Twist on a belt loop adapter

[Gary W. Graley]

Hi folks, this Christmas I picked up a lovely French knife called Le Trappeur by Chambriards out of Thiers France, it came with a horizontal style sheath, not a bad sheath but they way the people that made the sheath, Max Capdebarthes also in France, they made it so that the leather swells out both sides of the knife, where I usually form the leather so the back side is flat and the raised portion is to the outside. Any ways, their belt loop would just allow an inch and a half size belt, but, when worn, it's VERY tight on the belt and the pressure is also then applied to the knife, being a stag handled knife I think it's thicker than what they normally planned for this sheath, wood scales would probably worked better, but, I like stag

SO, while I could make a new sheath, being busy with many things, time wasn't available right now, and I wanted to carry the knife, as it's very nice. So I came up with an adapter, leather that slides into the belt loop and then folds down to snap into the other end of the leather strip. I made it so the bottom end folds up a little, this way the belt rides against the bottom of that hook of leather and not against the snap, which might cause the snap to unsnap when you didn't want it to. I may try to incorporate this type of thing on some of my vertical sheaths, instead of just a belt loop folded down, I'd have it fold down and then have a smaller bit of leather sewn on the bottom to fold up and have the other piece of snap there. This would make it a lot handier if you wanted or needed to unhook your sheath from your belt but didn't want to undo your belt. Here are some shots of the adapter I made up, works great and allows me to carry this large folder.

And it doesn't make it extend much farther out than before, and as you can see, I made the top section a little longer so you can grab that to unsnap the belt loop. And even if it gets unsnap accidentally, it will still hang on the belt pretty good too.

G2

sorry, edited to add some shots of the knife, well a trio of Chambriards

Here are a couple quick shots, the stag is very nice on all three, Le Trappeur, Le Compagnon, Le Compact

as is the file worked spines

 

[harronek]

Brilliant idea .:thumbup:

Those knives are a work of art , I'm jealous

 

[Gary W. Graley]

Thanks, took me a LONG time to save up, sold off most of my other knives to get these three, not all at once, and I use only funds from either knife sales or leather sheaths, never from my day job paycheck, saves much grief at home, so there isn't any guilt associated in buying these which keeps house and family happy, just means it takes me a while to save until I have the money, buying on credit is not a good idea !
G2

 

[numbersman]

I know that feeling. I take private students to pay for my hobby. Last year I didn't get any, so this year I saved every cent from the few I did get. I have an order coming, it just arrived in country a few days ago. Paramilitary 2, Izula II, plus a few more toys. Patience is a virtue!
Edit: oops, I meant I didn't get any in 2012, I got a few in 2013!

 

[Gary W. Graley]

That's great that I'm not alone in this thinking Hope your stuff arrives and clears those Custom agents quickly !!!
G2

 

[Gary W. Graley]

Similar loop adapter just made for my Bradford Knives Guardian 3
You slide the one end through the belt loop and then fold it down and snap it into place. Also, if you needed to remove it, say to leave it in the car while you go into the store, you can just unsnap and remove it from your belt. It's about 1 1/2" wide piece of leather with snap fastener.

If you go to make one, put the underside snap on first and then when you fold down the top, the bottom snap will mark the leather where the top snap needs to go.

as you can see here, your belt would hit the bottom of the loop so it shouldn't unsnap the snap

For the Review of that knife, follow this link

G2

 

[harronek]

Cool idea yet again Gary .
Its interesting to see a company use a leather horizontal cross draw sheath as their standard issue .
How do you rate the sheath ?

Ken

 

[Gary W. Graley]

Thanks Ken, well the sheath isn't made by Bradford Knives proper, but is out sourced locally, there is a plastic liner inside to help prevent tip from stabbing through the sides, the forming, on this one, works pretty good and the knife has good retention. Over all there are a few things that make it not a custom type sheath;

Stitching is machine stitched, which looks good but they have the spacing outside the thread line is suspect, you can see where it runs close to the very edge.

The belt loop is very tight, on this one I was able to get my belt through and of course the adapter, the previous one I had it was a bit tighter.

They do have a welt that runs all the way around but I do not think that any of the layers are glued, isn't a problem at this time, but if the thread gives the sheath may also come apart, again, that's if the thread gives way.

The edging of the sheath is basically raw, no burnishing was attempted, haven't tried that yet on this sheath myself.

Appears to have just a water proofing coating applied, smells a little like neatsfoot, I do not think that they dyed the leather on these.

Short version, it's a very functional sheath, one that will serve it's purpose well.

And me being the cobbler as it were, I wear my shoes/sheaths I have until they are plum worn out before I "have to" make another one

G2