What defines a good sheath fit?

M

Morgane

Joined
May 29, 2005
Messages
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This is something that came up in another thread. What's the ideal Khukuri-sheath fit?

Right now I've got 3 Khukuris at home and they seem to run a spectrum:

A 9'' HI Baby Chitlangi that's basically locked into it's sheath, I almost have to grasp the sheath fully to draw (and go against Uncle Bill's advice)

A 16'' Not bad lionhead. This khuk will stay in it's sheath even if the mouth is pointed down. A steady pull will draw it. Used to be a lot more tight.

A 17'' Hi Kothimoda. With the mouth of the sheath pointed towards the ground, the blade will stay in, but even a squeeze of the sheath will free it. I like this fit best.
 
Morgane, in an early email correspondence with Uncle Bill, he politely corrected me when I referred to the scabbard as a sheath. It's like gun guys cringing when someone calls a magazine a "clip." :D It's a leather covered wood scabbard. A sheath would just be leather.

I guess different people have different criteria, but my favorite is a snug fit, with the knife staying in place even inverted, but that draws with just a little effort. I guess exactly what I would expect from a good hunting knife. Would you want your favorite hunting knife to fall out if you squeezed the sheath? Although some knives go into the sheath so tightly that you have to secure the bottom of it to pull the knife out.

However, to be fair, my favorite carry sheaths are the pouch type ones, and although looser those usually are fairly snug. Did you see the cool pouch type sheath that Nasty showed a pic of the other day that he made for his customized JKM? I don't guess that knife would fall out too easily if inverted. I like khukuris to fit about the same way, which sounds about like your #3, but just slightly tighter.

Ask yourself this: if your scabbarded 17" kothimoda was on the edge of a table, and was bumped and started to fall handle down, and you reached for it and got it at the junction of handle and scabbard, would the knife keep falling and cut the bejesus out of your hand? On my ideal scabbard it wouldn't.

Regards,

Norm

BTW, my baby Chitlangis are the same way, too tight!
 
You defined it - what you like best is the right fit.

I require (not prefer) that a "field" khuk stay in its sheath when I hold it upside-down and shake it, for safety purposes. My khuks are sometimes very sharp. If one falls out unexpectedly someone could get hurt badly. It must stay in whether I'm upside-down, rightside-up, in the back of a truck, driving a truck, climbing a tree, sliding down a hill, crawling through the mud, wading through a pond, doing the Funky Chicken, whatever. It must be tight enough to stay in, but I don't want it any tighter than necessary...yes, I want to have my cake and eat it too. It takes me a lot of work to get my scabbards right where I want them.

If it's something that sits in the truck or house and only gets carried a short distance to the job, a loose fit is preferable. I enjoy smoothly drawing a khuk, lopping off a branch or dropping a small tree in one stroke, and just as easily returning the khuk to its scabbard, in less time than it takes to tell it. This requires a very loose fit and is not safe for "energetic" movement. It's probably fine for hiking and whatnot unless you're planning on falling down a lot. (If you pack as much bourbon on your hiking and camping trips as I do, this is worthy of consideration.)

The best fit is the one that you like the most. The toughest part is figuring out just what exactly that is. Once you've got that (and it sounds like you do), the rest is easy - just make the rest of your scabbards the same.

IMO looser is better; it's far easier to tighten a scabbard than to loosen one.

P.S. If any of you gun guys calls a magazine a clip from here on out, you'll be getting my boot in your behind.
 
You can tighten a scabbard by dunking it in water or an oil, and wrapping it with rubber surgical tubing... there's info here by searching.

Once got a perfect M43 khuks as a discounted blem. Not a dang thing wrong with it... unless you hold it upside down. Feet, beware.


Ad Astra
 
Sheath fit. I don't know. The snug fit Norm and Dave talked about is good. On the other hand, when I'm really bushwaching and little stones and dirt and branches are flying everywhere, or its raining, then a snug fit can become a fit that make the blade hard to draw under emergency.

A snug fit in the dry Mojave is what kind of fit in the rainy Pacific Northwest? You guys don't want the khuk falling on you if the rig is upside down. I've never had a khuk fall out, despite falling, and tumbling down a slope. Sometimes I am very happy the khuk is 'loose' and will come out no matter what happens.

I think things are only going to get even better under Yangdu though, so it would not surprise me to see all aspects of the khuk improve. The Villager AK with the matte finish horn handle I got several months ago had a habaki bolster and a snug sheath fit.

I kinda miss that khuk. Was 18" and weighed 28 oz. Had a convex grind and would chop like the dickens. Gave it to a friend. Have another excuse to go shopping someday, now don't I?

munk
 
A few things come to mind from your answers so far:

Sheath vs. Scabbard. I actually sat for a minute or two before titling my thread. Technically, Khukuri are housed in rigid scabbards, but they are knives not swords. Knives get sheaths, and so it went. Svashtar and Uncle Bill win the debate. I like the word scabbard better anyway.

In my younger days, I preferred easy-access knives, but it sucks having to draw before starting a sprint. It looks like they feel the same way in Nepal too.

I'll try working with the habaki on my Kothimoda to see if a more positive fit can be acheived, before following Ad Astra's advice. Something has to be done about the baby chit though. I've tried slathering on some Oz leather conditioner already. Maybe if I give it another try using a wedge or two to open the scabbard up a bit?
 
As an old-time amateur sheath and scabbard maker, I can state with some degree of confidence that while a tight fit will almost always loosen up with use, the opposite is not true. I have never had a loose sheath get tighter. So, I tend to try for an initial fit that might seem too snug at first.
To tighten a loose sheath, I would suggest a piece of thin leather inside the throat. When you get the fit you like, glue the leather in place with any glue you like. Elmer's works fine, but if you think you need real waterproof bond, try an outdoor glue like Tightbond II or III. I wouldn't buy a whole bottle of glue for a tiny project like this, though. In a pinch, a piece or 2 of tape will make a temporary fix.
 
You're right, even the synthetic sheaths get looser over time. For a while, my cheapie had a electrical tape habaki to stretch the throat open. I thought about using a soft leather tab suede side out to give a better grip to the kothimoda, and maybe help the keep the blade polish too.

From what you say, I'm still wedging the baby chit and that should work unless my suspicions are right and it's the ratio of blade curve to scabbard length that's the problem with it.
 
When Bri discusses scabbards and sheathes, I listen.

Another "trick," if it can be called that, is to soak the scabbard in warm water for a few minutes, wrap tightly with something that won't mar the leather (I prefer surgical tubing) and let it dry under tension. This will tighten a scabbard up nicely.

That being said, the leather shim is a whole lot easier and works every bit as well.
 
When Bri discusses scabbards and sheathes, I listen.>>>>> Dave Rishar

Me too. I even listen when he talks politics. Now, that's what I call being friends.




munk
 
Well it turns out that all my khukuris have a decent fit now. The kothimoda's habaki can sort of be set into the scabbard mouth for a better fit.

The 9'' baby Chitlangi was more work. Thanks to the advice of a cantinista, I was able to wedge open the scabbard to open it up a bit. That wasn't enough though, I had to get in there and cut out the leather lining of the scabbard. What a mess. There were big lumps of leather and glue in there scuffing up my blade and making it a chore to draw. Now that it's cleaned up, it's a proper fit.

Thanks to everyone who wrote into my first tread : )
 
Bri in Chi said:
I have never had a loose sheath get tighter. So, I tend to try for an initial fit that might seem too snug at first.
Click to expand...

Got a reasonably snug CAK, left it on the dresser in the desert with the A/C running 24/7 for a couple of months. This is commonly referred to as less than 10% humidity.:eek: Definitely snugged it up. Glad it didn't split. Needed a fair bit of Lexol to get it reconditioned to where it's snug , but not too snug...slips a bit out on the "invert and shake" test. :thumbup:
 
Dave Rishar said:
P.S. If any of you gun guys calls a magazine a clip from here on out, you'll be getting my boot in your behind.
Click to expand...

:eek:

I had several loose papers on my desk this morning. I kept them together with a papermagazine.

:) :rolleyes:
 
The darn clip magazine slur...like the 45 acp and 45 Colt confusion...will never go away...

I don't get worked up over these things any more. Not after Bruise imortalized the concept; 'thingie'.....

If I'm not feeling sharp, and the words aren't landing correctly, it is only important that my brain still processes well enough to grab the clip magazine thingie and stuff it into the reciever bay... boom boom good, when the Zombies are coming over the ridge.

Course, thinking like that eventually leads to sticking any cartridge at hand into the same chamber....not good. Real bad boom boom mess potential.


Which is why the Marines start you off with; 'this is my rifle, and this is my gun, one is for shooting, and one is for fun....."


munk
 
munk said:
The darn clip magazine slur...like the 45 acp and 45 Colt confusion...will never go away...
Click to expand...

I'm on a crusade here. I can't be bargained with. I can't be reasoned with. I don't feel pity, or remorse, or fear. There's a new sheriff in town. He has a size 14 boot that's looking for an @ss to call home.

Remember, fellow forumites - square peg, round hole. Magazine, not clip. Only YOU! can educate the masses. (Unless we're talking Garands. Then it's acceptable.)

:cool: (Had to add the smiley just in case someone took me seriously.)
 
jw556 said:
Got a reasonably snug CAK, left it on the dresser in the desert with the A/C running 24/7 for a couple of months. This is commonly referred to as less than 10% humidity.:eek: Definitely snugged it up. Glad it didn't split. Needed a fair bit of Lexol to get it reconditioned to where it's snug , but not too snug...slips a bit out on the "invert and shake" test. :thumbup:
Click to expand...
Well, there is always the exception that proves the rule
:rolleyes:
IMHO, Lexol or other oil-based treatments are poison to a knife sheath or pistol holster. It makes the leather flexible and floppy, which is exactly what you don't want.
 
BruiseLeee said:
:eek:

I had several loose papers on my desk this morning. I kept them together with a papermagazine.

:) :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
I was reading an interesting article in Time clip today.
:D
 
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