Waterproofing leather sheath

[MichalZ]

Hello

In need of some advice guys, I have my Spyderco Province on a way and want to know how to best look after my sheath and how to waterproof inside of it to avoid any rust build up.

Cheers

Michal

 

[Skidoosh]

I have used sno-seal, I heat the sheath, gob it into the sheath and then allow it to soak in.

 

[Horsewright]

I don't recommend doing anything to the inside of the sheath. You can make leather water resistant but not waterproof and have it remain leather. To prevent rust on the knife, wipe er down and dry er off, keep er lightly oiled. Don't store the knife longterm in the sheath.

 

[Alberta Ed]

Being a true leather sheath neurotic, I take my leather sheathes apart, melt in two or three coats of SnowSeal with a hair dryer* and stitch them back together with waxed nylon thread, using a cobbler's stitch. Still a good idea as Horsewright says to oil your blades and not store them in the sheath for any length of time. (*Do not use your SO's hair dryer unless you have consulted first.)

 

[MichalZ]

Thanks guys.

I dont intend to store my knife in sheath when not in use but i wanted to make the sheath as accommodating to not stainless steel as possible therefore the question.

 

[MolokaiRider]

I don't recommend doing anything to the inside of the sheath. You can make leather water resistant but not waterproof and have it remain leather. To prevent rust on the knife, wipe er down and dry er off, keep er lightly oiled. Don't store the knife longterm in the sheath.

Hey there Horsewright! First I would like to say your product line is outstanding. Your craftsmanship combines function and beauty equally.

I am curious on the reasoning on why not to treat the interior of a leather sheath. I consider you to be a master leather artist, and would appreciate any insight on your experience.

Does it make the leather too pliable? Cause corrosion on the knife? I’ve been melting in preservative on mine in the past few years and now I’m concerned I should not have.

 

[Unicorn161]

SnoSeal or other beeswax applied to leather warm enough to melt it.
Beeswax or carnauba on top of the leather and buffed. A few coats will help protect the surface from scratches too since the wax will be scuffed instead of the leather.

Camp Dry silicone based water proofer works very, very well to make leather water resistant.

 

[Horsewright]

Hey there Horsewright! First I would like to say your product line is outstanding. Your craftsmanship combines function and beauty equally.

I am curious on the reasoning on why not to treat the interior of a leather sheath. I consider you to be a master leather artist, and would appreciate any insight on your experience.

Does it make the leather too pliable? Cause corrosion on the knife? I’ve been melting in preservative on mine in the past few years and now I’m concerned I should not have.

Thanks for the kind words. This subject came up a while back and Paul Long also chimed in that he doesn't think ya should do anything to the inside of a sheath either. Paul's got seniority on me. He started bending dead cow in 51', I wasn't even born till 59' so he's got a couple years experience on me. I can't say your sheath is gonna fall apart if you treat the inside, but here's my thoughts. Part of what makes leather, leather is its ability to breathe. If you are treating both sides of the leather it's easy to retard this ability. So then think about this, any moisture that does get inside the sheath is trapped in there against the blade. A stainless blade will rust too, its stainless, not stainproof steel. It's also very easy to do too much and one of two things can happen ya end up with a soggy item or a stiff as cardboard item depending on the product used on the leather. Not what leather is suppose to be. I do have extensive experience with some of the other products that have been mentioned in this thread. As a yewt in college I spent several summers as a mountaineering/backpacking guide. I used these products on my boots. Slogging through snow, stream/river crossings, rain, all kind of moisture exposure. But eventually my boots would get stiff and then crack where they flexed. Happened a couple of times. Was reading an article a few years back and the maker of some of the boots I wore back then will no longer warranty their work if some of these products are used on them. I don't know, what they know, but makes a guy go hmmm? The article just mentioned it in passing and didn't go into any detail as to why.

Getting leather wet is not the end of the world that some folks think it is. Water doesn't harm leather, its letting the leather dry out without conditioning it that is harmful. I knew a custom saddle maker that also offered a cleaning service to some of the cowboys here in town. He'd take the saddle outside set it on a sawhorse and literally hose it off. Now these are $4000 saddles. Then he'd condition them while they were drying. I don't go to that extreme but when I clean our saddles I do have a big bucket of soapy (Dawn) water and a rag and thats what I clean the saddle with. I do the whole saddle and then condition while the leather is drying. Sometimes leather stuff is gonna get wet:

Ya know how in all the old movies the cowboy would always ride off west into the sunset? Well sometimes ya run out of west to ride on:

No leather products were harmed in the filming of this motion picture. We just came home and cleaned and conditioned our saddles, boots, leggings spur straps etc.

Anyhoo just my thoughts.

 

[MichalZ]

Thank you, it makes sense and I dont intend to argue with the voice of experience.
The knife I will be using is not stainless and I dont intend to storage the blade in a sheath, just use it out and about

 

[MolokaiRider]

Thanks for the kind words. This subject came up a while back and Paul Long also chimed in that he doesn't think ya should do anything to the inside of a sheath either. Paul's got seniority on me. He started bending dead cow in 51', I wasn't even born till 59' so he's got a couple years experience on me. I can't say your sheath is gonna fall apart if you treat the inside, but here's my thoughts. Part of what makes leather, leather is its ability to breathe. If you are treating both sides of the leather it's easy to retard this ability. So then think about this, any moisture that does get inside the sheath is trapped in there against the blade. A stainless blade will rust too, its stainless, not stainproof steel. It's also very easy to do too much and one of two things can happen ya end up with a soggy item or a stiff as cardboard item depending on the product used on the leather. Not what leather is suppose to be. I do have extensive experience with some of the other products that have been mentioned in this thread. As a yewt in college I spent several summers as a mountaineering/backpacking guide. I used these products on my boots. Slogging through snow, stream/river crossings, rain, all kind of moisture exposure. But eventually my boots would get stiff and then crack where they flexed. Happened a couple of times. Was reading an article a few years back and the maker of some of the boots I wore back then will no longer warranty their work if some of these products are used on them. I don't know, what they know, but makes a guy go hmmm? The article just mentioned it in passing and didn't go into any detail as to why.

Getting leather wet is not the end of the world that some folks think it is. Water doesn't harm leather, its letting the leather dry out without conditioning it that is harmful. I knew a custom saddle maker that also offered a cleaning service to some of the cowboys here in town. He'd take the saddle outside set it on a sawhorse and literally hose it off. Now these are $4000 saddles. Then he'd condition them while they were drying. I don't go to that extreme but when I clean our saddles I do have a big bucket of soapy (Dawn) water and a rag and thats what I clean the saddle with. I do the whole saddle and then condition while the leather is drying. Sometimes leather stuff is gonna get wet:

Ya know how in all the old movies the cowboy would always ride off west into the sunset? Well sometimes ya run out of west to ride on:

No leather products were harmed in the filming of this motion picture. We just came home and cleaned and conditioned our saddles, boots, leggings spur straps etc.

Anyhoo just my thoughts.

Thanks for the informative and thorough response sir!

Makes sense to me!

 

[Horsewright]

Thank you, it makes sense and I dont intend to argue with the voice of experience.
The knife I will be using is not stainless and I dont intend to storage the blade in a sheath, just use it out and about

You bet. I edc a high carbon blade myself. Just wipe it off after use if ya can and oil now and then

Thanks for the informative and thorough response sir!

Makes sense to me!

Ya bet!