Selling knives without sheathes

[K-Man]

I make custom sheaths for a local custom knifemaker. He only makes one of a kind knives, so no two are the same. He brings me the knife and provides some very basic parameters, and lets me do the rest. He likes the exotic skins on the sheaths.

With another knifemaker, he makes pretty much the same type/size knife all the time. So his sheaths are plain in comparison to those above, but that's what he wants. His thought is if the customer wants a more "custom" sheath, they can contact me or another leathercrafter for that.

I've often seen exquisite knives with a less than admirable sheath with it. All the custom knifemakers that I do work for only want to put their efforts into the knife, and rightly so.

I would suggest trying to find a leathercrafter who will work with you. There's all kinds of ways you can set up the deal. It just depends on what you want for a sheath.

Here's a few samples of what I've done previously, though they pale in comparison to Mr. Long's or Mr. Burrows work.

 

[David Schott]

Those are soem NICE sheaths. I love the black rayskin one more than any other! Shoot me an email with your contact info...I dont see myself getting any better at sheaths any time soon, haha!

 

[Barkes Knife Shop]

I use the nylon cases with the green hunters pattern which looks great as in the outdoorsman. But I been thinking about making a leather sleebe just for transporting purposes. God bless have a great day.

Barkes :thumbup:
http://my.hsonline.net/wizard/knifeshop.htm
1.812.526.6390

 

[Mark Williams]

You cant go wrong with a sheath from Sandy Morrissey. He is a great guy to boot.

 

[tnmike]

Ditto all that on Sandy. He is a MASTER leathersmith and a lot of fun to be around.

 

[Frank Eaton]

Since we are showing, this is one of the wife's with a dagger I just finished.

 

[wnease]

It's a tough question...the sheath is much more personal than the knife. Almost any knife can be handled by any person, but I find many people can't use certain sheaths. For example, most handle designs are ambidextrous, but most sheaths are not. An overweight person can't wear a high ride sheath. Belt widths vary and loops need to be just right. Some people want leather, some want synthetic. Then again I rarely can sell a blade unless it has a sheath, so I go ahead and invest my time and materials in a sheath that might not be right for the person who falls in love with the knife. Maybe it's just part of doing business, like damage at knife shows from butterfingers.

 

[K-Man]

TikTock, email sent.

 

[Raymond Richard]

Ivan, I've always struggled making sheaths. Its not that I can't its just a pain in the ass that effect the fingers. Have you done any looking in Brazil for a sheath maker? Are most your sales in the US? I've thought about going with bags myself.

 

[Ivan Campos]

Thanks a lot everybody for your input.
After all I heard I am sure offering the knives without sheathes would not be commercially acceptable so for now I think I have no choice but keep making my sheaths myself but I´ll limit the use of Kydex for the small ones. I will also keep looking for someone willing to learn how to make them.
And I´ll also keep ranting about it here every time I have to make a sheath...

 

[jhiggins]

I learned sheathmaking under a deadline pressure. Thank God for Chuck Burrow's video!