Mike Sastre? Great work

It does not matter how good his work is. His business ethic sucks and the risk that you won't see your sheath for years far outweighs his abilities.

There are many superb Sheath makers here. Lifter does super work and his turn around is measured in days! There are others in the same category.

Why take the risk with Sastre's history??????
 
I feel compelled to say something about Mike here.....I will start by saying that he is a personal friend....so you can qualify or disregard my remarks...however you like it.

Mike is a sheath making artist. Unfortunately in the knife world we tend to look at sheaths as merely and accessory to the knife. Not so with Mike's approach. To send a knife to him for a sheath, he will approach it with all the care that the most dedicated of bladesmiths do in every aspect of their craft.

I have been to his shop and watched him make sheaths. His process for a sheath actually will extend over a minimum of 2 days...that is if everything goes well. No 15 minute slap together here. If there is one thing that he doesnt like about a particular sheath....he goes right back to square one.

He approaches the fit of the blade and retention with meticulous care. He does this by feel and experience and if not satisfied with it...he starts again. What you will receive in the end is a perfect product.

I was also shocked to see the sheer amount of work that he has at any given time. The first impression is that he should hire an assistant......but then you really wont get a Sastre sheath....much like buying a custom knife....you pretty much want it sole authorship.

I won't make judgement as to how Mike decides to prioritize his orders......but he makes these sheaths one at a time and it gets mighty frustrating trying to get it right everytime. Agree with this or not....I am sure that he finds it tough to go in an do his best work for someone who is hounding him. I know a top holstermaker that has this same mentality. Again, agree with it or not, then decide if you want to do business with him.

But in the end you will receive a perfect sheath....the best I have ever seen.
 
There has never been any question of the fact that his sheaths are great. The problem is that he doesn't tell people that it could be a year or two before they get their sheath and possiblely their knife back. He has terrible communication and has been known to give delivery times that are missed more than once. He also seems to want payment up front. If you take payment and give a delivery date, you have entered into a contract with your customer and should live up to that delivery date.

I also don't understand how some people get their sheaths in a month or two and some in a year or two.

Maybe it is time for him to stop taking orders until he gets caught up.

As far as getting upset at being hounded is concerned; if you take a persons money, give them a delivery time and then don't live up to your agreement, you should expect to get hounded.
 
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