Oil on the handle and sheath

S

sharpen it

Joined
Aug 11, 2011
Messages
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Hello guys, I've got two KA-BAR 1218, when I pick them out of the box, one with oil on the handle and sheath, and the another have no oil at all. I asked the local agent, he said he would not do anything to any blade. So I'd like to know: will KA-BAR factroy daub oil on the handle and sheath of their products?
 
sharpen it said:
Hello guys, I've got two KA-BAR 1218, when I pick them out of the box, one with oil on the handle and sheath, and the another have no oil at all. I asked the local agent, he said he would not do anything to any blade. So I'd like to know: will KA-BAR factroy daub oil on the handle and sheath of their products?
Click to expand...

I noticed a little oil on my new 1217 and sheath. The only way I realized it, was I had it setting on another piece of leather I been working for a bushcraft sheath. It darkened the fresh leather up a bit.

I think that there may be a very light coating of some protectant on the leather, but no worries, so far I have even smelled what it could be. Perhaps my sniffer isn't as good as it was. :D

Moose
 
sharpen it said:
So what it could be? Oil or something else? And what oil is it you think? Thx!
Click to expand...

I would assume its a leather sealant of sorts, so as to not cause problems with storage awaiting purchase. Some of these knives can sit in a case for a while before some lucky soul comes to claim them. Don't want the leather drying out.

I'm sure there will be some more info forthcoming, stay tuned, I'll see what I can find out.

Moose
 
I can't understand why these two blades, one have leather sealant, anther don't have, KA-BAR factroy did it, or agents did it.
 
sharpen it,

The oil probably came from the leather sheath.
We do not use oil on the handle leather. We do know that the sheath can transfer oil to the handle. However, it is not a bad thing. Both handle and sheath are leather and both need to be feed...with oil or some sort of protectant. If you are worried about the oil darkening the handle...it will lighten in a short amount of time.
We are presently working with our sheath maker to reduce the amount of oil they put on their sheaths.
Hope this helps.

Best Regards,

Paul Tsujimoto
Sr Eng
Prod Dev and Qual
KA-BAR Knives
 
Brad,

+1 on the Snow Seal - been using it for many years on these knives/sheaths and it really works very well.

None of my Ka-bars are painted, all of them are blued and most of them are leather-sheathed. I find the Snow Seal both protects the steel and improves the grips of these leather-handled blades as you mentioned and also darkens the leather significantly, which I prefer. Basically Snow Seal is a beeswax/carrier mix if the container labeling is to be trusted. Years ago I used to soak leather sheaths in light machine oil, which never produced any bad effects that I ever noticed - I don't consider a "soft" sheath to be a particularly bad thing in most cases, but I am sure there is a commandment against this somewhere - and would use a light machine oil today without hesitation were I not a Snow Seal admirer. Mineral oil in my view is not a great choice.

For me the bottom line is that leather handles and leather sheaths need the maintenance that improves their character through time and providing that maintenance is part of the reason I became attracted to blades in the first place. Neither Kraton nor Kydex get any prettier from the maintenance they don't get. Of course pretty doesn't matter on the blades I own that employ the plastic materials. The Cutlass for example is one of my favorite blades of all time (and is in my view a very under-appreciated tool by many whose understanding of value is pretty much a confusion with price) and would in no way be improved with a leather handle. Nor would my Mark 1 be improved (it is my carry knife in the weeds) were it's handle not Kraton. On the other hand my F/U's would look and feel alien to me were they not leather-handled. Just a nostaligic personal preference.

To the point of this discussion I am a big fan of Snow Seal, especially on leather sheaths that holster blued steel.

Ben
 
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