Sheath Upgrade: too much time on my hands

N

New Pig Hunter

Joined
Dec 4, 2002
Messages
1,350
Well, my Christmas and New Year's vacation time is coming to an end, which is another way of saying I've had lots of free time to think too much and get myself into trouble.

Being "inventive" and having a supply of good leather and a hardware store nearby, I came up with a project of sorts.
I decided I wanted all my SOG knife sheaths to have a particular feature which my SOG Tech II sheath has: two retaining straps (with snap fasteners) around the handle.

So that's what I did, I added another retaining strap (with snap fasteners) around the handle to the sheaths of the Bowie, Recon Bowie, Tigershark, and Tech I.
And I added such a strap to the X-42 Field Knife sheath also. That particular sheath is mostly leather with a dab of Kydex and the knife itself is retained in-place only by a tight fit.... too easy to lose the knife in my opinion.

So that's what I did on my winter vacation.

Cheers,

Carl
 
Very cool !:D , Question, how did you cut your leather to make these straps ? And do you mean two separate straps around each handle now ? If so, thats a good idea !!:) , Because you would never accidently unsnap both straps at the same time would you? Making your knives un-losable:D . Great idea !
Robbie Roberson
 
I'll fire up the el cheapo digital camera tomorrow and get a few pics.

As for cutting the leather I just got out the tin snips. Nothing fancy.
Yes: the Tigershark, Bowie, Recon Bowie, and Tech I sheaths now have two retaining straps keeping the knife in the sheath. The Field Knife sheath has the tight fit + 1 new retaining strap high up on the handle.

The Tech I already had one strap high up around the handle, I added a second closer to the hilt (sheesh, is that the right word, I'm such a bonehead sometimes..).
The Tigershark, Bowie, and Recon Bowie original straps go across the hilt, so I added the second strap up high on the handle.
The Field Knife strap was added high up on handle.

All straps were dyed black. The piece of the snap on the outside of the new strap is chrome and is spray-painted black. Again, nothing fancy but it works just fine.

Also, I have a SEAL 2000 but did not add a second strap. The Kydex sheath itself retains/grips the knife blade very very securely, plus one retaining strap on the handle. I believe that combination to be very secure so I didn't add a second handle strap. And if I ever do it will be nylon, not leather.

AND this afternoon I came up with another modification to the Tigershark sheath. Because that sheath is so long I added a nylon thigh strap to it, similar to the thigh strap of a gunfighter's holster. The ends of the strap use a plastic quick disconnect thingie for retention/securing around the thigh (just like a tactical pistol holster).
What's neat about it is the strap/sheath attachment method. I used a bolt (with nut epoxy'ed in place) to attach 1/2 of a snap to the bottom of the sheath. The thigh strap itself has the other 1/2 of the snap attached to it.
In this way I can snap thigh strap onto the sheath and use it, or easily/entirely remove it from the sheath if I don't want to use it. Kinda clever if I do say so myself.

Cheers,

Carl
 
Carl, very cool sounding modifications, one thing for sure, you are not going to lose those babies now !:) Show us some pics of your babies first chance you get, and please leave them out of the hot sauce and beef juice, I want to see a shiny:D , knife. I will be checkin !:eek: :p
Robbie Roberson
 
I'll get the camera fired up this beautiful sunny SoCal morning and take some pics.... I'll forward them to BobbyB and Heber, I don't have the capabilities to post 'em.

I'll make sure everything is clean. I'll toss everything in the dishwasher right now and use the "super clean" cycle... Twice !!

Cheers,

Carl
 
Originally posted by New Pig Hunter
I'll get the camera fired up this beautiful sunny SoCal morning and take some pics.... I'll forward them to BobbyB and Heber, I don't have the capabilities to post 'em.

I'll make sure everything is clean. I'll toss everything in the dishwasher right now and use the "super clean" cycle... Twice !!

Cheers,

Carl
Click to expand...

Carl, send the pics on over. I can't wait to see the mods you have done. . . . But the Dish washer?:eek: Have you lost your mind?:confused: :p
 
Heber, I'll send pics over tomorrow from the office.... better and faster equipment.

Dishwasher ?? Hey, that's merely another test and probably the best one there is.
All this nonsense about sharpness and cutting ability and corrosion resistance and electrical conductivity and all the other tests you read about.... what a joke foisted on unsuspecting buyers by the "experts."

nosir, the REAL test is a knife's ability to survive multiple washings in the modern dishwasher !!
A cheap knife simply cannot stand up to the rigors of the modern dishwasher on the "heavy duty" cycle !!

Cheers,

Carl
 
Here are the pics that Carl (New Pig Hunter) was talking about. I'll let him to the talking:

SOG_closeup___Bowie.jpg


SOG_closeup___Bowie_side.jpg


SOG_closeup___Field_Knife.jpg


SOG_closeup___Field_Knife_side.jpg
 
And here are the last of them. Carl, you done good.:)

Watchbook_SOG_Meridian_2.jpg


Bowie_Seal_steak.jpg


Bowie_steak_2.jpg


SOG_Seal_on_plate_1.jpg
 
Well Carl, You have made some super good improvements on your sheaths, and everything seemed to fit perfect, I would definatly reccomend you for leather work, upgrades, or modifications, to anyone that needed fine work done. That is the good part.

The bad part is, I am going to have to take away points because you left those knives in such a mess, look at all that destruction ! :eek: , And what in the world is all that juice doing on those blades !:eek: , I sure don't have to ask who won that fight !

One last question, when you have company over to eat, do you always supply the "cutlery" ?:p ;)

Robbie Roberson:)
 
Many Hurrahs for Heber in posting the pics !!

Many Boo's to New Pig Hunter for the beyond-lousy picture quality.... somebody force that guy to get a decent camera.

If ya need leather work, Heber might be interested. I also have a pal here in SoCal goes by the moniker of Levergun.... he just made me an awesome gunbelt and holster for my Ruger six-shooter.

So, back to SOG's... yep, Heber 'n I are firm believers that SOG's are for using and abusing. After all, there's only one way to ensure that Mr SOG is providing everyone with a super-quality product: take 'em out and give 'em a good thrashing and trashing.
But a dinner table workout isn't much of a test. It's when the dinner guests start throwing the SOG's at the dart board... now there's quality being tested. Then ya toss 'em in the dishwasher and resharpen 'em.

Yep, so far the SOG's have passed not only the flying-through-the-air tests, but have done so with flying colors !!

Cheers,

Carl
 
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