Leather sheath preferences

[Jack Black]

I'm not seeing horizontal carries being mentioned... Are they not used much? Or you guys not like them?

I carry horizontal with this small Bradford. I wear it on the right (strong) hand side, and it works pretty well for me.

I like simple slip sheaths, but I did get a retention strap put on this one, (but on the opposite side of the blade), makes it very secure, but it doesn't get in the way

Sorry old pic from a gun mag - why do I not have more pics of this?!

 

[JM2]

Interesting discussion so far. I like all the styles of sheaths folks use. I might have to try a pancake sheath or one of the single loop horsewright styles. Being able to crossdraw it would be convenient sometimes. The sheath I showed, I carry on my left, but it is plenty comfortable. If I could free up that spot, I could carry my leatherman on my belt though.

Here in KY, ccdw license covers knives. But the law says you can carry “an ordinary hunting” knife without the license. So I’d probably be okay sans license with a buck 192, or 119, but not a kabar. I prefer hunting knives over weapons anyways.

 

[Hickory n steel]

I'm always worried I'll get busted for a concealed weapon... Don't you ever worry about that?

Heres a thought if you ever wanna try carrying a fixed blade.

Get a small one, make a sheath that runs horizontally along your belt ,and finish it in a color that matches and blends in with your belt
Then you can have a fixed blade carried openly and perfectly within the law that the average person probably won't notice.

 

[JohnDF]

I don't worry about much other than what's my next meal going to look like.

Get a small one, make a sheath that runs horizontally along your belt ,and finish it in a color that matches and blends in with your belt
Then you can have a fixed blade carried openly and perfectly within the law that the average person probably won't notice.

But I mostly wear my shirts un-tucked.

 

[Horsewright]

I have a horizontal, small of the back sheath that Mr. Horsewright made for me. Totally enjoy using it. No retention strap needed as it is made to the knife. Put it on in the morning and before long you have forgotten it is there until it is needed. Does not matter how or where I sit, it is comfortable View attachment 1929882

It also depends on the knife. My buck 639 with the original factory Kraton grip would be out of place in a leather sheath, in my opinion. Now a knife with stag or similar material and some wooden scales just belong in a leather sheath. Case-by-case basis for me.

Thanks for the shout out. Glad that sheath is working out for ya. For those that might be thinking on making your own notice how that top slot is longer than the bottom. I've found that to be important for the comfort of the user when wearing behind the hip or behind the back.

Here is a beautiful pancake holster which Dave Ferry (Horsewright) made me for a Western L88. I wear it in the small of my back and reach around my hip to draw the knife with my right hand. Totally secure, out of the way and still easily reachable.

Glad that one is working out for ya too and thanks for the shout out! Those two kinda look classy together don't they?


Sacto When I first started making sheaths many years ago being horseback was always in my mind. How do we safely carry a fixed blade knife horseback? Why a fixed blade? Can't tell ya how many knives I've sold ya the day after a wreck. Phone call goes like this: I need one of your small knives. I was loading bout ten head of horses in the trailer yesterday. It was icy and a lil slippery. Got three or four horses upside down and tangled and I'm being crushed against the wall. My Case Trapper is in my pocket under my chaps, I need one of your lil belt knives. True story by the way out of Montana. Part of that consideration in the design was retention, location on the body, angle carried and can I land on it with out getting poked. Horsewright's company motto is "Horsewright, designed from the saddle for the saddle." So everything we do is how does this work horseback. This thought process was whats behind the sheath designs above. Can I fork that colt that might be fresh that cold morning? Can I jump that creek? Can I survive that unintended dismount landing on my knife? All these things come back to retention, angle and location. Back in January was gathering the high up. A bull was close by but above us and we needed to push him over the ridge behind him. Started up towards him and he raised his head. The hot, cowbred, (Meacome Blue x Docs Hickory), filly I was riding, literally folded in half and turned 270 degrees away. I made it 180 degrees came off and landed on my hip and back. My daughter who works in the ER down the hill jumped off and came running and did all the things they do. She thought the old guy might of broken a hip. When the old guy found some air and rolled over on his hands and knees to get back up he thought he might of broken a hip too. But it was gonna be a long 5 mile walk or so back to camp and no way to get a vehicle up there so I got back on the horse and off we went. Lost the dang bull too. Started pushing him but he decided he wanted to go in another direction and started walking through trees like they do. Ya know pushing young trees down cause they didn't move. Didn't feel like discussing it with him at the time so let him go. Did find a big group of cattle though and brought them in. Point is (no pun intended), I went through a very violent un intended dismount and did not get poked by my knife and did not lose my knife and did not land on a lost knife. Same with my pistol. Designed from the saddle for the saddle. Ya know couple of years ago I'd of told ya the horse didn't exist that could turn faster than I could ride but I found her. This was the third time I'd come off her the same way but the only time I was hurt. I traded her to my son. He's on The Winecup Gambel. Their 1.2 million acres tends to keep ponies lined out. Lil Sis with the wife on her. The wife loved to sort on her:

And Spud the 6 yr old gelding I got in trade for Lil Sis. Spud is a genuine BIG CIRCLE pony but quite enough to use in the pens too:

As to legal aspects JohnDF and Hickory n steel : law abiding working rancher?

Lil cooler the morning before, possible felon?

Quien sabe?

 

[JohnDF]

possible felon?

Outlaw Dave.

 

[Hickory n steel]

View attachment 1930230

But I mostly wear my shirts un-tucked.

That's one of the reasons I now tuck my shirts in, except T shirts or when I'm wearing shorts anyways.

 

[Gary W. Graley]

Not much for those danglers either, but a swivel style suits my needs best if the blade is a bit long, this is a White River Sendero designed by Jerry Fisk, sheath by me as the one it came with I didn't care for too much.

With the wide guard, it presented a situation that I had to make the opening wide enough to accept it;

Untitled by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

Untitled by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

Untitled by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

Belt loop is glued together and then a copper rivet is set through the sheath to attach it onto the back, the sheath comes up so you have some protection when you go to return the knife to the sheath. The copper rivet keeps the sheath under control and allows you to rotate it when you go to sit down, it's pretty handy way of carrying the knife.

Untitled by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

Untitled by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

G2

 

[Boattale]

Not much for those danglers either, but a swivel style suits my needs best if the blade is a bit long, this is a White River Sendero designed by Jerry Fisk, sheath by me as the one it came with I didn't care for too much.

With the wide guard, it presented a situation that I had to make the opening wide enough to accept it;

Untitled by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

Untitled by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

Untitled by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

Belt loop is glued together and then a copper rivet is set through the sheath to attach it onto the back, the sheath comes up so you have some protection when you go to return the knife to the sheath. The copper rivet keeps the sheath under control and allows you to rotate it when you go to sit down, it's pretty handy way of carrying the knife.

Untitled by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

Untitled by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

G2

I REALLY like that solution.

 

[Gary W. Graley]

Thanks, I use a ball peen hammer to put a divot into the sheath so the copper rivet sits below the level of the leather and any time you strike leather you compress and strengthen it so it's a bit stronger there which helps that rivet to keep in place better.
G2

 

[Jack Black]

View attachment 1930230

But I mostly wear my shirts un-tucked.

It might not be ALL bad John!

"Now get on The Bull!!"

Thanks for the shout out. Glad that sheath is working out for ya. For those that might be thinking on making your own notice how that top slot is longer than the bottom. I've found that to be important for the comfort of the user when wearing behind the hip or behind the back.



Glad that one is working out for ya too and thanks for the shout out! Those two kinda look classy together don't they?


Sacto When I first started making sheaths many years ago being horseback was always in my mind. How do we safely carry a fixed blade knife horseback? Why a fixed blade? Can't tell ya how many knives I've sold ya the day after a wreck. Phone call goes like this: I need one of your small knives. I was loading bout ten head of horses in the trailer yesterday. It was icy and a lil slippery. Got three or four horses upside down and tangled and I'm being crushed against the wall. My Case Trapper is in my pocket under my chaps, I need one of your lil belt knives. True story by the way out of Montana. Part of that consideration in the design was retention, location on the body, angle carried and can I land on it with out getting poked. Horsewright's company motto is "Horsewright, designed from the saddle for the saddle." So everything we do is how does this work horseback. This thought process was whats behind the sheath designs above. Can I fork that colt that might be fresh that cold morning? Can I jump that creek? Can I survive that unintended dismount landing on my knife? All these things come back to retention, angle and location. Back in January was gathering the high up. A bull was close by but above us and we needed to push him over the ridge behind him. Started up towards him and he raised his head. The hot, cowbred, (Meacome Blue x Docs Hickory), filly I was riding, literally folded in half and turned 270 degrees away. I made it 180 degrees came off and landed on my hip and back. My daughter who works in the ER down the hill jumped off and came running and did all the things they do. She thought the old guy might of broken a hip. When the old guy found some air and rolled over on his hands and knees to get back up he thought he might of broken a hip too. But it was gonna be a long 5 mile walk or so back to camp and no way to get a vehicle up there so I got back on the horse and off we went. Lost the dang bull too. Started pushing him but he decided he wanted to go in another direction and started walking through trees like they do. Ya know pushing young trees down cause they didn't move. Didn't feel like discussing it with him at the time so let him go. Did find a big group of cattle though and brought them in. Point is (no pun intended), I went through a very violent un intended dismount and did not get poked by my knife and did not lose my knife and did not land on a lost knife. Same with my pistol. Designed from the saddle for the saddle. Ya know couple of years ago I'd of told ya the horse didn't exist that could turn faster than I could ride but I found her. This was the third time I'd come off her the same way but the only time I was hurt. I traded her to my son. He's on The Winecup Gambel. Their 1.2 million acres tends to keep ponies lined out. Lil Sis with the wife on her. The wife loved to sort on her:

And Spud the 6 yr old gelding I got in trade for Lil Sis. Spud is a genuine BIG CIRCLE pony but quite enough to use in the pens too:

As to legal aspects JohnDF and Hickory n steel : law abiding working rancher?

Lil cooler the morning before, possible felon?

Quien sabe?

Priceless Dave, you can't beat experience. Sorry that was a tough one buddy Great pics as always 1.2 million acres, isn't that about the size of England?!

 

[Horsewright]

Not much for those danglers either, but a swivel style suits my needs best if the blade is a bit long, this is a White River Sendero designed by Jerry Fisk, sheath by me as the one it came with I didn't care for too much.

With the wide guard, it presented a situation that I had to make the opening wide enough to accept it;

Untitled by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

Untitled by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

Untitled by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

Belt loop is glued together and then a copper rivet is set through the sheath to attach it onto the back, the sheath comes up so you have some protection when you go to return the knife to the sheath. The copper rivet keeps the sheath under control and allows you to rotate it when you go to sit down, it's pretty handy way of carrying the knife.

Untitled by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

Untitled by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

G2

Very clean Gary! As always my friend.

 

[Sacto]

I'm always worried I'll get busted for a concealed weapon... Don't you ever worry about that?

I worry about a lot of things but I don’t worry about that. A friend of mine works in law enforcement and I asked him about it. He said nobody is getting busted for carrying a concealed fixed blade, especially a law abiding citizen without a criminal record. He said they use it to pile on charges when they are arresting someone for something else. I consider myself a rule follower but this is one I’m willing to break.

 

[Horsewright]

It might not be ALL bad John!

"Now get on The Bull!!"

Priceless Dave, you can't beat experience. Sorry that was a tough one buddy Great pics as always 1.2 million acres, isn't that about the size of England?!

Two hours to town for those guys. Big outfit. Used to be owned by Jimmy Stewart. Well Yorkshire anyways! Thanks Jack the xrays were all negative, nothing broke. Deep bone thrombosis is what the Dr called it. Bad bone bruising I guess. I WAS not walking back those five miles. So I crawled over to my horse, pulled on my Big CowBoy Wranglers and crawled up the side of the horse and back in my saddle. The ride back wasn’ as bad as one would expect. As long as we weren’t trotting uphill. Trotting uphill was a BEECH! tree for sure. Lots of steep downhills and that wasn’t so bad. Pretty pedestrian for a while after that.

 

[Jack Black]

Two hours to town for those guys. Big outfit. Used to be owned by Jimmy Stewart. Well Yorkshire anyways! Thanks Jack the xrays were all negative, nothing broke. Deep bone thrombosis is what the Dr called it. Bad bone bruising I guess. I WAS not walking back those five miles. So I crawled over to my horse, pulled on my Big CowBoy Wranglers and crawled up the side of the horse and back in my saddle. The ride back wasn’ as bad as one would expect. As long as we weren’t trotting uphill. Trotting uphill was a BEECH! tree for sure. Lots of steep downhills and that wasn’t so bad. Pretty pedestrian for a while after that.

Very interesting Dave Yeah, I think it's about half the size of the whole county! I'm glad to hear it wasn't broken Dave, bad enough anyway. You're a trooper my friend

 

[Hickory n steel]

I worry about a lot of things but I don’t worry about that. A friend of mine works in law enforcement and I asked him about it. He said nobody is getting busted for carrying a concealed fixed blade, especially a law abiding citizen without a criminal record. He said they use it to pile on charges when they are arresting someone for something else. I consider myself a rule follower but this is one I’m willing to break.

I always figured nobody would ever know as long as I don't get into trouble.
Sure theres a rare chance some Hollywood style brawl breaks out around me for some reason, but beyond that all I've gotta do is simply stay out of trouble.

 

[JohnDF]

In my neighboring (much larger) town, I get pulled over for all kinds of silly stuff; like no front license plate, tires sticking out too far, merging into the bike lane too soon or too late... just silly stuff that give the police a chance to check me out more fully. Must be my big Jeep they don't like. But I'm afraid if they saw a knife handle peaking out of my pants pocket that it would be all the excuse they need to run me in. I'll not take that chance and stick with folders... and drool over everybody else's fixed blade pocket carries.

 

[Sacto]

Thanks for the shout out. Glad that sheath is working out for ya. For those that might be thinking on making your own notice how that top slot is longer than the bottom. I've found that to be important for the comfort of the user when wearing behind the hip or behind the back.



Glad that one is working out for ya too and thanks for the shout out! Those two kinda look classy together don't they?


Sacto When I first started making sheaths many years ago being horseback was always in my mind. How do we safely carry a fixed blade knife horseback? Why a fixed blade? Can't tell ya how many knives I've sold ya the day after a wreck. Phone call goes like this: I need one of your small knives. I was loading bout ten head of horses in the trailer yesterday. It was icy and a lil slippery. Got three or four horses upside down and tangled and I'm being crushed against the wall. My Case Trapper is in my pocket under my chaps, I need one of your lil belt knives. True story by the way out of Montana. Part of that consideration in the design was retention, location on the body, angle carried and can I land on it with out getting poked. Horsewright's company motto is "Horsewright, designed from the saddle for the saddle." So everything we do is how does this work horseback. This thought process was whats behind the sheath designs above. Can I fork that colt that might be fresh that cold morning? Can I jump that creek? Can I survive that unintended dismount landing on my knife? All these things come back to retention, angle and location. Back in January was gathering the high up. A bull was close by but above us and we needed to push him over the ridge behind him. Started up towards him and he raised his head. The hot, cowbred, (Meacome Blue x Docs Hickory), filly I was riding, literally folded in half and turned 270 degrees away. I made it 180 degrees came off and landed on my hip and back. My daughter who works in the ER down the hill jumped off and came running and did all the things they do. She thought the old guy might of broken a hip. When the old guy found some air and rolled over on his hands and knees to get back up he thought he might of broken a hip too. But it was gonna be a long 5 mile walk or so back to camp and no way to get a vehicle up there so I got back on the horse and off we went. Lost the dang bull too. Started pushing him but he decided he wanted to go in another direction and started walking through trees like they do. Ya know pushing young trees down cause they didn't move. Didn't feel like discussing it with him at the time so let him go. Did find a big group of cattle though and brought them in. Point is (no pun intended), I went through a very violent un intended dismount and did not get poked by my knife and did not lose my knife and did not land on a lost knife. Same with my pistol. Designed from the saddle for the saddle. Ya know couple of years ago I'd of told ya the horse didn't exist that could turn faster than I could ride but I found her. This was the third time I'd come off her the same way but the only time I was hurt. I traded her to my son. He's on The Winecup Gambel. Their 1.2 million acres tends to keep ponies lined out. Lil Sis with the wife on her. The wife loved to sort on her:

And Spud the 6 yr old gelding I got in trade for Lil Sis. Spud is a genuine BIG CIRCLE pony but quite enough to use in the pens too:

As to legal aspects JohnDF and Hickory n steel : law abiding working rancher?

Lil cooler the morning before, possible felon?

Quien sabe?

I used to be horseback more but not in recent times. The way our operation is set up I wasn’t on them enough to be worth a darn. Me or them . Your sheaths look like they would be comfortable horseback. A pocket sheath may not be great in the saddle, especially trying to get it out while sitting or wearing chinks.

I’m glad you ended up okay. That kind of thing could have been a lot worse. I got mucked out by a cow loading trucks earlier this summer. One of those cows that wasn’t content just getting me once and moving on. She tossed me 3 times about 40 feet total until she slammed me into the rest of the cattle in the back of the corral. I managed to stay up the whole time but I was pretty sore afterward. I should have been horseback

 

[RLB0414]

Interesting discussion so far. I like all the styles of sheaths folks use. I might have to try a pancake sheath or one of the single loop horsewright styles. Being able to crossdraw it would be convenient sometimes. The sheath I showed, I carry on my left, but it is plenty comfortable. If I could free up that spot, I could carry my leatherman on my belt though.

Here in KY, ccdw license covers knives. But the law says you can carry “an ordinary hunting” knife without the license. So I’d probably be okay sans license with a buck 192, or 119, but not a kabar. I prefer hunting knives over weapons anyways.

In Michigan carrying a fixed blade is illegal even with CCP unless there is an open hunting season. Just so happens coyote season is open year round.

Thanks for the shout out. Glad that sheath is working out for ya. For those that might be thinking on making your own notice how that top slot is longer than the bottom. I've found that to be important for the comfort of the user when wearing behind the hip or behind the back.



Glad that one is working out for ya too and thanks for the shout out! Those two kinda look classy together don't they?


Sacto When I first started making sheaths many years ago being horseback was always in my mind. How do we safely carry a fixed blade knife horseback? Why a fixed blade? Can't tell ya how many knives I've sold ya the day after a wreck. Phone call goes like this: I need one of your small knives. I was loading bout ten head of horses in the trailer yesterday. It was icy and a lil slippery. Got three or four horses upside down and tangled and I'm being crushed against the wall. My Case Trapper is in my pocket under my chaps, I need one of your lil belt knives. True story by the way out of Montana. Part of that consideration in the design was retention, location on the body, angle carried and can I land on it with out getting poked. Horsewright's company motto is "Horsewright, designed from the saddle for the saddle." So everything we do is how does this work horseback. This thought process was whats behind the sheath designs above. Can I fork that colt that might be fresh that cold morning? Can I jump that creek? Can I survive that unintended dismount landing on my knife? All these things come back to retention, angle and location. Back in January was gathering the high up. A bull was close by but above us and we needed to push him over the ridge behind him. Started up towards him and he raised his head. The hot, cowbred, (Meacome Blue x Docs Hickory), filly I was riding, literally folded in half and turned 270 degrees away. I made it 180 degrees came off and landed on my hip and back. My daughter who works in the ER down the hill jumped off and came running and did all the things they do. She thought the old guy might of broken a hip. When the old guy found some air and rolled over on his hands and knees to get back up he thought he might of broken a hip too. But it was gonna be a long 5 mile walk or so back to camp and no way to get a vehicle up there so I got back on the horse and off we went. Lost the dang bull too. Started pushing him but he decided he wanted to go in another direction and started walking through trees like they do. Ya know pushing young trees down cause they didn't move. Didn't feel like discussing it with him at the time so let him go. Did find a big group of cattle though and brought them in. Point is (no pun intended), I went through a very violent un intended dismount and did not get poked by my knife and did not lose my knife and did not land on a lost knife. Same with my pistol. Designed from the saddle for the saddle. Ya know couple of years ago I'd of told ya the horse didn't exist that could turn faster than I could ride but I found her. This was the third time I'd come off her the same way but the only time I was hurt. I traded her to my son. He's on The Winecup Gambel. Their 1.2 million acres tends to keep ponies lined out. Lil Sis with the wife on her. The wife loved to sort on her:

And Spud the 6 yr old gelding I got in trade for Lil Sis. Spud is a genuine BIG CIRCLE pony but quite enough to use in the pens too:

As to legal aspects JohnDF and Hickory n steel : law abiding working rancher?

Lil cooler the morning before, possible felon?

Quien sabe?

Sounds like quite the adventure you had. Glad nothing was broken and only some bruising.
Looks like beautiful country you ranch in.

 

[Sacto]

I always figured nobody would ever know as long as I don't get into trouble.
Sure theres a rare chance some Hollywood style brawl breaks out around me for some reason, but beyond that all I've gotta do is simply stay out of trouble.

That’s exactly how I look at it.

In my neighboring (much larger) town, I get pulled over for all kinds of silly stuff; like no front license plate, tires sticking out too far, merging into the bike lane too soon or too late... just silly stuff that give the police a chance to check me out more fully. Must be my big Jeep they don't like. But I'm afraid if they saw a knife handle peaking out of my pants pocket that it would be all the excuse they need to run me in. I'll not take that chance and stick with folders... and drool over everybody else's fixed blade pocket carries.

That’s understandable. Getting pulled over for something stupid is the one situation I have thought about.