- Joined
- Mar 12, 2013
- Messages
- 1,167
Hey guys!
So I had some questions from various people the other day about how kydex dealt with low temps. I've used my knives down to probably around -15ºC with no problems, but decided to do some more investigation around lower temperatures.
Figured this info might be handy for other people so I'd post the video and results here.
[video=youtube;kseVtEp24FA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kseVtEp24FA[/video]
The kydex sheath still seems to work well to -40ºC or lower. -40ºC is the lowest temperature I could measure in the shop, I think the actual temperature is likely to be closer to -50ºC or lower in the dry ice. Retention of the sheath was unchanged, as was the overall fit. The kydex does not seem to be terribly weak even at the low temps.
In terms of impact strength though the kydex definitely gets more brittle at lower temperatures. It still has strength but an impact will crack it at low temps where it wouldn't at room temperature. Normal use doesn't seem to pose a risk for creating cracks, only fairly severe impacts.
I don't think that I would recommend a kydex sheath for someone that's expecting to see really heavy duty use (like a soldier for instance) when they're also going to see really low temperatures. But I think for most people kydex will still perform just fine. For really heavy use in low temps I'm not sure what the bet option would be, seems that leather becomes a likely candidate provided it's waterproofed well.
I kept the sheath at -40ºC (or colder I guess) for the last 48 hours, a further 24 hours since I finished the video. Seems to behave exactly the same still which is good. Not sure if there would be any effects from even longer exposure to low temps but I doubt it at this point.
Any feedback you guys have in terms of your experiences with Kydex in cold temperatures would be appreciated!
So I had some questions from various people the other day about how kydex dealt with low temps. I've used my knives down to probably around -15ºC with no problems, but decided to do some more investigation around lower temperatures.
Figured this info might be handy for other people so I'd post the video and results here.
[video=youtube;kseVtEp24FA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kseVtEp24FA[/video]
The kydex sheath still seems to work well to -40ºC or lower. -40ºC is the lowest temperature I could measure in the shop, I think the actual temperature is likely to be closer to -50ºC or lower in the dry ice. Retention of the sheath was unchanged, as was the overall fit. The kydex does not seem to be terribly weak even at the low temps.
In terms of impact strength though the kydex definitely gets more brittle at lower temperatures. It still has strength but an impact will crack it at low temps where it wouldn't at room temperature. Normal use doesn't seem to pose a risk for creating cracks, only fairly severe impacts.
I don't think that I would recommend a kydex sheath for someone that's expecting to see really heavy duty use (like a soldier for instance) when they're also going to see really low temperatures. But I think for most people kydex will still perform just fine. For really heavy use in low temps I'm not sure what the bet option would be, seems that leather becomes a likely candidate provided it's waterproofed well.
I kept the sheath at -40ºC (or colder I guess) for the last 48 hours, a further 24 hours since I finished the video. Seems to behave exactly the same still which is good. Not sure if there would be any effects from even longer exposure to low temps but I doubt it at this point.
Any feedback you guys have in terms of your experiences with Kydex in cold temperatures would be appreciated!
