- Joined
- May 9, 2002
- Messages
- 12,646
I tend to buy large knives from HI. It's impractically silly. I don't get out into the woods as I did once upon a time. My chopping duties are few and far between. Having a CCW means I no longer need to worry about defensive reach. But I can't help myself. I really like the long blades even if a 13-14" (or actually just a sub 5" blade) would suit 95% of my needs.
But how to cart around such a monster?
The nice thing about a khukuri, and you may not know this, but they tend to be a bit curvy
The curve of the knife gives me a lot of options on how to craft a leather sheath to carry it. Generally a high and tight straight up and down speed sheath works, or I may be a bit squirrelly and cant it as a cross draw. That hump of the blade really works with how you craft some pants for the knife and still keep it as concealed...well as concealed as one can.
Recently, I took on some "fun debt" (Debt is good is what Uncle Bill used to say. Remember?) and snapped up one of the new 18.5" Seax (seaxes? seaxii? seaxtuplets?...?). I often use the word "masterful", but that mostly has to do with my small vocabulary and "super duper gooder" isn't, I'm told, eloquent vernacular of learned types. However, these knives made by Kumar are, indeed, masterful. I have 2 14" versions from 15 years ago. A Kumar and a Sher. Both are very well done, but I can say without question that time has only improved Kumar's work. His blades have always spoken to me much louder than any other, even Bura. In the last decade and a half, I'm not sure I have seen anything equal to what Kumar is putting out now, especially when it comes to swords and sword-like knives. Just gorgeous stuff.
Anyway, I have spent the last week or so trying to figure out just how in the heck to carry this thing. On top of that, I'm out of leather, so all I can do is work with the sheath it came with. Now keep in mind, this is a NICE sheath. Supple brown leather that is well fitted. It just hangs a bit low so not only is it noticeable when I wear it, it's also kinda slappy. I experimented wearing a bit higher, but it made it problematic to draw. Unlike a khuk, this knife has to either be drawn straight up or if it is canted off the belt it hangs back like a tail. Not ideal.
First, I tried using a true shoulder rig. I have an x-frame leather harness that i made from a Tandy kit years ago. It's functional but not the most comfortable. On top of that, the seax still bangs around. However now its into my ribs instead of my thigh. Plus it's tough to draw as it sits even higher and still up and down. Bummer. Maybe I was just destined to carry this one in my teeth.
I was sitting at my desk just about ready to give up on it until I could get another shoulder of leather next month and reinvent the wheel, and my foot bumped into something I had stuffed under my bottom drawer from some time ago. A knock off tanker 1911 holster I had bought years ago and kinda tossed to the side when 1.) I bought a nicer surplus one and 2.) didn't like the fact that it didn't secure the gun cocked and locked. An idea started to creep in. I had remembered Howard and several others posting about using baldrics to carry large knives while hiking, and I figured I may be able to Frankenstein this holster into one.
Long story short, I was able to cut a few seams to make the bottom of the holster wide enough for the seax sheath to pass through. I took a chicago screw and punched a hole in both the flat of the holster and the loop of the seax sheath and joined them together at the right height so that the knife grip is high enough to conceal the blade under a coat or overshirt and low enough to actually draw. A traditional tanker holster goes over your weak shoulder and is attached to your other side by a belt that goes around your ribs, over your belly, and back to the holster. I just cut off that nonsense and loosened it enough throw the strap over my head and shoulder it diagonally. This keeps the knife at an angle steep enough that it doesn't just hang out in the open but shallow enough that I don't have to draw it straight up to clear leather.
What I was left with was about 3" of peekaboo sheath hanging out from under my shirt tail. I can live with that. Im not trying to make it invisible but subtle and comfortable. It's not a perfect fit, but it really is just a re purposed holster and a chicago screw. Proof of concept. I'll make something more permanent in a few weeks. For now, it works
I'll be doing a bit of woods walking next month. The ol' Viking Swiss Army Knife may come in handy. Now it won't be flopping around and will stay out of the way until I need it.
I will say that there is something comically fulfilling about drawing an 18" knife out from behind your breast pocket. It's like a magic handkerchief, but a bit scarier.
Obligatory poor pictures of how closely the baldric holds the knife to the body. Excuse the quality. I was in a bit of a hurry. You can't even see the shoulder strap
Thanks!
But how to cart around such a monster?
The nice thing about a khukuri, and you may not know this, but they tend to be a bit curvy
The curve of the knife gives me a lot of options on how to craft a leather sheath to carry it. Generally a high and tight straight up and down speed sheath works, or I may be a bit squirrelly and cant it as a cross draw. That hump of the blade really works with how you craft some pants for the knife and still keep it as concealed...well as concealed as one can.Recently, I took on some "fun debt" (Debt is good is what Uncle Bill used to say. Remember?) and snapped up one of the new 18.5" Seax (seaxes? seaxii? seaxtuplets?...?). I often use the word "masterful", but that mostly has to do with my small vocabulary and "super duper gooder" isn't, I'm told, eloquent vernacular of learned types. However, these knives made by Kumar are, indeed, masterful. I have 2 14" versions from 15 years ago. A Kumar and a Sher. Both are very well done, but I can say without question that time has only improved Kumar's work. His blades have always spoken to me much louder than any other, even Bura. In the last decade and a half, I'm not sure I have seen anything equal to what Kumar is putting out now, especially when it comes to swords and sword-like knives. Just gorgeous stuff.
Anyway, I have spent the last week or so trying to figure out just how in the heck to carry this thing. On top of that, I'm out of leather, so all I can do is work with the sheath it came with. Now keep in mind, this is a NICE sheath. Supple brown leather that is well fitted. It just hangs a bit low so not only is it noticeable when I wear it, it's also kinda slappy. I experimented wearing a bit higher, but it made it problematic to draw. Unlike a khuk, this knife has to either be drawn straight up or if it is canted off the belt it hangs back like a tail. Not ideal.
First, I tried using a true shoulder rig. I have an x-frame leather harness that i made from a Tandy kit years ago. It's functional but not the most comfortable. On top of that, the seax still bangs around. However now its into my ribs instead of my thigh. Plus it's tough to draw as it sits even higher and still up and down. Bummer. Maybe I was just destined to carry this one in my teeth.
I was sitting at my desk just about ready to give up on it until I could get another shoulder of leather next month and reinvent the wheel, and my foot bumped into something I had stuffed under my bottom drawer from some time ago. A knock off tanker 1911 holster I had bought years ago and kinda tossed to the side when 1.) I bought a nicer surplus one and 2.) didn't like the fact that it didn't secure the gun cocked and locked. An idea started to creep in. I had remembered Howard and several others posting about using baldrics to carry large knives while hiking, and I figured I may be able to Frankenstein this holster into one.
Long story short, I was able to cut a few seams to make the bottom of the holster wide enough for the seax sheath to pass through. I took a chicago screw and punched a hole in both the flat of the holster and the loop of the seax sheath and joined them together at the right height so that the knife grip is high enough to conceal the blade under a coat or overshirt and low enough to actually draw. A traditional tanker holster goes over your weak shoulder and is attached to your other side by a belt that goes around your ribs, over your belly, and back to the holster. I just cut off that nonsense and loosened it enough throw the strap over my head and shoulder it diagonally. This keeps the knife at an angle steep enough that it doesn't just hang out in the open but shallow enough that I don't have to draw it straight up to clear leather.
What I was left with was about 3" of peekaboo sheath hanging out from under my shirt tail. I can live with that. Im not trying to make it invisible but subtle and comfortable. It's not a perfect fit, but it really is just a re purposed holster and a chicago screw. Proof of concept. I'll make something more permanent in a few weeks. For now, it works
I'll be doing a bit of woods walking next month. The ol' Viking Swiss Army Knife may come in handy. Now it won't be flopping around and will stay out of the way until I need it.I will say that there is something comically fulfilling about drawing an 18" knife out from behind your breast pocket. It's like a magic handkerchief, but a bit scarier.
Obligatory poor pictures of how closely the baldric holds the knife to the body. Excuse the quality. I was in a bit of a hurry. You can't even see the shoulder strap
Thanks! 
