A common modification of the original sheath on the KA-BAR BK2 is to remove the floppy/overlarge nylon-webbing belt loop that is riveted to the small removable Glass Filled Nylon (GFN) bracket that itself is secured with four tiny Chicago screws (also called screw-posts) to the available holes in the Glass Filled Nylon (GFN) sheath itself. (The rivets in the bracket are also torn-out and tossed.) A large Tek-Lok is then mounted vertically onto the aforementioned bracket ... which has to be temporarily popped-off the sheath for the procedure.
It's a simple, clean and inexpensive tweak, and the result is a high-riding beefy knife whose sheath is solidly clamped (like a limpet) to (optimally) a basic beefy big black nylon belt. I use the thick double-layer Uncle Mike's gunbelt. The solidly clamped-in knife sits in a solidly clamped-on (as in zero "play") sheath, but can be removed with just a firm tug using one hand. It's great.
But those hard-to-find Chicago screws loosen up with the flexing of the system, and can quietly fall out (don't ask me how I know) unless they're secured with Loc-Tite or fingernail polish or whatever. The worse culprits (actually, the only ones, so far for me) are them three Tek-Lok screw-posts that secure the Tek-Lok to the bracket on the sheath, because they cannot be accessed to tighten them regularly. The bracket has to be removed for the procedure, and then replaced afterwards. It's a real PITA hassle ... with the four tiny screw-posts being removed and then being put back in two minutes later ... all the while trying not to have one of the eight tiny parts roll off the table and down into the heating ducts.
After it happened to me a second time, I went through the whole routine but added a nice coat of fingernail polish to the the relevant threads before reassembling the unit. It looked secure, but I still didn't trust it. And then I had a swell Aha!! moment. There was a nice fat unobtrusive "Ranger Band" already on the sheath ... because I thought it might come in handy someday and it looked hard-core-cool in the meantime.
I slipped it off and stretched it out a bit (making it thinner ... just amazing) and was able to just barely slide it down from above into the assembled system ... in such a way that it was wrapped around the head and base-post of the three vulnerable Tek-Lok screw-posts ... covering both the screw-head on one end and the internally-threaded post base on the other end. Snugging top and bottom together under rubbery tension ...
Am I a genius, or what?
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/586816-101-uses-for-quot-Ranger-Bands-quot
It's a simple, clean and inexpensive tweak, and the result is a high-riding beefy knife whose sheath is solidly clamped (like a limpet) to (optimally) a basic beefy big black nylon belt. I use the thick double-layer Uncle Mike's gunbelt. The solidly clamped-in knife sits in a solidly clamped-on (as in zero "play") sheath, but can be removed with just a firm tug using one hand. It's great.
But those hard-to-find Chicago screws loosen up with the flexing of the system, and can quietly fall out (don't ask me how I know) unless they're secured with Loc-Tite or fingernail polish or whatever. The worse culprits (actually, the only ones, so far for me) are them three Tek-Lok screw-posts that secure the Tek-Lok to the bracket on the sheath, because they cannot be accessed to tighten them regularly. The bracket has to be removed for the procedure, and then replaced afterwards. It's a real PITA hassle ... with the four tiny screw-posts being removed and then being put back in two minutes later ... all the while trying not to have one of the eight tiny parts roll off the table and down into the heating ducts.
After it happened to me a second time, I went through the whole routine but added a nice coat of fingernail polish to the the relevant threads before reassembling the unit. It looked secure, but I still didn't trust it. And then I had a swell Aha!! moment. There was a nice fat unobtrusive "Ranger Band" already on the sheath ... because I thought it might come in handy someday and it looked hard-core-cool in the meantime.
I slipped it off and stretched it out a bit (making it thinner ... just amazing) and was able to just barely slide it down from above into the assembled system ... in such a way that it was wrapped around the head and base-post of the three vulnerable Tek-Lok screw-posts ... covering both the screw-head on one end and the internally-threaded post base on the other end. Snugging top and bottom together under rubbery tension ...
Am I a genius, or what?
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/586816-101-uses-for-quot-Ranger-Bands-quot
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