Post your pants! Show us your leather sheaths.

Joined
Aug 4, 2009
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Now that I have steady income again, I am slowly putting a dent in my want list of knives. Unfortunately, nowadays molded plastic sheaths are the norm, and frankly, I hate them. They rattle noisily, are hard on the knife's finish, and lose their retention in a short period of time. Cordura and leather are both common alternatives, and since there are only 3-4 decent aftermarket cordura options out there, I'd love to see your leather rigs-I don't care what they are, from neckers to machetes, lets see em. Pouch style, scout carry, you name it.
 
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Now that I have steady income again, I am slowly putting a dent in my want list of knives. Unfortunately, nowadays molded plastic sheaths are the norm, and frankly, I hate them. They rattle noisily, are hard on the knife's finish, and lose their retention in a short period of time. Cordura and leather are both common alternatives, and since there are only 3-4 decent aftermarket cordura options out there, I'd love to see your leather rigs-I don't care what they are, from neckers to machetes, lets see em. Pouch style, scout carry, you name it.

You know... those are pretty broad assertions about kydex. In a lot of cases, none of them are true.
 
You know... those are pretty broad assertions about kydex. In a lot of cases, none of them are true.

I think he is referring to the molded plastic sheaths, like on the ESEE 6, or the izula.(well done molded plastic IMO) Kydex is the best sheath material for me though.
 
I make my sheaths when possible.
 
PR-
Heres a few leather sheaths I had made by Hawk from Hawk Designs in Salmon. All his sheaths are hand sewn and bear his signature tracks. No two are exactly the same. I'm with you on the synthetics.

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This one is on its way from Armoralleather. Should be here soon!
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And here are a couple from the good folks at KSF:
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I would highly recommend you check out G2"s sheaths right hear on bladeforums. His sheaths are beautiful, functional, and extremely well crafted. Not to mention he is a real pleasure to deal with. I just had him make me a sheath for my large sebbie, (my first custom sheath ever) and I couldn't be happier. It even came back with a new lanyard he threw in. Great guy. Very reasonably priced and fast turnaround. I sent him my knife on Friday, and I had the sheath back the following Saturday. Assuming he didn't receive it until Monday or Tuesday, you're looking at just a few days. I will defiantly do more business with him in the future.
These are the pics he sent me when he was done.
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I think he is referring to the molded plastic sheaths, like on the ESEE 6, or the izula.(well done molded plastic IMO) Kydex is the best sheath material for me though.

I would hardly call that "the norm". Most production knives come with kydex, now.
 
WOW, those Hawk sheaths are awesome. I'll have to check em out. Great specimens, everyone. Does anyone have anything by Martin Swinkle?
EMT Lee, every knife I own that I use on a regular basis that came with a molded plastic or kydex sheath rattled with the slightest motion, and all of them lost retention to the point of being useless. I've tried remolding them and sometimes that just makes it worse. In every aspect I can think of I'd take a cordura or leather sheath from my experiences with molded sheaths. Whether it's SOG, Gerber, ESEE/RAT, Cold Steel, Columbia River, etc etc etc-all have been negative experiences. Of the 10 or 12 molded sheaths I own, I like NONE of them. I'm entitled to my own opinion, and nowhere did I force mine upon you-I just want to see what is all out there as far as design and manufacture.
 
WOW, those Hawk sheaths are awesome. I'll have to check em out. Great specimens, everyone. Does anyone have anything by Martin Swinkle?
EMT Lee, every knife I own that I use on a regular basis that came with a molded plastic or kydex sheath rattled with the slightest motion, and all of them lost retention to the point of being useless. I've tried remolding them and sometimes that just makes it worse. In every aspect I can think of I'd take a cordura or leather sheath from my experiences with molded sheaths. Whether it's SOG, Gerber, ESEE/RAT, Cold Steel, Columbia River, etc etc etc-all have been negative experiences. Of the 10 or 12 molded sheaths I own, I like NONE of them. I'm entitled to my own opinion, and nowhere did I force mine upon you-I just want to see what is all out there as far as design and manufacture.

No, you didn't force your opinion on me. I didn't force mine on you. You stated your opinion, I stated mine. It's not like I demanded you start liking kydex.

You should probably try looking in the sheath forum. I expect looking through there, and maybe a general search for "leather sheath" would score you more than your OP.
 
I have to second the recommendation of Gary
Graley's (G2) work. He's a great person to deal with and an artist with leather.

Here's an image of the sheath he made me for my Spyderco Titanium Lum Tanto Folder designed for a right-handed cross-draw.

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David
 
City Pocket Sheath by Sharpshooter Sheath Systems for KSF. The leather carving was done by a young up and comer named Alicia Bailey. She's new to the game, but she has some amazing talent. I would highly recommend talking to her if you want some leather work done. By the way, these sheaths hold some of the smaller Bark River knives perfectly. Bravo Necker, Mikro Canadien, and the trusty PSK (my personal favorite) all fit like a glove and the sheath kind of just disappears in your pocket.

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