Making a sheath from a blister pack?

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Mar 13, 2023
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This might seem out of left field but I bought an Old Hickory Butcher Knife 7", and it came in a fitted plastic "blister" package.

When I opened the package, I was careful to cut at the bottom about 1.5" lower than the start of the handle. So right now, I have something that is approaching a sheath because there is a solid piece of plastic that is form-fitted to the knife and I can slip the knife in and out of the packaging like a sheath. The form-fit is such that the knife can only go as far as the handle, so that's great. But the other side is cardboard.

I feel like I could make a silly sheath out of this, if I could:

- find some thick plastic to use as a backing to replace the cardboard

- glue this securely to the packaging plastic

- cut the new plastic in such a way that I can thread a belt through. or get fancy and punch holes such that I can attach a spare Tek Lok

- figure out some way of retaining the knife, since it's not a tight fit

I know this is silly, especially for a $10 knife that I could buy a $5.00 sheath for on Amazon. So what? Anyone got any ideas?
 
Very silly, but a fun little project. I would just wrap the whole thing in duct tape and make a duct tape belt loop.
Actually can I tell you how proud I am of this duck tape sheath? Not only is it good and tight-fitting, but I also made a ferro-rod loop from a spent casing, and a little loop to put one of those tiny MOLLE compasses on. It's awesome. But it was the crappiest knife in the world so I kind of wasted the effort. Oh well.
 
- find some thick plastic to use as a backing to replace the cardboard

- glue this securely to the packaging plastic

- cut the new plastic in such a way that I can thread a belt through. or get fancy and punch holes such that I can attach a spare Tek Lok

- figure out some way of retaining the knife, since it's not a tight fit
If time and effort are not taken into consideration it could be an amusing project.

For backing plastic: plexiglass or ABS plastic could conceivably work. Kydex 👍. Look for trashed window with plastic panes. Cut up junk plastic pail/jug & see of that plastic will melt enough to thermoform. Recycle plastic #5 HDPE like milk jugs will melt just fine (I've seen mallet heads fabricated from a block of it). I've made crude tool sheaths by melting sched 40 PVC pipe roughly to shape with a heat gun.

Have you checked YouTube? Inevitably some vids there to help choose the material and guide the process.

Also, #1 PETE water bottle plastic shrinks when heated. Not sure about film used on your package. For retention, you could test scrap of original packaging to see if the plastic shrinks. If so, judiciously shrink the pre-formed packaging to grip the knife.

There are many glues for plastics, though not all glues work on all plastics. So your glue, if you use one, may be dictated by what material your backing is. Loctite makes at least one plastic specific glue. E6000 glue seems to bond lots of different materials. Epoxy works on dang near everything. JB Weld steel reinforced epoxy is my go-to and also glue of last resort if all else fails.

For attaching to your belt, simply cut backing sheet long enough at the top to allow melt/folding it back down to form belt loop. Then mechanically fasten (eyelets, Chicago screws, rivets, etc) to sheath body.

*HOWEVER* there are warning threads & comments about not trusting in long term or rigorous use plastic belt clip (vs belt "loop" described above) that flex for on/off function (think G- or J-clips). Over enough time & flexing material fatigue sets in and cracks/breaks happen.

HTH.
 
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