The perfect CRK Sheath

Sharpski

Sharpski

Joined
Jun 10, 2012
Messages
784
So as many of you know I recently and still am selling off a lot of my collection to fund an custom engagement ring. It turned out beautiful. I designed the whole thing and it turned really pretty amazing, I impressed even myself. Anyway part of the proposal included some pretty heavy leather crafting. It turns out I am fairly decent at working with leather.

My point is that now after my project for the proposal is complete I thought I would move to making sheaths. Since I mainly carry CRKs I was wondering what t he family thought was the perfect CRK sheath/pouch?

Pouch vs sheath?
Horizontal carry belt sheath vs vertical?
Pocket sheath/wallet?
Conceal carry belt carry?

I have a lot of ideas and can do anything from simple tooling and stamping to more complex carving and initials. I would be interested to hear what People thought of when asked about the perfect sebenza of mnandi sheath?! Creatitivity is encouraged!
 
Sharpski. . . Congrats on the proposal--did she say YES?:p

I am not much of a sheath guy, but I prefer the slip sheath CRK has. My ideas would be a more slim fit around the exterior edges to make it more the same size as the knife itself, rather than have the excess material at the edges. Also, it would be nice to have a top cover that folds over the opening and slides into a loop. The thinner the material, the better.
 
hah yes she did say yes. We have been together for a long time so it was more like "it's about time" haha but no she was very excited and somewhat surprised.

I agree when talking about slip sheaths slim is the way to go and a top cover would be nice and easy enough to add. I personally like a little thicker material than the stock CRK type. Its very supple has a nice finish, but wont hold as well when you shape it to the knife. Also you can't tool that leather or add embellishments. But I would go with a pretty light weight tooling leather for sure!

For the top cover how to you feel about adding a snap for securing the flap vs just tucking it under a "strap" ?
 
MostMenAreRuthless said:
Sharpski. . . Congrats on the proposal--did she say YES?:p

I am not much of a sheath guy, but I prefer the slip sheath CRK has. My ideas would be a more slim fit around the exterior edges to make it more the same size as the knife itself, rather than have the excess material at the edges. Also, it would be nice to have a top cover that folds over the opening and slides into a loop. The thinner the material, the better.
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This sounds ideal. I hate the bulk of the full leather sheaths but I wish CRK would trim down the slip sheaths and perhaps make a tighter fit/add a pocket clip to the sheath.
 
supercoup said:
This sounds ideal. I hate the bulk of the full leather sheaths but I wish CRK would trim down the slip sheaths and perhaps make a tighter fit/add a pocket clip to the sheath.
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I almost brought this up but I wanted to check to make sure the place I buy my supplies carries a clip I would be able to install. (they do) However it would add a little bulk to install in most likely. A belt loop would add almost no extra bulk but would limit it to a vertical belt carry.

I did this for a leatherman I have and it turned out pretty good. I will try to post a picture later.
 
supercoup said:
This sounds ideal. I hate the bulk of the full leather sheaths but I wish CRK would trim down the slip sheaths and perhaps make a tighter fit/add a pocket clip to the sheath.
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Ding, Ding, Ding, Ding! Yes--add a pocket clip.

Regarding a snap button--no, I am not a fan of the snap enclosures--it would be preferable to have the flap fold into a loop.

So, Sharpski--when do Supercoup and I get our prototypes to field-test for you?
 
MostMenAreRuthless said:
Ding, Ding, Ding, Ding! Yes--add a pocket clip.

Regarding a snap button--no, I am not a fan of the snap enclosures--it would be preferable to have the flap fold into a loop.

So, Sharpski--when do Supercoup and I get our prototypes to field-test for you?
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Hahah well thats a good question. I am in the design phase now and things are pretty hot right now with planning a stuff but I have some time off in a few weeks so I was thinking about cranking them out then. I posted now to get as many ideas as I can and so I can come up with a plan and get materials.

How do you guys feel about stamping... I have some pretty cool stamps ranging from patriotic eagles to bada$$ looking snake.
What about texture? options are limitless here....I may just have to get some prototypes out pretty soon!
 
Sharpski said:
Hahah well thats a good question. I am in the design phase now and things are pretty hot right now with planning a stuff but I have some time off in a few weeks so I was thinking about cranking them out then. I posted now to get as many ideas as I can and so I can come up with a plan and get materials.

How do you guys feel about stamping... I have some pretty cool stamps ranging from patriotic eagles to bada$$ looking snake.
What about texture? options are limitless here....I may just have to get some prototypes out pretty soon!
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I like clean and simple. Less is more philosophy. As far as texture--are you familiar with Castano leather? They use it in high end vehicles and as a saddle leather. It has a smooth texture, but takes on a personality of its own with colors, scratches, etc. It is very beautiful and very durable.
 
MostMenAreRuthless said:
I like clean and simple. Less is more philosophy. As far as texture--are you familiar with Castano leather? They use it in high end vehicles and as a saddle leather. It has a smooth texture, but takes on a personality of its own with colors, scratches, etc. It is very beautiful and very durable.
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That is a thought. I am not sure where I can get it but I bet it wouldn't be impossible to track down.
 
I have two custom Paul Long slip sheaths for use with my Mnandis and find them to be absolutely perfect.
 
I think a wallet type sheath would be really cool. I think something like this Paul Long system would work well.
353EA257-57C6-46BC-906C-5F388F1107FE-68561-00000796351B5C4C_zpsdfa8c7c2.jpg
 
Well ideally with the clip on the sheath you wouldn't need it on the knife so the extra bulk of the new clip would be counteracted by the removal of the old knife clip.


Personally I would love and pay for a nice proto that was clean, simple and tight with a decent clip on it. Can I call first dibs? Or at least second after MostMenAreRuthless? :cool:
 
So here is a practice sheath I did mainly to practice stiching. It is very rough, I don't even think that I finished the edges haha but I think it's pretty tight. It actually has good retention as well. Again this very unfinished and was meant to practice a more complicated stitch I developed. You cant tell from these angles but it is done in such a way that where the two edges meet there is an "X". It actually serves a great function. This leatherman is pretty large and is hard to carry in my pocket but on my belt I don't even noticed. I just wished I took a little extra time on the details. Oh well...




ugh I really hesitate posting these it's pretty rough. But my question is do people like it this tight which is basically meant to have retention or a little looser so that the stitch is ran on a groove outlining the knife instead of running on the edge?
 
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Most Men and supercoup your at the top of my list haha. I am still a few weeks off most likely.

Bali Flipper I like the idea of the sheath/wallet. Although I would have to get some thinner and more finished leather for that project.
 
I'd be next in line for the Mnandi clipped sheath. I would use it just like the normal clip on a knife, so I'd prefer the sheath to be a bit looser so I could get the knife out of my pocket without the sheath.
 
rnbtexas said:
I'd be next in line for the Mnandi clipped sheath. I would use it just like the normal clip on a knife, so I'd prefer the sheath to be a bit looser so I could get the knife out of my pocket without the sheath.
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yea, I don't know if you are familar with the sheaths that come with the William Henry knives but they are very similar! That is a GREAT idea for the mnandi!


Now what about leather type. Do people like the thinner less conforming leather with some texture or the leather like the leatherman sheath is made out of.

The problem with the more finished leather like pictured in the Paul Long sheath is that it doesn't hold a shape as well, it cannot be dyed or refinished, and it cannot be tooled or stamped. However it looks more refined.
 
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Sharpski--that one is a little rough sir. However, I like how tight it is. Add a clip and polish the edges and you may be on to something.
 
MostMenAreRuthless said:
Sharpski--that one is a little rough sir. However, I like how tight it is. Add a clip and polish the edges and you may be on to something.
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hahah! I know I know that is why I didn't want to post it. it was literally cut, shaped, and stitched. No beveling, burnishing, or polishing. I have perfected this so I am not worried about this. I assure you that is not the quality I am talking about here. Just the tightness. The pocket clip would be easy to install and very clean looking. I just have not done it before so I am unsure about how good the clip that I can order will work. I will have to try it out.
 
Beyond leather type. Where do people fall on having the butt of the knife stick out of the pocket sheath so when you clip it in your pocket it sticks out similar to how it would if you where just clipping the sebenza in your pocket with the standard CRK clip.
 
Sharpski said:
Beyond leather type. Where do people fall on having the butt of the knife stick out of the pocket sheath so when you clip it in your pocket it sticks out similar to how it would if you where just clipping the sebenza in your pocket with the standard CRK clip.
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That sounds ideal to me. I'd almost prefer the clip to be deep carry but with the butt of the knife stickin out as little as possible, with just enough purchase to grab on to.

Also, the sheath can't be too tight because then you'd be taking both knife and sheath out which defeats the whole purpose.

I'm envisioning like a secondary, stationary, discrete pocket almost.
 
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