- Joined
- Mar 28, 2001
- Messages
- 4,616
I have only been back taking orders for leather work for a few of months and have never started a new thread to display my work. In all of my endeavors over the years whether it's Kydex, knife making or leather sheath & holster work I have always tried to push myself to find ways to do things differently than others, for better or for worse. I have been working on some unique designs in my spare time from regular orders and thought I would share a few of them.
Hope you enjoy and I am looking forward to any feedback you may have. I'll apologize in advance for it being so long
If anyone else is like me I don't always need a big knife strapped to my belt when I am camping, hunting or working around the property. I know the idea of a strap is nothing new, but my goal was to only need to have one of them, and have it work with multiple sheaths.
I'm calling this the HaverStrap, you can wear it across your chest either strong side or cross draw depending on the sheath. It's easy on when you need it, easy off when you don't. As you'll see if a few of the pictures it's pretty versatile.
My goal with the AK47 was to have a design that was versatile. There is a standard vertical belt loop available for it, but with the same sheath a different attachment can be added to allow for a cross draw swinger design that hangs at an angle. The belt loop for the swinger clips in and out easy and rides on a nylon bushing. The natural balance position with my AK47 is at a 60 degree angle to the body. The 5 holes in the end of the sheath allow you to add counter balance (5 steel Chicago screws & washers included) to change the angle to your preference, or to accommodate a lanyard or other accessories that may change the way it hangs. It can also be quickly detached to use on the HaverStrap.
The Battle Saw presents a pretty unique challenge to leather. Based on personal testing and feedback from users who have tried various sheaths, the saw teeth over time will erode the leather. My first test sheath was showing signs of wear after 6-8 times of inserting the knife. What I did on this model is cut away the area around the saw teeth and added another layer of leather so the teeth do not touch leather at all. I also came up with a new style pin lock that uses marine grade shock cord. The pin goes through both sides of the leather & a tooth in the saw for rock solid retention, and stays completely out of the path of the blade when it is detached. Using a dogbone attachment the sheath also rides nicely in the HaverStrap. As with most of my large knife sheaths both sides of the opening are reinforced with all steel Chicago Screws for added strength.
The sheath shown is a prototype and unless someone requested it this size the final product will be about 20% smaller.
I wanted to come up with a pivoting design for mid-sized knives along the lines of a swinger style sheath, but not quite as floppy. This sheath is still really early in testing but I am calling it a pivot swinger, it's proving to be pretty comfortable.. The loop rides on a 1/2 nylon bushing between stainless Tee-Nuts. It has the ability to go horizontal when you are seated or take a fall, and easily spins back to vertical when you get up. You can also lock it to vertical, horizontal or an angle with para-cord depending on the situation.
Another design I have wanted to perfect is a good leather horizontal sheath. I have never been real happy with the look of traditional horizontal sheaths and also wanted something versatile since I personally like to vary the way I carry them. The way this sheath is made allows for it to be carried in any horizontal position you'd like by changing mount positions of the belt loop. grip forward, grip back, Strong side or cross draw, high, medium and low ride.. The aluminum stand offs keep the belt loop from pressing the sheath and the loop itself is Kydex reinforced to support the weight of the knife.
Finally, a couple I was just having fun with. The HG55 is a take off pancake style pistol holsters and is laminated with a mottled Italian Goat Skin that I thought looked great with the scales.
I also wanted to do something special for the SJTAC because I feel it is the most under rated all around knife Busse has made. Nothing special being it is just a swinger but as an homage to that sexy blade I decided to integrate the blade shape into the design of the belt loop.
Wow, that was even longer than I thought it'd be.. if you made it this far thanks!
Hope you enjoy and I am looking forward to any feedback you may have. I'll apologize in advance for it being so long
If anyone else is like me I don't always need a big knife strapped to my belt when I am camping, hunting or working around the property. I know the idea of a strap is nothing new, but my goal was to only need to have one of them, and have it work with multiple sheaths.
I'm calling this the HaverStrap, you can wear it across your chest either strong side or cross draw depending on the sheath. It's easy on when you need it, easy off when you don't. As you'll see if a few of the pictures it's pretty versatile.
My goal with the AK47 was to have a design that was versatile. There is a standard vertical belt loop available for it, but with the same sheath a different attachment can be added to allow for a cross draw swinger design that hangs at an angle. The belt loop for the swinger clips in and out easy and rides on a nylon bushing. The natural balance position with my AK47 is at a 60 degree angle to the body. The 5 holes in the end of the sheath allow you to add counter balance (5 steel Chicago screws & washers included) to change the angle to your preference, or to accommodate a lanyard or other accessories that may change the way it hangs. It can also be quickly detached to use on the HaverStrap.
The Battle Saw presents a pretty unique challenge to leather. Based on personal testing and feedback from users who have tried various sheaths, the saw teeth over time will erode the leather. My first test sheath was showing signs of wear after 6-8 times of inserting the knife. What I did on this model is cut away the area around the saw teeth and added another layer of leather so the teeth do not touch leather at all. I also came up with a new style pin lock that uses marine grade shock cord. The pin goes through both sides of the leather & a tooth in the saw for rock solid retention, and stays completely out of the path of the blade when it is detached. Using a dogbone attachment the sheath also rides nicely in the HaverStrap. As with most of my large knife sheaths both sides of the opening are reinforced with all steel Chicago Screws for added strength.
The sheath shown is a prototype and unless someone requested it this size the final product will be about 20% smaller.
I wanted to come up with a pivoting design for mid-sized knives along the lines of a swinger style sheath, but not quite as floppy. This sheath is still really early in testing but I am calling it a pivot swinger, it's proving to be pretty comfortable.. The loop rides on a 1/2 nylon bushing between stainless Tee-Nuts. It has the ability to go horizontal when you are seated or take a fall, and easily spins back to vertical when you get up. You can also lock it to vertical, horizontal or an angle with para-cord depending on the situation.
Another design I have wanted to perfect is a good leather horizontal sheath. I have never been real happy with the look of traditional horizontal sheaths and also wanted something versatile since I personally like to vary the way I carry them. The way this sheath is made allows for it to be carried in any horizontal position you'd like by changing mount positions of the belt loop. grip forward, grip back, Strong side or cross draw, high, medium and low ride.. The aluminum stand offs keep the belt loop from pressing the sheath and the loop itself is Kydex reinforced to support the weight of the knife.
Finally, a couple I was just having fun with. The HG55 is a take off pancake style pistol holsters and is laminated with a mottled Italian Goat Skin that I thought looked great with the scales.
I also wanted to do something special for the SJTAC because I feel it is the most under rated all around knife Busse has made. Nothing special being it is just a swinger but as an homage to that sexy blade I decided to integrate the blade shape into the design of the belt loop.
Wow, that was even longer than I thought it'd be.. if you made it this far thanks!
:thumbup:
