Upright In Combat, Sheathed In Peace

[TAH]

I know that a lot knifemakers don't consider themselves leathersmiths, but there have been several times that I have purchased a beautiful knife (some by very famous makers) only to be disappointed by the sheath that goes with it. It seems they are either poor quality or just plain ugly. Sure you can have another one made, but that usually requires sending your knife away, paying more money, and waiting 6-8 weeks. That's no fun! To me, the sheath says as much about the knife as the knife does. It can make or break the overall appearance of the package.

Question is which knifemakers offer top quality, good looking sheathes with their knives?

 

[Sid Post]

I have been favorably impressed by a lot of Kydex work.

For leather, you really need an artisan who knows and appreciates leather. A lot of knife makers are execellant machinists and metalurgists but, those skills and passions doen't appear to transfer to leather as easily as it does with Kydex. There is a lot of good leatherwork out there, sometimes you just have to look a little harder to find it.

Since I shop for the knife first and foremost, that is what I am looing for in a knifemaker. If the sheaths they are offer are not sufficient for my needs and desires, I will get a sheath custom made after I have the knife. The delay involved ususally isn't a big concern for me after waiting for the knife to be made. I can play with it for a while and then send it off at my convenience when I will be away on travel or just terrribly busy at work when I won't have time to enjoy my new knife.

I know some knifemakers have Kenny Rowe make the sheaths for them. Kenny is not the only good leather sheath maker, just one name I remember at the moment. When you comission your next knife, why don't you ask the knifemaker who they use (if they don't do the work themselves) and, have them work with a leather artisan and yourself to build a sheath to your specs in parallel to the knife construction (as much as feasible)?

Stay Sharp,
Sid

 

[matthew rapaport]

I agree with Sid. You can't expect a master knife maker to also be a master leather worker, or even a master kydex moulder, though the latter is a little easier and so you tend to see well made kydex from a knife maker more than well done leather.

If a knife maker happens also to be a master with leather, so much the better, but I don't hold it against the knife maker if they are not. I go to a knife maker because they make (or can make) a knife that I want, and I'll go to a sheath maker to get the right sheath for it if necessary. That being said, I do think knife makers ought to offer their knives explicitly without sheaths for a little less money than they would sell the knife with a sheath. This gives those buyers who know they want a custom sheath a little more buying leeway and helps spread the money around a bit. I'm all for letting a person exhibit his/her best skills and employing the complimentary skills of others to make the whole even better than it would be otherwise.

 

[bquinlan]

Bob Dozier makes kydex sheathes for all of his knives. From the looks of mine I would say that he's as much an artist in kydex as in steel. Very impressive work!

--Bob Q

 

[Normark]

Hey Tah....

Thats why there are guys like Me, Sastre, Rowe Sandy and G2...

All professional sheathiers in their own right.

Sure there are plenty of knifemakers who do Absolutely fantastic work with sheaths,, but even guys like Dan Winkler gets at least some of his sheaths done by a sheathmaker.And Don't they look Sweet??!!

For a knifemaker to make a Great sheath for his knife,, it's going to take him an hour or two at least to get it together and fit properly...

An hour or two to a knifemaker relates to possibly another knife or two that can be ground or finished..

Take for instance one of my knifemakers who drops off 75-80 knives to me, and goes back to the grinder while I do an A1 job on his knives.. A job that he knows is going to be done correct, and will reflect the high quality of his work.

I often tell knifemakers that my sheaths will help sell their knives,,for the simple fact that I can usually do a better, quicker and a nicer job than the maker can... It's all I do,,so I have to be good at it...

A True Custom sheathier can sometimes do miracles on a knife that would otherwise be passed up due to a poorly made or just plain ugly sheath..

Hey lets face it,, whos got the time to do everything themselves..I know if I was a knifemaker,, I'd be letting someone who knows sheaths to do the work for me..Especially when a good sheath is going to make the customer happy and help sell my work.

I got into this business purely by accident,,after years of being Sick To Death with cheap, offshore made production sheaths. A thrown out 12"X12" piece of tan kydex from a hospital wall and a little tutoring and encouragement and bingo I'm making sheaths, pretty decent sheaths I would hope.....

So from my standpoint,, the knife is only as good as the sheath it's riding in... The best knife,, is only a knife in a Crappy sheath...

*Rant Mode OFF*



ttyle

Eric....

 

[Greg Covington]

I think that both ways are okay....but sheath making is not much harder than knifemaking.

I remember a show about 4 years back where a well known knifemaker was offering criticism to my knives (criticism is okay...but this guy was a dork) but while his knives were pretty nice, his sheathes were total crap. I mean, so bad that they looked only slightly better than the type you get with a Pakistan knife.

I have always done both the knife and leather and I consider them to be equal in importance.

 

[kile]

If you are into small knives Don Cowles makes some of the best leather sheaths I have ever seen. I was very impressed by both the knife and the sheath I got from him. I have never really been impressed by a sheath before.
Kyle