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The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is ready to order! See this thread for details: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/bladeforums-2024-traditional-knife.2003187/
Price is$300$250 ea (shipped within CONUS). If you live outside the US, I will contact you after your order for extra shipping charges.
Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/ - Order as many as you like, we have plenty.
Need boot knife recommandations
- Thread starter Charlie_K
- Start date
Doable. But I've never worn a necklace before. And outside the shirt, it hangs away from your body if you bend over.
That's one of the reasons I wear a BK9 or similar sized knife wherever I go, outside of the post office.
Thanks. The only problem is that with making your rig from paracord is that it only fits the boots it was designed around. Meaning if I wear a different pair of boots, I'd need to remake the rig to account for the change in size.
I don't know how well the rig is going to work compared to the old setup. Only time will tell to see if it can stay in place through everything it has to stand up to.
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Screech Owl Knives Critter Bowie
Sweet knife you've got there, but again, I'd be back to trying to figure a way to secure it to my boot.
Which brings me another question I've been trying to figure out. Just how secure should a boot knife be when riding on the outside of the boot? Should he remain rigidly in place and not move? Or is some degree of movement acceptable so it doesn't remain rigid and pressed up against your leg?
Which brings me another question I've been trying to figure out. Just how secure should a boot knife be when riding on the outside of the boot? Should he remain rigidly in place and not move? Or is some degree of movement acceptable so it doesn't remain rigid and pressed up against your leg?
I would prefer rigid. I'm no expert in physics, but I believe that movement creates more movement (loosening), as well as creating greater stress on any connections (sheath/boot, sheath/knife).
Just walking around can cause a boot knife to swing/sway back and forth. And while it might be just a little, it might cause loosening that can result in either the knife exiting the sheath, or the sheath from disconnecting from the boot. I would want the sheath to be attached as tightly as possible to the boot, and for the knife to be secured in the sheath in such a way that it requires a concentrated effort to pull it free.
It's because of this that I had to rethink my rig, yet again. And after some time, effort, and ingenuity, I figured out that you can actually use pliers and bend the clip of the Kobun sheath to the point where it not longer juts out and pokes your ankle, while still allowing it to be work on the boot cuff comfortably. Now the paracord, clips and rings just stabilize the sheath and keep it from working its way loose.
I'm not getting poked in the ankle anymore, but because of the boots I wear and how I keep them laced, the end of the handle tends to brush up against my leg now.
Okay. I've gotten some great replies on options for knives to take the place of my Kobun, thanks for those. I've also gotten some good questions, like what type of boots am I going to be trying to mate to the knife I get.
I came up with an idea for a possible solution to the issue. Since I can't get the Kobun to clip onto the cuff of my work boots due to the padding, I've taken the clip out of the equation, and I'm simply using the stabilizing harness to keep it in place.
It's fairly stable. There's some degree of back and forth movement to contend with since it's secured in the middle rather than at the top and bottom, but the design prevents the sheath from either slipping up or down once it's clipped onto place. Whether or not the forward and rearward wiggle is a problem, is something I simply don't know yet. But it's comfortable to wear as it doesn't poke me in the leg.
Sorry, paracord and boot knife beginner here. What did you put on the paracord that goes under the boot? I assume it's for protection?
Nothing. I didn't think it would be necessary.
Not strictly, otherwise I'd be using a dagger design. It's more of a fighting/utility knife, good for either purpose as needed.
I prefer circa-4" blades on boot knives. Two or three of my better booters have sheaths secure enough to carry outside-boot, tip up with full confidence in retention. I haven't found it necessary to rigid mount it, and a Tek-lok holds it inverted just fine. For me the Tek-lok holds it plenty tight against the boot. Never experienced a swing or sway problem---I wear stovepipe Wesco, Frye and cowboy boots mostly, generally under 501's, when carrying a boot knife. My Tekna boot knife also has excellent attachment features/options that allow secure tip up outside-boot carry as well.
Carrying the knife inverted on the outside of the boot can give slightly quicker access, due to the handle being right there and requiring a minimum of the pantleg hem to be lifted, but it better be securely in the sheath and tightly held...or it's lost. To carry tip-down on the outside as shown in your pic requires as much lifting the pant as inside carry, thus I don't see the advantage...other than it 's the only way to carry that knife on that boot. Uh, btw, unique rig there, Charlie. You're creative.
I carry mostly inside the boot, thus preferring a sheath that sets the knife low in the boot to minimize the amount the pantleg has to be lifted above the rim of the boot to grasp the handle.
Sheath is everything for boot carry.
Yeah the rig is creative, but not enough to overcome basic physics. Paracord is good, but not good enough for what I was asking of it. After just a couple of days I had to put the clip back on the Kobun, and bend it for comfort of carry. Now the paracord just stabilizes it so it can't slide off when I move.
Leftytwogunz
Gold Member
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That Screech Owl knife is really pretty!
O.P. I like the Benchmade SOCP dagger a good bit. The sheath and clip are well thought out.
Best of luck.
O.P. I like the Benchmade SOCP dagger a good bit. The sheath and clip are well thought out.
Best of luck.
I have one. It's very light, and has a very thin blade (with a VERY thin tip). The rubber-over-plastic handle is very grippy.
The clip on the sheath is weak, but the sheath retention of the knife is very strong (at least on mine). Trying to pull the knife from the sheath will pull the clip out of a boot or belt. Of course if other means of securing the sheath are used then that might not be a problem.
I don't really like the knife due to the thin blade. But I saw a youtube video where a guy repeatedly stabbed through a car tire with one and only bent the tip a little. I was pretty impressed that it didn't break. Still, I prefer thicker blades.
And I guess I should mention that my favorite boot knife is the United Cutlery "Undercover". It's been discontinued, that's why I didn't recommend it earlier, and the sheath is crappy. I do think that some are still available.
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Did yours come double edged? Mine didn't.
Meaning either a conscious effort to break the hold with your thumb like the BK2, or using the mounting points for securing it to the boot.
Skallagrim. He's been a source of a lot of information for me so far. Although because of his recent car accident he's been taking it easy while he recovers.
I think I know which one you're talking about. I never gave United Cutlery much regard for quality. Maybe I need to reevaluate that position.
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Nope.
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Rat, helpful and funny!
Mine is double-edged. I never heard of a single-edged one. I can only assume it's a factory mistake.
The sheath holds the knife securely, and a conscious effort is needed to pull the knife free. When I inserted the sheath/knife into my waistband and hooked the clip over my belt (thick leather), the entire thing came out of my waistband when I pulled on the knife. The sheath cleared my waistband, but the knife stayed securely in the sheath.
If that's the guy that was also throwing the Kershaw at the tire, then yep, that's him. I was also impressed by his throwing skills.
Many people discount United Cutlery, but a fact that has been discussed on this forum many times is- sometimes cheap knives can surprise you and be of decent quality, and be very useful.
And just for the hell of it- here's my review of the United Cutlery Undercover boot knife. With some pictures.
I have 4 of the United Cutlery "Undercover" boot knife, that's how much I like it. I started with one I bought in 2001, then I recently went looking to buy a second "back up" knife in case I ever lost the first. When I went looking I discovered that they were discontinued and in very short supply, so I bought three more.
As for quality, when I bought the first one I was curious about how tough they were, so I stabbed the tip of the blade about 1/2" into a 2x12 and pried it out side to side, not edge to edge. I was expecting the tip to break, or at least bend, but it did neither. I performed this test repeatedly with the same result. I was very impressed with how tough the tip was. I like knowing that the tip of my knife won't break off if I were ever required to use it.
As for the steel, I think it's 420. I can put a shaving sharp edge on my knives (the 3 I've sharpened), but I wouldn't expect it to stay sharp long through use. But then I didn't buy them for skinning dear or breaking down boxes.
When I bought the 3 other UC boot knives I performed another test, I wanted to test the strength of the tang at the blade. So I took one apart and laid the bare blade across two pieces of wood (one piece under the tip, the other under the end of the tang), and I gave the center of the blade a good whack with a handheld sledgehammer at the blade/tang junction. The blade didn't break, and it didn't bend. I performed this test multiple times with the same results. Again, I was impressed.
So when people discount the quality of United products, I think of those two tests. I can't speak for the quality of all United products, but I can speak for the ones I have firsthand experience with.
All of these knives that I received came with very thick edges. They needed a good amount of work to thin them out. But the steel is soft enough to perform this task with a standard coarse or medium grit file.
What I like about these knives is- Thick blades (3/16" thick), and they are thick all the way to the tip. Unlike many boot knives I've handled that had tips that were ground paper-thin.
Obviously, I like how tough the blades are.
I like the overall size of the knife and the individual length of the blade and handle.
I like the handle. The rubber is very grippy without being too soft. And I like the shape of it, particularly the flat sides. The flatness of the handle makes it good for wearing close against the body.
I also like how these knives are relatively easy to take apart. I like being able to take apart ALL of my knives, either for cleaning, or modifying, or just because I want to see how they're made. By drilling out the grommet at the end of the tang the entire knife can be taken apart. And the grommet can be replaced with a threaded post and screw available for very cheap at Home Depot or Lowes.
I recently bought one of United's newer boot knives, the UC2698 Combat Commander/Toothpick, but I didn't like it. The handle and guard were plastic (with a little bit of rubber overmold), and the blade was thinner than the Undercover. I can't comment on it's "quality", I just didn't like those details.
Here's a pic of three of my United Cutlery Undercover boot knives. The one on the right is one that I took apart, removed the black coating, thinned-out the edges, and reassembled. I added a thin rubber spacer between handle and guard to make the handle tighter.
The middle knife is completely original.
The one on the left is the first one I bought, I refer to it as a "hybrid" because it's made from two different knives. I swapped the original handle with the handle from a SOG dessert dagger (at the time I wanted a longer, rounder handle). The blade came with a satin finish. I thinned-out the edge and made the aluminum spacer that separates handle from blade. I carried this knife for awhile.
My girlfriend has the fourth knife. So technically I only own three now
.I make my own sheaths (pictured). The one on the left is designed to be "modular", I can take it apart, remove the clip piece and replace it with other attachment options. The sheath on the right is intended to be as minimal as possible. As they are pictured, both were designed for inside the waistband carry.
That was probably more than you wanted to know about the United Undercover, but I had the time, and I like talking knives here on BF. And this post gave me the motivation to finally take some pics of these knives
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