Sheath > design ideas?

D

Dixieblade57

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Jun 20, 2007
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I am building a very large Bowie and will end up being approx. 18" in length OA. I am thinking that I would like to design the sheath as a cross draw because of the length of the blade and to make it more like something an ole Mountain Man might carry. I have seen cross draw holsters, although I do not remember examining one on the back side!
I can't seem to get it through my head how it’s going to look on the back!
Anyone have any ideas?
Anyone have pictures of something similar?
Someone want to hand draw a sketch?
I just seem to have a mental block on this design, I mean I know what I want the sheaths overall design to look like and I can see the front side; I just can’t envision the backside! I would appreciate any thoughts or help anyone want to throw towards this.
 
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Hi Dixieblade57, that sounds like a beast of a knife!

Heres what I do for cross draw, this one doesn't have all that much angle to it, but its easy to design one that has more. Just increase the angle till you have the desired cant of the sheath.

rc4pouchback.jpg


Others might chime in with a better system, we've got some talented makers here. :)
 
Okay, 18 inches overall is a pretty big, long knife. what I do , and what I would recommend to you is to build a sash sheath. A sash sheath can be as plain or fancy as you like and the back is no problem because there is absolutely nothing back there except the back piece of the sheath.
There is no belt loop or any other kind of carry attachment except a Sam Browne stud high center of the sheath near the top about 1 1/2" down from the throat. This is the old style carry when men wore sashes instead of belts and the knife and sheath just slips into/under the sash and locks up on the protruding stud. This allows quite a bit of a long knife to ride above the belt line and also affords just about any angle carry you desire. I have built hundreds of this style and if you search threads originated by Canine Forge in the custom knife sub forum above you'll see several I built for him.

My email is below in my sig line. If you will send me your email I will send you some photos of both sash and cross draw.

Good Luck.

Paul
 
sheathmaker said:
Okay, 18 inches overall is a pretty big, long knife. what I do , and what I would recommend to you is to build a sash sheath. A sash sheath can be as plain or fancy as you like and the back is no problem because there is absolutely nothing back there except the back piece of the sheath.
There is no belt loop or any other kind of carry attachment except a Sam Browne stud high center of the sheath near the top about 1 1/2" down from the throat. This is the old style carry when men wore sashes instead of belts and the knife and sheath just slips into/under the sash and locks up on the protruding stud. This allows quite a bit of a long knife to ride above the belt line and also affords just about any angle carry you desire. I have built hundreds of this style and if you search threads originated by Canine Forge in the custom knife sub forum above you'll see several I built for him.

My email is below in my sig line. If you will send me your email I will send you some photos of both sash and cross draw.

Good Luck.

Paul
Click to expand...


Eamil sent
 
DC KNIVES said:
I agree with Paul, and a frog (collar) could be made if needed.I do alot of these as well.Dave:)
a frog (collar) could be made if needed
This one was done with no beltloop and just a stud.

voodoo2.jpg






http://dcknivesandleather.blademakers.com/
Click to expand...

OK I may be dense here but, I think I know what you are talking about when you say "a frog (collar) could be made if needed" but would love to see a pic of the stud and frog (collar) you are talking about,just never studied one before. I have seen the setup you are mentioning I think but, now that I am getting ready to build up this sheath my mind is totaly blank as too how it looks!!!!!!
 
and another option that may help when carrying a large knife like that is to have the sheath swivel,
Rob Hudson would make his sheaths in that manner, the belt loop part would
be attached to the sheath via a thick copper rivet. Works great!
I repaired a guys sheath that was torn, had a D-ring on there and the stitching tore
apart, not my original sheath mind you, but one that came with the knife or rather set of knives.

here is a before and after shot of this repair job I did for his sheath;

IMG_1511.jpg


IMG_1512.jpg


IMG_1513.jpg


so it allows the knife to swivel up and out of the way when you go to sit down.
G2
 
Thanks Gary, I will keep that idea in mind. I am all ready beginning to see this sheath will definitely have to be fully thought out before I begin construction! That is why I am soliciting ideas on it before I begin construction!
 
Yep, always good to mill it around before starting in!

When Rob would do that style sheath, I've made a few of them as well,
make the open of the sheath so that when the knife is inserted, the handle
doesn't push the belt loop back, you end up with a nice wide opening which
certainly makes it easier to get that point back into the sheath!

what I would do would be to make a tapered set of welts that start out quite
thick and sand it down for a smooth transition till you have one solid welt that
goes all the way around. Stack the wedge shape up at the opening and taper
it down the length of the sheath to about 3" or so. I'd post an image but they
are long since gone but hopefully you get the idea, you make it so the handle
isn't pressing hard back against the belt loop when the knife is fully inserted,
it should just be kissing it lightly;)

Good luck! Sounds like a doooozzzy of a knife!!!

PS and depending on how tall the person is it's being made for, if they are short
in stature, you may want to get a small wheel put at the end of the sheath so it
can trail along behind when they walk ;)

G2
 
I must have CRS as I swore I already posted this!
Gary, thanks for the ideas both of them, the swivel and the wheel! :D I usually know what I want before I get started but this one has my mind in a spin!
OK I don't have CRS you had posted again and I didn't read closely! I think you call that, "head in @$$ and mind in China", or at least that is what I use to call it on the job site, when one of my men made a major blunder!!!!!!!!!!Thanks for the tips.
 
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