Providing sheath with your knives?

I find that if I don't get on the sheath right away ,as soon as I am done with the knife , as part of the actual build,then a knife will languish for a long time and I will be in limbo about the sheath .Therefore ,on any knife of importance ,I wont consider myself as being "done" until my leatherwork is done.
P.S.I often start my basic leatheworking patterns as soon as I know the dimensions of the finished knife , but long before the knife is even done .
 
Interesting thoughts... and thanks again for the compliments everyone.

I hate how one questions leads to another, and the question about selling and pricing knives never goes away for the newer makers it seems (I read through that thread recently). I have discussed sheath pricing and what not with Paul Long so I feel pretty confident about that aspect.
 
I spent sometime looking at your work. Keep on keeping on. You continue to offer practical and good looking sheaths as you are and you will be selling knives with your sheaths not sheaths with your knives. It will happen. Win win.
 
So, I'm not much of a maker, or buyer of knives, but from where I sit, the price point has a lot to do with what I would expect. If I was buying a 50 dollar knife, I wouldn't expect a sheath, particularly a leather one, simple kydex maybe... if I'm paying 200 dollars I'm going to expect a good sheath. if I'm paying 2000, I'm going to expect a sheath and maybe a presentation box. Just my two cents, spend them as you will!
 
TheWeatherman said:
Do you think that providing a sheath is a selling point for most customers? I would think and have experienced that people don't really want to buy a knife that doesn't have a sheath for it. ( That could just be my work though ).
Click to expand...

i found a bunch of basic sheathes on Ebay and offer them with my knives for an extra $5. there is a local man here who does excellent leather work, i include his card if people want a custom sheath.
 
Scott,

Anyway you can pass the sheath info on to me? I am only doing this as a hobby, but want to provide sheaths for family and friends with the knives I make. I currently have a need for a 7.75" OAL knife I just made.
 
I bought a small, light, hand made skinning knife a while back. Came with a really, really, heavy leather sheath. Well made, but I might as well have a heavy camp knife on my belt. So, out of my sheath drawer I pulled a simple thin leather sheath. Fit well and fit what I was looking for and all's well.

Then, I bought a forged 5" blade handmade "frontier" knife. Right now my favorite all around knife. But the sheath was a "frontier style". Rawhide, rough stitching, beads, tassels, those kind of things. Deerskin lined, fitted perfectly. I could tell the knifemaker took a lot of time and effort. But I wouldn't use it for everyday carry. Perfect for re-enactment, Rendevous, etc. but not perfect for most carry situations. To me. So now, when carrying, it resides in the HD sheath from the skinner.

I guess my point is, the sheathmaker and the knifeowner very well could have different visions about how the knife will be used and carried. It seems a waste to build a quality sheath that will be replaced or never used. Although, I would NEVER!! throw away a sheath!:eek:
 
I guess it really comes down to the fact that: I like making the sheaths but I will make them as well as I can and make them look good.
 
I do not make or provide sheaths with my knives. This is because it is not profitable for me, I do not enjoy it, and I make an ugly sheath IMO. I have teamed up with sheathmakers who I allow to sell their work in my forum. They are reasonably priced and very different style sheath makers. They have patterns for my models, and you can order one at time of purchase. Its been a blessing. My friend Rick Lowe makes thin lightweight sheaths for my knives, and it has been an arrangement we both enjoy. Heber builds them like tanks, straight bushcrafter style with square bottoms. I like that style. Both men make a sheath that improves the look of my knife. I love Carl Rechsteiners pieces of art, and the sheath is awe inspiring. Masterpieces, with the sheath so appropoe to the knife. Rick Marchand does this as well. I'm not that kind of craftsman though. My sheaths lately look like boat anchors to me.
 
Sheaths have been a HUGE issue for me since I started making them.

Some customers are more interested in waiting for a knife and getting a sheath of their choice, while others want their knife delivered the day before they bought it.

I'm currently catering to the user market, and with custom fixed blades, I feel a sheath is particularly important. With guns, every gun of a particular model will fit a given sheath, although a custom will still fit slightly nicer. With custom knives, there are no "cookie cutter" sheaths, other than maybe loose fit leather, and even then you'd need at least a few patterns to keep things kosher.

I feel my leather and kydex is on par with the bulk of the sheath making community. I don't claim to be a wizard, but customer feedback on my work has been at least as positive as it has for my knives.

The problem is, I'm a one man shop, full time maker. I don't have time (at all) to drop everything as each knife is sold, and this invariably means customers are going to be left waiting and unhappy. Sometimes I'm too slow, other times the customer is too fast. A lot of the time, I find balance.

I have my schedule tightly regimented, weekends for shop cleaning, design work/planning and sheaths, weekdays for all other aspects of business. I write rough quarterly and detailed monthly schedules, as it is the only way I have found so far to keep things working smoothly for me personally. So if a knife is sold at the end of the week, it might be the following weekend before I can work on it. If anything went wrong during the week, even to the tune of a couple hours, then it could potentially be pushed another week.

My solution so far has been gradual price increases and less choice in the sheath, plus warnings that there will be a wait. It is a big enough liability to my customer service that I am considering just canning sheath work altogether, which is a shame. I do enjoy it, but not in its current state.
 
sirupatespecial said:
I guess my point is, the sheathmaker and the knifeowner very well could have different visions about how the knife will be used and carried. It seems a waste to build a quality sheath that will be replaced or never used. Although, I would NEVER!! throw away a sheath!:eek:
Click to expand...

This is where I stand too. As a knifemaker, it is less important to me that I make what I personally like, but rather strive to provide the customer with exactly what they are looking for. The sheath should match the knife, granted, but some may want to carry an artsy knife as their edc in kydex. IMHO, its all Dependant on what they need.
 
As a purchaser of custom knives, I appreciate having a sheath available even on the Exchange. If I would like something a little different than the offered sheath, I will ask the maker if they can make it. I understand that it will take extra time and cost more. That is just part of the process. If you want a suit, you could walk out with it off the rack, or you could have alterations made, or you could have one custom made.

I mostly pocket carry small fixed blades, so it is a tad uncomfortable w/o a sheath. I have purchased one knife w/o a sheath, and it languishes in the display case.

I purchased a knife for myself from Ian before Christmas and requested a sheath. It took a little while, but it was the holidays and I wasn't in a rush. It is a great sheath, and I appreciate it more because I got what I really wanted.

The OP (Brian's) knives and sheaths look great. I just happen to have a similar custom currently on order.
 
Strigamort said:
Why not hit up a sheath maker and carry it?
Click to expand...

In order of importance:
1. Laziness
2. More knives than I can carry on me at one time right now (normally 4 to 7 at any given time)
3. Still trying to figure out which style sheath to get (distinctive blade shape)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top