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- Feb 4, 1999
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Because I am making sheaths for people, I thought I'd better find out for myself if DEET really has an effect on Kydex. I used two products and two types of Kydex for this test.
DEET is the active chemical found in bug repellant sprays. It's full name is N,N-Diethyl-meta-tolumide, which probably doesn't mean much to you unless you were a chem major like I was! Anyway, the two products used in the test were OFF! Skintastic and Deep Woods Off!, both manufactured by Johnson Wax. The Skintastic was in a spritzer pump bottle, is unscented, and has 6.65% DEET. The Deep Woods is in an aerosol container with 28.50% DEET.
The main complaint with Kydex material is that it degrades when exposed to DEET, and I have heard conflicting statements on this, so I needed to do my own tests. For the tests I used four small (about 1/2" square) samples of Kydex. The black color is known to be Kydex100, and the gray I used is assumed to be Kydex100, but I did not buy it myself, so I am unsure of its pedigree. I used two small glass jars with no lids and placed one sample of each color in each jar. I did not use a control, as I have tons of both colors of Kydex laying around and none of it has degraded on its own!
Also, both colors of Kydex are 3/32" (0.093") thick, which is about the thckest material used for knife sheaths. Unfortunately I do not have any Concealex on hand to test, but I will soon, so I will update the results when the tests are complete.
In each glass jar I squirted a fair amount of the repellant. One jar had Skintastic and the other had Deep Woods, of course. I left the samples for at least 15 minutes, then resprayed. The samples were soaked in the DEET repellant for about 30 minutes total, I would estimate. After the test was complete I rinsed the samples in warm and cold water.
The first thing I noticed is the the Skintastic samples (Group S, let's say) were somwhat slimy while being rinsed. I don't know if this is normal or not, though, as my sheaths have always been dry. The samples from Group DW (Deep Woods) were really slimy to the touch, so I am assuming this is due to a chemical reaction with the materials.
Both samples have also retained the classic bug spray smell, more so on Group DW. I can't really detect any harm to the samples from Group S. Group DW feels tacky on the edges, and there is black dye all over my hands, so I know for sure it reacted with the DEET. Neither set of samples warped or melted , but there is definitely a reaction in the stronger sample, that would probably take place with enough exposure to the Skintastic, which is basically Off Woods in a dilute solution.
The samples exposed to Deep Woods seem to have lost some structural integrity on the surface, which may or may not wash off and clean up, eventually. In any case, these samples were also soaked in the liquid for a half hour.
My conclusions: contrary to what I have been told about Kevin McClung's (Mad Dog Knives) claims that Kydex100 is not harmed by DEET, I have found that there is some degradation when soaked. I would, however, fell confident carrying a knife ion a Kydex sheath while using DEET products. I would remove the sheath from my body while applying the spray, so it would not be hit directly, and I would rinse the sheath off well in camp. I think if these precautions are followed, the sheath shouldn't suffer any harmful effects from the chemical. Even if there is a reaction while taking these precautions, it should be rather minor, and should not affect the integrity of the product at all.
If you have evidence from normal use on a product that you know is Kydex100, then I would be interested to hear your story and see it posted here. Thanks!
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My Custom Kydex Sheath pagehttp://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Lab/1298/knifehome.html
Palmer College of Chiropractic
On Two Wheels
DEET is the active chemical found in bug repellant sprays. It's full name is N,N-Diethyl-meta-tolumide, which probably doesn't mean much to you unless you were a chem major like I was! Anyway, the two products used in the test were OFF! Skintastic and Deep Woods Off!, both manufactured by Johnson Wax. The Skintastic was in a spritzer pump bottle, is unscented, and has 6.65% DEET. The Deep Woods is in an aerosol container with 28.50% DEET.
The main complaint with Kydex material is that it degrades when exposed to DEET, and I have heard conflicting statements on this, so I needed to do my own tests. For the tests I used four small (about 1/2" square) samples of Kydex. The black color is known to be Kydex100, and the gray I used is assumed to be Kydex100, but I did not buy it myself, so I am unsure of its pedigree. I used two small glass jars with no lids and placed one sample of each color in each jar. I did not use a control, as I have tons of both colors of Kydex laying around and none of it has degraded on its own!
Also, both colors of Kydex are 3/32" (0.093") thick, which is about the thckest material used for knife sheaths. Unfortunately I do not have any Concealex on hand to test, but I will soon, so I will update the results when the tests are complete.In each glass jar I squirted a fair amount of the repellant. One jar had Skintastic and the other had Deep Woods, of course. I left the samples for at least 15 minutes, then resprayed. The samples were soaked in the DEET repellant for about 30 minutes total, I would estimate. After the test was complete I rinsed the samples in warm and cold water.
The first thing I noticed is the the Skintastic samples (Group S, let's say) were somwhat slimy while being rinsed. I don't know if this is normal or not, though, as my sheaths have always been dry. The samples from Group DW (Deep Woods) were really slimy to the touch, so I am assuming this is due to a chemical reaction with the materials.
Both samples have also retained the classic bug spray smell, more so on Group DW. I can't really detect any harm to the samples from Group S. Group DW feels tacky on the edges, and there is black dye all over my hands, so I know for sure it reacted with the DEET. Neither set of samples warped or melted , but there is definitely a reaction in the stronger sample, that would probably take place with enough exposure to the Skintastic, which is basically Off Woods in a dilute solution.
The samples exposed to Deep Woods seem to have lost some structural integrity on the surface, which may or may not wash off and clean up, eventually. In any case, these samples were also soaked in the liquid for a half hour.
My conclusions: contrary to what I have been told about Kevin McClung's (Mad Dog Knives) claims that Kydex100 is not harmed by DEET, I have found that there is some degradation when soaked. I would, however, fell confident carrying a knife ion a Kydex sheath while using DEET products. I would remove the sheath from my body while applying the spray, so it would not be hit directly, and I would rinse the sheath off well in camp. I think if these precautions are followed, the sheath shouldn't suffer any harmful effects from the chemical. Even if there is a reaction while taking these precautions, it should be rather minor, and should not affect the integrity of the product at all.
If you have evidence from normal use on a product that you know is Kydex100, then I would be interested to hear your story and see it posted here. Thanks!
------------------
My Custom Kydex Sheath pagehttp://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Lab/1298/knifehome.html
Palmer College of Chiropractic
On Two Wheels
