Let's talk a little more about sheaths.

Walking Man

Walking Man

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I'd post this elsewhere, but there seems to be a lot of sheath discussion and pics over here, and I know there just might be an expert in this subject out there somewhere.
Anyhoooo. I like the coating ON my Busses, not rubbed off. The coating will get rubbed off soon enough, and if I really wanted them rubbed off with a file, I would do that, not stick them in Kydex sheaths.
Leather, on the hand, causes rust, which sucks. I hate rust. And I vaguely recall hearing that nylon also retains moisture.
For me it would be really nice to be able to keep the knives in their sheaths. I've seen wooden sheaths (I'm not sure if they scratch) and I think RJ martin uses G10 sheaths on occasion.
So, is there an answer? I know David Brown has, in the past used somekind of alternate plastic material (clear) that he stopped using because (IIRC) it broke too easily. I should have asked him directly, but what about the possibility of lining a kydex sheath with this alternate material.
Does anyone else have any other ideas as to what might be an idea sheath material? Spit it out, folks. Thanks.
 
I have seen Black Jack knives (The original) use felt lining in some of their kydex sheaths. The G-10 sheaths I have seen (Criswell) were friction fit and would cause rub marks. Not sure what the ultimate sheath would be. Both kydex and leather are going to have their pro's and con's. Not sure if their is the perfect sheath out there yet :confused:
 
what i did on a sheath i made was to cut to fit ,,and then glued in a nylon webbing liner to my kydex sheath
if that was not a contributing factor in my sheath loosening up,,you might want to try that?

never mind lol i did not notice your nylon remark
my bad
 
shaker said:
never mind lol i did not notice your nylon remark
my bad
Click to expand...
hey, I could be wrong. Could a possiblity be to smear a little grease on the inside of the nylon-lined kydex? :confused:
 
Dwayne’s leather/kydex fusion sheaths seem to be the best solution I’ve found: the blade is surrounded by kydex, but because the kydex is flat rather than molded it doesn’t tend to rub blade coatings as badly as a form fitted kydex sheath.

On top of this you get the aesthetic benefit of a beautiful leather exterior.
 
djolney said:
Dwayne’s leather/kydex fusion sheaths seem to be the best solution I’ve found: the blade is surrounded by kydex, but because the kydex is flat rather than molded it doesn’t tend to rub blade coatings as badly as a form fitted kydex sheath.
Click to expand...

I don't believe that is the case. Quoting from Dwayne's website:

This is a bonding of leather and kydex within the sheath, the plastic is totally encased by leather and none touches your knife.

Rick - eagerly waiting for a Fusion sheath for my Uncle MoFo (and some other stuff)
 
Heres a short answer where a long one belongs, I'm a bit short on time tonight so I' break it into a few separate "sessions" :) Sounds like a little "mythbusting" is in order. ;)

Firstly: kydex in and of itself is much softer than the coatings Busse uses, some marks on coatings such as the black crinkle and especially the desert coat is the kydex sanding off onto the coating. That said, the marks on beadblasted knives are a mystery, unless the friction is great enough to effectively smooth the blasted finish. Also, sand, and other hard intrusions get stuck in the plastic, but that is caused by not effectively cleaning the blade after use......... more to come.....

Next, leather does not rust metal, at least the good quality leathers I and most of the good makers use. I have knives made from 1095 and other high carbon steels that spend most of thier time in the sheaths, sitting on the shelf. Two in particular have been in their sheaths for ten years now with no effect. Its the tanning acids and salts in really cheap leathers that causes corrosion, and then it takes soaking the leather to get it started. Good leather will have most of that bad stuff well rinsed out. SR101 shows spots rather easily, I keep my stripped CT in its leather full time and no spots yet. The kydex/fusion sheaths have a very thin layer of leather inside, drying time for them is very quick, a nice dry room and a little slow drying time and the sheath is good as new. Now that said, i have done some wax impregnated sheaths for wet environments, one is with Dutchwookie now getting a rather alarming toture test, and it repels water like a champ, the body of the sheath has a drain hole that seems to perform well so far. more to come....

In short with all the aformentioned materials. if misused, you cant throw a wet dirty knife in a sheath and then toss it in the trunk for a day and expect it to stay pristine. For storage, proper maintenance, just a little care wiping down the blades and storing them in a nice dry place you should have no worries. Be it kydex, leather, or nylon, in any of these I havent seen any adverse effects on my blades, be it INFI, A2, or high carbon rust monsters. Again, more info and ideas incoming as I get the time, we've been running some ideas and testing some materials for future work. Sneak peek..... one includes those microfiber materials.
 
Each material has it pros and cons just like someone else said. Kydex doesn't always have to rub your coating off, it depends on how much room the maker builds into it. If you are sheathing INFI, I would not worry too awful much about rust on a coated blade. INFI tends to discolor rather than actually form rust scale. As far as I know, there is no miracle material. Nylon and felt hold moisture just like leather. They would also hold grit and grime just like leather or kydex, which can scratch your coating. Now you are saying kydex hold grit? Yep, if you stow your blade in there dirty and you inbed that grit and grime into the plastic, you are going to ensure a good wear pattern on that coating of yours. Again, that depends on the clearance that is built into the sheath.

You have to decide what is the most important thing to you when looking into sheaths. Leather is good looking and long lasting if you take care of it properly. Kydex is tough as nails and there is little up keep. Nylon sheaths gives you a more flexible sheath like leather, but it doesn't have the up keek of leather. If keeping your coating from being scratched, then leather is my answer, if you want something a little more rigid, then one of Dwayne's fusion mods sound like a good idea. I would like to see one myself, but that is another tangent.

There's my 2 cents.

Edited to add:
Looks like Dwayne covered a few points I missed. :D
 
Neener neener, I beat ya to it 'gunner! :p :p :p
 
I think Dewayne and John have covered it nicely!

And so even-handed!!

WELL DONE GUYS!!
 
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