Best sized kydex ?

pimpnugget

pimpnugget

Joined
Mar 10, 2008
Messages
886
Hey guys I plan on getting some kydex and I wanted to know the best thickness for a good tight fit for a small to medium sized fixed blade also where is the best place to order kydex from?
 
I've not enough experience to say with authority what's the 'best' thickness for such knives... but from the few knives I've made and sheathed with Kydex, I'd say the .093" stuff is pretty good. Maybe a bit thick for a very small knife, but it's thick enough to make a fairly stiff sheath without adding reinforcement and thin enough so that it forms very well to a blade when heated enough and pressed firmly with neoprene over wood. A hot air gun used carefully heats it to soft wet leather floppiness in about a minute.

I ordered mine from knifekits.com but there are probably lots other good suppliers out there. Reason I went with them was that they a) take PayPal, and b) supply in smaller quantities, where a lot of online sellers only offer big pieces.
 
D*mnit! I just wrote up a big reply but the server timed out and I lost it. In summation.... I now use 0.080" for mean sheath material and .093" for belt loops. The thicker the material the trickier it is to work with, but definitely still manageable. I get my Kydex from Knifekits too, for the reasons GerardSamija listed.
 
i went back to .060 for small to medium sized sheaths. it just seems alot easier to get the right amount of tension with that size.
 
Juramentado said:
How about for IWB gun holsters? What thickness do you recommend?
Click to expand...


i made an IWB, for a tiny little pistol, out of .080 and it came out great. it's a little tight, but the customer rides a sportbike so i thought that was a good idea and he agreed.

when i do the IWB for my full sized 1911, i'll definately use .080
 
I make hundreds of sheaths a year and only use .080. I have used a little .060 on some very small neck sheaths but that is it. I find .093 too thick.
 
If you're making that many kydex sheaths it's plain you have some insight into the material in other regards besides scratching of blades. I'm curious how you and your clients feel out kydex stiffness, in terms of supporting the blade and more importantly protecting the wearer from the blade. Leather has serious issues in the latter regard, where a very sharp and stiff blade might easily cut through a sheath and into the user's body. With a kydex sheath, and especially with the thinner sheets, is this not really a problem at all? I'm thinking of wearing a belt sheath for example, where a stiff, shorter blade is worn towards the front of the hip and then the user bends very sharply forward, folding the sheath between hip, belly, and thigh. Not a problem really? To read Jay Fisher go on about it on his site one might thing using plain kydex to be practially silly in terms of risk... In my own use so far of 0.093" kydex it really doesn't seem to be a risk, so I've not yet resorted to aluminum frames.
 
I have NEVER had an issue with safety as far as carrying a knife in kydex. It is EXTREMELY tough material. I see no way for it to cut through the sheath while carrying it. I carry all my 5" and under blades horizontal on my belt and never had an issue. I have fallen, tumbled and everything else while out hiking and such and have never had a single issue. I tested one a while back with a Cold Steel Bushman Bowie. I made the sheath then proceeded to beat the hell out of it onto a board. After I was dead tired and my arm hurt like heck I did get the knife to break through a few rivets but the kydex was not cut or torn. WAY over the top compared to standard use.
 
Nice, thanks for actually torture testing in the name of the community. Can't do your business any harm either! I would venture to suggest that horizontal mounting on a belt seems a safer carry style than vertical anyway, especially as compared to a strictly vertical position. Along the belt line the knife follows the natural folding of the waist, so practically zero stress on the sheath or knife. With vertical (can't understand why anyone would want to carry like this as it's so uncomfortable when even sitting down, but I've seen it done both on the front above the thigh and in back behind the buttock which both seem inherently risky) the knife might be subject to bending stresses when doing anything but standing straight up. Falling could be bad if the case flexed enough to allow the knife to cut through.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top