Tightening a kydex sheath

[stilgar]

I have a kydex sheath that's too loose to retain the knife well.

Is there a effective way to correct this? It's not going to require a lot of adjustment,but right now it's a little scary!

 

[cavetech]

Heat the area you want tighter with a heat gun and mold the kydex to a tighter form fitting shape and hold in place until it's cool. Heat = soft. When kydex cools it is rigid again and holds it's new shape. You can heat/mold/cool as often as you need until it's right.

Or glue leather pieces inside the mouth of the sheath.

 

[Yvsa]

Or you can use your wife/girlfriend's hair dryer if it gets hot enough. I tightened up the scabbard for my Busse E-BM with ours as well as adjusting a couple of others.

 

[Daniel Koster]

Almost all kydex sheaths will loosen somewhat with time.

Here's what I'd do to fix it:

Sheath the knife and hold it by the handle in your right hand (if right-handed).

With your left thumb and index finger - pinch the sheath near the mouth, but at the bottom (usual culprit for loose sheaths) and try to draw the knife. (please make sure this is a safe action first)

If the "fit" improves any, that's where you need to do the re-fit. If not, keep "pinching" in different places until you find the spot(s) that need fixing.

The best solution would be a rivet. If that's not an option, then heat up the area with a blow-dryer on "high" until the kydex turns soft, and then clamp it together.

You might need to do this a few times to get it just right.

Be careful to only heat up the area you want to change. Kydex "forgets" its shape quickly. So, if you heat up too much, you might ruin the fit for the rest of the knife.

 

[stilgar]

Thanks guys! It fits much better now.