex for me!! I rarely have a sheathed knife hanging off of my belt in the traditional manner- therefore I am more confident with the kydex. I like neck knives but I would not trust leather sheaths unless they had supermagnets in them- maybe not even then. Another carry I favour is across the back-kydex again for the same reason. Another factor in choosing Kydex over leather is that almost all of my second hand leather sheaths are cut from previous owners carelessness or sheath design flaws. I also choose my knives as workers first so I am not put out if my new "pretty" knife gets scratched. If I collected knives as an investment or for resale then I would choose leather as it is easier to make decorative.
 
Definiteley a leather sheath fan! I think kydex is great for harsh enviroments where their will be extended exposure to things such as water and other chemicals. Other than that I would take leather...It smells really good, looks better than kydex, feels better when equipped because of its slight "give" to the way you move, ages nicely and its so much cooler to draw a huge knife out of a leather sheath than a kydex :D . Its just the way it slips out so softly that makes me get the shivers just thinking about it :) .
 
It really would depend on what I was going to do with the knife and how I was going to carry it. If its anything other than vertical, I tend to like Kydex because it holds the knife securely. HOWEVER, nothing beats leather in my mind. It just says class- even when its something simple. It ages, and I like that in my things. I guess I get jealous when my stuff looks like it hasn't aged at all while I do :rolleyes: . Think of it this way, would John Wayne's, or Clint Eastwood's stuff in their cowboy movies be half as cool if it didn't have that "if only that sheath/saddle/belt/vest could talk" kinda look? I don't think so.

-Anthony
 
Leather for traditional blades (e.g., Marbles), Kydex/Concealex for 'modern' like my F1 (thanks, Normark). Leather with a plastic liner is best of both worlds IMHO.
 
It also depends on the manufacturer, CS although sometime hard to draw don't seem to scratch the blades. Don't get me started on SOG, I've stopped buying SOGs with kydex, as has been said the sheaths mark the blades, they are also difficult to draw and come off the belt. (Recondo!!!).
I prefer leather or nylon. The CS master tanto I have with a nylon sheath is better than any kydex I own.
 
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