One of them.
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Very disappointed in cold steel secure ex sheath!
- Thread starter MichaelMyers
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Im going with crappy designed pocket clips and texture of scales. Major issue and stops me from carrying mine until i can modify.
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Just a narrowing of the sheath into a v channel that's more acute than the blade secondary bevel will prevent any contact with the edge. The way it is now there is some room for the blade so it doesn't contact the edge when full inserted and clicked in place. But the edge can still rub when being unsheathed. Or use a non abrasive material in the first place. Plastic should not dull knives that have been heat treated to 57-60 HRC.
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I'm surprised to see that Customer service says they know nothing or heard nothing negative about the material securex or the previous ex materials used on their blades...
I personally have phoned them and talked to dealers on the hatred of the sheaths throughout the years since they changed from cordura and leather sheaths...
When I get a cold steel with a securex sheath , the first thing I do is make a leather one and throw the supplied sheath in a box of other useless sheaths.
I personally have phoned them and talked to dealers on the hatred of the sheaths throughout the years since they changed from cordura and leather sheaths...
When I get a cold steel with a securex sheath , the first thing I do is make a leather one and throw the supplied sheath in a box of other useless sheaths.
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I don't really have any complaints about the sheath; I don't drag the edge on my leather sheaths when drawing fixed blades, either, so why would I on my kydex or secure-ex?
I will certainly agree about the pocket clips, though! Some of them are great (Recon 1, Paradox, Espadas, Rajah II), but the one on the AK-47 is pure evil and the reason it's one of my least carried folders. I wish it had the Recon 1's clip.
I will certainly agree about the pocket clips, though! Some of them are great (Recon 1, Paradox, Espadas, Rajah II), but the one on the AK-47 is pure evil and the reason it's one of my least carried folders. I wish it had the Recon 1's clip.
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- May 24, 2013
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that's why I've sold all my CS and Becker knives. the sheaths were always dulling the blades. I think it's cause of the glass.
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That looks great. Now I wish they made one for the Natchez bowie.
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Typical customer service response. They can't be that dumb not to know unless Lynn is too busy beating up manikins to even care about the issue.
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In Mr. Thompson's defence, he's a very busy man. Spends all day shooting, hunting and sparring with world class martial arts trainers. There's nobody I'm more jealous of.
Glad you like it. I agree. I prefer the Cordura to the Securex.So, a long overdue pic and HUGE thanks to ursamajor for solving my Secure-Ex woes!
This is a *fantastic* sheath, and exactly what should be with the knife. Why are these only with the SM III's?!
I'll chime in here, I have the same knife and same issue with the Secure-Ex sheath. The top of it appears to be coming apart (this was from day one, basically) so the "snap" I assume the knife should have when sheathing is just not there. It would not be something you can strap on upside-down, as the knife would simply fall right out. Now it is a heavier knife, and I have had 2 other smaller CS knives with Secure-Ex sheaths that I used as neck knives (an Urban Pal, now long gone, and a Tokyo Spike, which I own and use to this day), so perhaps you have to take that into account. But there is very little "secure" about the Shadow's Secure-Ex.
Also, since the Shadow is a double-edged knife, there's simply no way to extract it quickly without it presumptively rubbing the lining of the sheath. However, I think it is important to point out that I haven't observed any serious blade rub or dulling issues with any of the knives mentioned above. The Secure-Ex does seem to be of a higher quality than the Kydex sheaths I use for neck-carry of my Chives, but since the Secure-Ex generally contains a fixed-blade I hold them to different standards.
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Yeah, the SS is a knife I'm very slow and careful about drawing from the sheath. I tend to put slight pressure on the side of the blade when drawing it just to be safe, but it would be nice if there were liners inside the sheaths to prevent this issue in the first place.
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We really need to launch a Crusade for Cordura! 
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- Aug 4, 2013
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Isn't the cordura going to collect dirt and retain moisture? That doesn't sound like it's ideal for storing your knife in.
Cordura sheaths have been around for decades and CS certainly made use them. I still have 3 from the 1980s/90s that are
in perfectly fine condition. They don't collect dirt or retain moisture much more than other sheath materials and dry out pretty
quickly if soaked. Otherwise I doubt CS still would be still shipping the Sanmai TM with them. CS was ahead of the game in adopting the Secure-Ex design as the popularity of synthetic sheaths with their versatile attachment systems, both military and bushcraft trends.
But clearly Cold Steel should re-examine the material currently used and design.
in perfectly fine condition. They don't collect dirt or retain moisture much more than other sheath materials and dry out pretty
quickly if soaked. Otherwise I doubt CS still would be still shipping the Sanmai TM with them. CS was ahead of the game in adopting the Secure-Ex design as the popularity of synthetic sheaths with their versatile attachment systems, both military and bushcraft trends.
But clearly Cold Steel should re-examine the material currently used and design.
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- Aug 4, 2013
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Compare being in the field with a kydex vs cordura sheath, they do retain dirt and moisture MUCH more than kydex/securex/boltaron. While hiking up to your stand you get your knife and sheath all muddy (you may not have this issue in the city of course). You can just rinse the mud off of the kydex and shake it dry whereas the cordura not so much.
I agree the Cold Steel Cordura sheaths are excellent. Those for the San Mai III Trailmasters at least: Evidence of their attention to detail is the front snap button has a felt padding around it on the inside, and the padding is well-attached enough it does not shear off from the blade friction: Most custom knives make no provision to prevent scratching like this, and the button's steel leaves a blade mark most of the time...
Nutn'fancy and most youtubers rave about the Cold Steel Securex sheaths, but I find all such sheaths useless, including unfortunately all Kydex sheaths: They are all the same to me, and I've had some of the best Kydex by big-name makers, with full nylon outside covering sometimes (Frank Sigman tactical sheath)... If any particles gets into your sheath, the blade will be badly scratched because the material is basically unyielding. To my mind Plastic or kydex is not proper sheath material because they are unyielding: For roughly functional blades they will do, but the idea should be to minimize sheath damage to the blade, even when the blade is dirty... Not to mention hard materials are more prone to audible rattling...
Even most leathers are borderline scratchy if they rub the blade, as leather is hard enough to scratch, and will often catch particles to scratch more as well... Nylon does better if you manage to glue some felt or soft cloth in a nicely even manner to the inside, but then you can do the same with leather...
The best sheath I have ever seen, barring modifications like adding felt or soft cloths inside, is this sheath made by Andrew Clifford: The sheath locks rigidly on the guard, so the blade is dead stable yet has nothing but air all around it: This means that even a heavily dirty blade will not use the sheath to scratch itself to hell, as the blade does not even touch the empty space all around it, and yet the guard interlocking action prevents all rattles... The best of all worlds... :
Note however that black-dyed sheath are inherently more water-resistant than most brown sheaths, unless the brown is really heavily treated as on this ACK sheath. Even Randall's brown sheaths will go slightly softer from being drenched, and will look worse for wear even after fully drying, while their black leather is by comparison totally impervious to water. In case of doubt I would always pick black leather over brown.
Gaston
Nutn'fancy and most youtubers rave about the Cold Steel Securex sheaths, but I find all such sheaths useless, including unfortunately all Kydex sheaths: They are all the same to me, and I've had some of the best Kydex by big-name makers, with full nylon outside covering sometimes (Frank Sigman tactical sheath)... If any particles gets into your sheath, the blade will be badly scratched because the material is basically unyielding. To my mind Plastic or kydex is not proper sheath material because they are unyielding: For roughly functional blades they will do, but the idea should be to minimize sheath damage to the blade, even when the blade is dirty... Not to mention hard materials are more prone to audible rattling...
Even most leathers are borderline scratchy if they rub the blade, as leather is hard enough to scratch, and will often catch particles to scratch more as well... Nylon does better if you manage to glue some felt or soft cloth in a nicely even manner to the inside, but then you can do the same with leather...
The best sheath I have ever seen, barring modifications like adding felt or soft cloths inside, is this sheath made by Andrew Clifford: The sheath locks rigidly on the guard, so the blade is dead stable yet has nothing but air all around it: This means that even a heavily dirty blade will not use the sheath to scratch itself to hell, as the blade does not even touch the empty space all around it, and yet the guard interlocking action prevents all rattles... The best of all worlds... :
Note however that black-dyed sheath are inherently more water-resistant than most brown sheaths, unless the brown is really heavily treated as on this ACK sheath. Even Randall's brown sheaths will go slightly softer from being drenched, and will look worse for wear even after fully drying, while their black leather is by comparison totally impervious to water. In case of doubt I would always pick black leather over brown.
Gaston
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I'd say you absolutely could just rinse off the cordura, though it wouldn't dry with a shake, it'd have to dry at home for a bit. However as long as you don't get mud *in* the thing, it should be fine until you get back and can rinse and dry it properly. People have been using leather sheaths for ages, it's really not much different from an extremely low maintenance leather sheath.
Everything is trade off. Cordura and leather are much more silent to draw a blade from than Kydex or Securex.