Why are sheaths so expensive?

230grains

230grains

Joined
Jul 10, 2009
Messages
3,094
I understand totally, they're worth what people are willing to pay for them, but I was just going through my holsters that I have, and besides the leather milt sparks ones, all the gun kydex from serpa to comp-tac has cost less or right about the same as either of my Busse sheaths. Hell even the supertuck deluxe i'm wearing right now which is more than a folded piece of plastic with an aftermarket clip on it that destroys anything satin you put in it only costs a little bit more than some aftermarket busse kydex.

Sorry for the rant, and it's no offense to any of the sheath makers here, I just got annoyed when I realized I just spent 200+ on the boss street and am going to have to spend an additional 1/4 of the cost of the KNIFE on some folded kydex.

We need a scrapyard of sheaths, not very pretty at all, hell even some rough edges but will allow you to carry a knife and not fall out. I'd be happy with even the cheap plastic offering Rat gives with their izula, that thing holds on tight as all hell and doesn't mar the finish.

Back to tactical cardboard.
 
I knew that was coming, as it generally does on any msg board. Someone has a complaint about ANYTHING or a suggestion and it always leads back to "don't like it, do it yourself". I spend all day playing with machinery, the last thing I want to do is take up a kydex hobby.
 
The only way to really appreciate the cost of a sheath is to make one yourself - invest the money in what materials and "tools" you need to accomplish this task in an amount of time that doesn't in the end cost you more than what you would have paid someone to do it.
 
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Custom/handmade items cost money. Make your own to save money, or buy crappy ones. . . or get something good and pay a little more. These are the options. All that brand name gun kydex is mass produced in a factory.
 
My post came off a little bit wrong I think. No I don't feel the kydex is "worth" the price that's charged, however, people including myself will still pay it because it's convenient. I will continue to pay the price begrudgingly over and over for each knife I buy, because I'm too lazy to make my own, and it wouldn't be as good as one I bought. What I really wanted to get across is that it'd be awesome if someone could make a budget line of kydex for people who don't really care what their sheaths look like, as long as they function. Same working sheath, just less refined.
 
IMHO the kydex sheaths for Busse or other knives are expensive because of the low volume. They have to be made individually by hand. Many kydex holsters are mass produced on an assembly line. High volume equals lower cost.

Do a search for custom made kydex holsters. Their cost is right up there with knife sheaths. I can find good quality holsters for $75 and up.
 
They would never work the same. The fit takes skill and time to produce. You don't think it is worth the price, but you don't appreciate the difference a quality sheath makes compared to a cheaper one.
 
230grains said:
I knew that was coming, as it generally does on any msg board. Someone has a complaint about ANYTHING or a suggestion and it always leads back to "don't like it, do it yourself". I spend all day playing with machinery, the last thing I want to do is take up a kydex hobby.
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I see where you're coming from. My personal take was the "if I made this, I would do xxxxx" The nice thing about it is you CAN take a stab at making your own. The bad thing is as you dig deeper (my experience) to get the results you may desire/require more of an investment in time and equipment. Then you have to ask yourself would it have been less of an investment to just buy one outright.

I took kydex as a hobby, I pay someone to mow my lawn for what that's worth...
 
I guess it's because i've never owned a cheaper one, all I have to compare them to are production holsters and sheaths, all which fit better, don't scratch the finish as much and cost less.

I really don't want to tick off all the sheath makers here so I end up blacklisted for life, I was just wondering why there isn't an econo line is all, but I guess my questions have been answered.
 
UffDa said:
IMHO the kydex sheaths for Busse or other knives are expensive because of the low volume. They have to be made individually by hand. Many kydex holsters are mass produced on an assembly line. High volume equals lower cost.

Do a search for custom made kydex holsters. Their cost is right up there with knife sheaths.
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:thumbup:

The average Busse is quite large as well and so the sheaths take more time and materials to complete.

Isn't the Izula sheath molded plastic? There is no way that making a mold for each Busse model would save money over what a custom sheath runs.
 
Rat Finkenstein said:
Custom/handmade items cost money. Make your own to save money, or buy crappy ones. . . or get something good and pay a little more. These are the options. All that brand name gun kydex is mass produced in a factory.
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I think that hits it right there in the last sentence. There really aren't the quantity of a given Busse model to do a factory run of fitted sheaths. As a result, all fitted sheaths for Busse knives are custom jobs. In contrast, there are probably hundreds of thousands of whatever gun you are carrying - enough to justify factory production which results in lower prices. Get a rare pistol and you'd probably pay a mint for the custom work.

Cheers
 
Most of my EDC sheaths are from Leatherman and are exceptional craftsmanship and a deal at the prices paid for them.
Dwayne covers all price spectrums with his lineup.
I have little experience buying kydex so I can't comment on that.
 
show me a production kydex sheath that fits better and scratches less than an Okuden sheath.

Production kydex is crap.
 
Rat Finkenstein said:
show me a production kydex sheath that fits better and scratches less than an Okuden sheath.

Production kydex is crap.
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Hardly crap, I'm not talking about 18 dollar fobus paddle holsters (Which really aren't all that bad). I do defensive draw/shoot drills about 200 times a week, the finish does NOT show wear from drawing. I don't have any experience with Okuden so I can't compare, I only have two buy browns which are both good quality sheaths, but the fit doesn't compare IMO to my crossbreeds or comp-tacs.
 
CarpScot said:
:thumbup:

The average Busse is quite large as well and so the sheaths take more time and materials to complete.

Isn't the Izula sheath molded plastic? There is no way that making a mold for each Busse model would save money over what a custom sheath runs.
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I don't think it has too much to do with size, as Boss street/shiva rex sheaths are only going for ten dollars less than BWBM sheaths.
 
No, it's a holster made from kydex and leather, which is more complicated IMO to a knife sheath, and as far as I know is not MASS PRODUCED. I think I paid a little bit more for it than most sheaths are going for.
 
THAT is NOT more complicated than a sheath.

edit: it's a sheet of leather with two fabricated clips (crosses give it away) with a 3x5 section of kydex and 5 bolts to the leather. It's a nice holster, btw.
 
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