- Joined
- Jun 29, 1999
- Messages
- 9,818
Back when I was an irresponsible kid, around 8 or 10 years old or so, I used to pack my stag-handled Solingen hunting knife on my belt, the blade portion of the sheath tucked into my right hip jeans pocket, concealed (!!!) by my bloused out shirt tail. That way, no one of a suspicious or officious nature, such as my parents, would notice if I was packing. That remains an excellent strategy, of course. Now that I am (ahem!) a responsible (OK, never been arrested), recently retired, and even more recent grandfather, I still prefer to carry over my right hip. My hand just naturally falls there when I reach for a knife. Only now, since in Canada its inconvenient to wear a bloused-out shirt for a good part of the year, I resort to a jacket, long vest, sweatshirt or (shudder) a blazer on formal occasions (weddings, funerals), so as not to panic those of suspicious or officious nature (wife, children, daughter-in-law, etc). Which brings me to the elegant make that superbjigged bone-handled Dozier K1 General Purpose Knife I picked up last year down in Texas, investing some of my first pension payment before the government could squander it. Excellent little knife, but I didnt care for the Kydex horizontal sheath that came with it. It is well crafted, as youd suspect anything that comes out of Doziers shop, but the only place you could wear it is to the left of the belt buckle. That's handy if youre sitting in a canoe, or even for office wear (I wore Cliff Stamps K2 skinner with a similar sheath around the office when I was employed; no one so much as blinked. Either they didnt notice, or maybe because that was in the Yukon, no one cared.) So, after getting back to Canada last spring and trying unsuccessfully to craft a leather sheath for it, I sent my Dozier off to Eric Noeldechen, a.k.a. Normark, as I should have done in the first place. A few years back, he built absolutely perfect sheath for my F1. After a few weeks of acute separation anxiety, the package arrived back from Eric. Tucked inside was my Dozier in its new Concealex sheath. The Concealex material is about twice as thick as the Kydex on the original sheath, and while it holds the knife more firmly, it is not difficult to draw. It also has a neat diamond pattern, kind of like a knurled rifle bolt. It is a perfect match for the Dozier, in concept and execution, and I couldnt be happier with it. Normark threw in a couple of belt loops: one set up for horizontal carry, and another, longer one for vertical carry. As on the F1, the vertical loop can be switched around for pretty well any position you want, right, left, IWB or out, horizontal, vertical or canted. Its also a bit more compact than the Dozier, and fits neatly on my belt above my right hip, just like when I was a kid. So I guess you dont have to really grow up, after all.
