Lets see your CPK in Leather!

gusbuster said:
The knife ain’t too shabby either!:thumbsup::D
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no shit, eh? Handles like a dream, probably my favourite knife

Bob, I asked Stuart for the sheath carving which he based off a photo of an arbutus I took. I think they call it manzanita down there. The forged dangler ring is a super nice touch
 
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Kinda PSA if you will:

As many already know, it is generally not a good idea to store your knives in leather sheaths for an extended period of time specially if in very humid environments. Fortunately for me, I am not in an extremely humid / salty locale although I am not too far from the Pacific. I have not had to deal with any awful corrosion spots or anything like that from leather to steel but since I have many CPKs with antique edgecut micarta handle scales, I have noticed that depending on what leather (made by whom) and what type of treatment was applied to the leather, the edgecut antique material and the leather at the point of contact have had reacted! In some cases the sheaths were made by SWG where at the point of contact darker spots had developed and in some cases with Grog's sheaths the point of contact had seemed to suck the gloss away from the antique!!! In the latter case a very light application of mineral oli worked like a charm and restored everything to former glory without any reversal but in darkened instances, the repair process becomes much more PITA!

None of this stuff should matter to users or future users but it may phase out some collectors! None of this also applied to anything else but buffed antique edgecut micarta but then again, I don't own much of anything else other than Terotuf which is none reactive, LOL.
 
I only use veg tan leather treated with Snoseal because that keeps my knives shiny, (until shmutz gets in there, in which case all bets are off)
 
We use premium veg tanned drum dyed double shoulder leather with the color struck through at the tannery. This is a premium leather that is expensive but well worth it and we have never had an issue with corrosion on a knife and have not had an issue with any color transfer to a handle.
Using less expensive chrome tanned leather could very well cause corrosion or damage to metal surfaces and it is very important to know what leather is used to make a sheath just as it is important to know what steel is used to make a knife.
 
If you don't seal the leather, oil dyes can transfer to porous handle material. If you choose to 'store' your knife inside your sheath (leather or kydex), the you need to maintenance your knife (WD40 draws moisture out, mineral oils rehydrate your porous handles/carbon steels). Leather will draw moisture out if your porous handles .. which is probably why you're seeing a lightning of color from where it's in constant contact with the leather. You're doing right by using mineral oil to rehydrate.

Personally, I thought CPKs were user knives. Designed, built, bought for just that. If you're buying them as 'collector status' .. then oil them, wrap them in wax duck cloth, and put them in a UV protective cabinet. - and dont ever put them in a sheath (leather or kydex).
 
The only thing I will add to what others have said is that humidity (at healthy levels) is not as much a factor as changes in humidity. I have old carbon steel knives in a humidity controlled safe, in their old leather sheaths and in 20+ years they have not changed. Real problems happen when someone leaves their air conditioned 72 degree house into a 95 degree day with 80 or 90% relative humidity, then come home back to the air conditioning and take their knife off their belt and leave the knife in the sheath. This scenario and many others will literally cause water to develop inside the sheath, neither Kydex or leather will dry out fast enough to not cause rust.

As Azula said, leather choice is a big factor. I have seen a lot of new sheath makers choose Latigo, it's cheap at Tandy and on eBay, but it is cured with salt. Anyone into guns knows why Brownings from the late 60's, early 70's need extra scrutiny ;)

Anyone selling a sheath should be using the best leather they can source and should be able to tell you all about it.


Hope to see everyone at Blade, it's just around the corner :) I'll be at table 17X.



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Thanks to the leather-maker and leather-masters who came in to comment and make recommendations based on my "PSA" post #546 for their storage and as-such tips too. I just wanted to add something so that there will not be any misunderstandings or innuendos or unnecessary rumors regarding the leather makers' sheaths which I use and named!

AFAIK, Grogimus uses 8-9 oz veg tanned leather from RJF which is top notch stuff. SWG is on top of his game and does not need my commendations! Nuff said! As far as reactions and things, I have personally noticed some darkened streaks of the 3V steel when left in leather for a long time, not to be mistaken with rust. My comment was intended to express my personal experience with the buffed antique-edgecut-micarta handle scales which had reacted with certain leather at the spot of constant contact when the knife was sheathed, WITH THE HANDLE SCALES, not the knife steel inside the sheath. What I am talking about is the treated and dyed leather like the belt loop / dangler loop which the handle scales tend to make contact with if sheathed and left in the box or something. Hope that this clarifies what I was sayin :)
 
These are pictures taken today of our Behemoth Chopper with Tero Tuf handles that has been stored 24/7 in our sheath for the last 8 months. No negative effect at all to the metal or handle material. Our premium leather has a finished interior to the leather that is very similar to a lining which is very gentle on metal surfaces. Using the correct premium leather makes all the difference in the performance of a sheath.
We would have no concern using a custom shop satin finish knife in our sheath.
Just wanted to convey the confidence we have in our sheath and leather.

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Our EDC2 knife that has been used to wet mold many of our sheaths. This knife has spent lots of time surrounded by our wet leather.
These are the pictures taken today to show no negative effect at all to the metal or handle material.
Just wanted to convey the confidence we have in our sheath and leather.

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Thanks for posting brother! They look great in their native habitat :)

Sorry for the delayed response, Blade Show has been keeping me busy and I am finally getting rested and back on a normal track :thumbsup:

Here's an FK2/UFK sheath I had on display at Blade..

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