Best Sheath Material

Greykilt

Greykilt

Joined
Dec 12, 2013
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Folks seem to be very enamored with the scandi style bush crafter type knives and I own a few myself. My question is what do you prefer as a sheath material,
Leather?
Kydex?
Balistic Nylon, such as the Spec Ops styles?
Hard plastic (vulcanite) such as the Morakniv sheaths?
Or something entirely different?

 
Personally, I like leather by a huge margin. It doesn't damage the edge nor scratch the blade.

EDIT: and I can design/make what I want (generally speaking....).
 
I want to prefer leather. Despite the fact they potentially have problems with damp and germs I still want to prefer leather. Not all leather mind. That nasty scrotum stuff so many Pukko type knives come clothed in turns me cold. I like the stuff that is akin to saddlery or tack.

Pragmatically though, I can't have that. I prefer synthetics. And in a bizarre twist of life the kind of cheap synthetics Cold Steel [and some others] uses actually wins. It does everything I need a sheath to do and doesn't weigh very much. I've got one that houses a substantial knife with a blade about 5”, and with a weight around 10oz. The sheath weighs about 2oz. The stitching needed addressing but beyond that the materials are fine.

In contrast, someone posted up a lovely little knife and sheath combo they had made right here the other day. The sheath was all tack quality skived leather and looked like he had made a great job of it. IIRC the blade was 4”, the knife weighed 8oz, and the sheath weighed 6oz. He had gone to great lengths to make a light compact design, using aluminium and whatnot, but as an ensemble the package weighs up near an lb. I'm not picking on that one especially, just noting that by using that material even a fairly compact knife can quickly become a big ole lump if you start down that road. As a % it is unacceptable. And I wouldn't tolerate that kind of ratio with anything else either; packs, water bottles, name it.

If that wasn't enough, what really drives it home is some of the bigger knives. Their are some beautifully built sheaths on this site, with heavy welts, multiple layers of leather, bass fittings and danglers. One usually sees knives in them that weight about an lb an up. With the sheath the whole set up must be north of a kilo. Splendid if it is hanging from a horse but totally incongruous when hanging from a man. Hardly surprising they usually adorn the belt of some whisky chuggin', cigar smoking, fat bloke that thinks 5 miles is a day hike.

Yeah, I want to like leather best. The fact remains that before we even get into other issues, decent leather sheaths have a disproportionate amount of weight relative to sensible knives. And little lightweight leather sheaths which don't have that weight proportion problem aren't worth having given the alternatives. They can look ok on some ****craft channel on 'tube poking out from under a woolly blanket, if the guy remembers to edit out the garage doors, barking dogs, and traffic sounds though.
 
Depends on my application of the blade.

For tactical I prefer Kydex.

For my woodscraft stuff, I prefer leather.
 
Leather for me as well. I make my own , and other than maybe a D-ring for a dangler if it has one, there's no other metal hardware. Kydex/plastic always seems to need lots of rivets, tek-loks , clips, etc. The knives just fit so nicely in leather and don't have to sit at one specific spot. It's that click-in/click out thing I don't like with plastic compared to the smooth entry/withdrawal of leather.
 
Each material has it's own characteristics and strong and weak points. I generally prefer traditional leather sheaths (and knives), but synthetics have their place. I don't perform "tactics" so tactical is not in the equation for me. However river travel (damp environment) is and for that, a river knife, I prefer either kydex or ballistic nylon because it is dimensionally stable whether dry or wet, and quick drying when wetted.
 
Like BT said, I really want to like leather, but at the end of the day, the best sheath I own is the molded one from my RC-3. multiple options, drains, doesn't go bad. Every bit of leather in the house needs constant maintenance to keep it from going bad. I've got leather boots rotting by the back door because the humidity just doesn't let up. If I stuck to leather sheaths, I'd have to convert to stainless, and that's just not gonna happen.
 
Kydex or Nylon (Spec Ops style)

I can make my own gear from Kydex and typically, large knives come with some sort of Nylon sheath (some that I can add Kydex to).

Leather sheaths are great, but just about everything in Louisiana is wet 24/7.
 
Synthetics definitely have their place and particularly in wet/moist environments (especially for canoeing/kayaking). Heck, back when I was on active duty my field knife had a synthetic sheath (and that was nearly 30 years ago....).

Even then I preferred leather, but seeing colleagues knives (K-Bars and Pilots "Survival" knives usually) and sheaths get soaked (along with the rest of our load-out) convinced me that polymer sheaths were the better solution for variable environs.

However, I live in a high-desert/mountainous environment and excessive moisture just isn't a problem so I can use leather. I definitely treat my sheath with Montana Pitch leather dressing and it has gotten wet due to rain, but since it's not the norm it was easy to remedy.
 
Greykilt said:
Folks seem to be very enamored with the scandi style bush crafter type knives and I own a few myself. My question is what do you prefer as a sheath material,
Leather?
Kydex?
Balistic Nylon, such as the Spec Ops styles?
Hard plastic (vulcanite) such as the Morakniv sheaths?
Or something entirely different?
Click to expand...

Nylon or kydex for me. I wish I could enjoy leather, but it dries out, stretches, leaks stain, cracks, tears and rots over time. I can use my knives, wipe them off and put them back in their kydex or nylon sheaths and not come back to a smelly rusting mess a few weeks later. I would have a real mess on my hands if I couldn't store my fixed blades in their sheaths.

Tops and DpX make great plastic lined nylon sheaths with flaps that cover the handle of the knife as well. They're great for protecting the knife from the elements and keeping it secure while in thick woods.

For longer bladed knives, Spartan Blades' sheaths are excellent and a crazy value at $30. They fit up to a 6" blade and are as simple as possible without any pouches or whatever to add unnecessary thickness or weight.
 
Obviously, one's environment plays a big factor. Like fmajor007, I live in a dry, high desert/mountain climate, and never have problems with my leather sheaths cracking, rotting, stretching, etc. Give 'em a coating or two of Montana Pitch once or twice a year, and that's about it. And almost all of my knives are carbon steel. But if I lived somewhere humid, I can see having to suck it up and embrace the plastic, even though I wouldn't do it happily...:D
 
Kydex/ Boltaron is the best performer when it comes to retention, stiffness, and water resistance. Leather wins in the comfort and looks department and will do fine if you take care of it.

Kydex lined leather is my favorite and is definitely the best of both worlds in my eyes. High retention, comfortable and beautiful.
 
Where I live humidity is not an issue. I have a pair of Red Wings that I have worn for 7 years. A well made leather sheath looks better but I carry small knives horizontally and I prefer kydex for that.
 
I hunt and fish in the rain and high humidity of Florida, I mainly prefer kydex for my work knives but my true favorite is leather for aesthetics.
 
Since bushcraft knives usually lack guards, simple, deep taco sheaths manage to both be fairly quick drawing but secure without snaps or other hardware. I think that is one reason why we all still love them. If you hot wax dip them you can avoid some of the classic leather problems.

Kydex is great when you still don't want snaps, but need more security of a knife shape that doesn't fit well in simple taco.


When companies make their own injection molded snap in sheath, like Mora, that's pretty nice because they tend to be easier on your blade than Kydex.
 
I prefer leather but in a wet environment I would choose kydex. I am not a fan of the plastic "sheaths" made by Mora. I would rather have almost anything other than their sheaths other than to use for storage. I can live with the nylon canvas type sheaths, but would prefer leather.
 
One time I made a sheath for my cousin [about 5 years ago, maybe?].....it was Kydex but wrapped in leather. His woods-blade is an SRK and the Kraton handle is fairly 'sticky.' It was a "short taco" style and really is the best of both worlds for wet environments [if you like the look of leather]. I drilled a 1mm hole up from the bottom so it would drain. He absolutely loves it.
 
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