Magnets in Sheaths for Retention?

K

KnifeFury

Joined
Sep 21, 2006
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I was surfing the web, looking at various knives/sheaths, and came upon the below website...
http://home.earthlink.net/~loneguitpicker/id14.html

I was intrigued by the below statement & design element of this particular sheath.
Utilizes 2 super strong rare earth magnets for automatic retention
Click to expand...

Interesting concept. Has anyone tried a sheath like this (or this particular one)? With the magnet having to work through leather & the blade coating and I am not sure how large the magnet is, I am wondering how effective this really is.
 
I have two small fixed blade knives made by Don Cowles that use a rare earth magnet to help hold the knife in the sheath. They seem be very effective.

The knives I have are considerably smaller and lighter then the ones you posted a link to but I imagine with bigger and multiple magnets you'd get a better hold.

Gary
 
I've seen a few sheaths with magnets in them. They all seem to do find job of it. Knife weight to magnet strength will take some time to get right.

I remember a Blade mag where someone did a kydex sheath making article where they also added a rare earth magnet. One thing I have noticed is the blade takes most of the magnetic field.
 
Some of the rare earth magnets are very strong. I have some that you can put on opposite sides of your hand and they will hold together. These will also snap together violently and give you a good pinch if you are not careful. I suppose they could damage certain types of copmuter storage media.

Another point to consider is how magnetic is the steel. Some types of stainless steel do not stick to magnets as well as others. It will also magnitize your blade. I have some 01 blades that are magnitized enough to make a computer monitor (CRT) distort from about an inch away. The good ting is that I can use it to pick up little screws and ther stuff.

If you need a cheap source, try taking apart an old hard drive. There are some really strong ones in there. The ones I harvested easily hold several pounds. I use some pieces of a broken one attached to my cubicle at work to hold a couple of small knives that I made. The knives are mainly to open mail and packages etc. There are several people who discovered them and will come over to borrow them to open packages.

Ric
 
I've made a few sheaths that used rare earth magnets. They worked really well. I stopped using them though because they magnetized the blades so much that I really had to worry about getting them near my compass.
 
I have Bud Nealy Knives with magnets in the Kydex sheaths. His sheaths are so well made, they really don't need the extra retention the magnets give, and I believe he's quit using them himself.
 
I have a few, and I like them. Bud Nealy's system was the first I bought that used it. I don't trust anything without a strap, including Kydex, and this helps alot.
But stay clear of people with pacemakers, i guess.
 
HJK said:
I don't trust anything without a strap,
Click to expand...

I was going to say, if I were worried about extra retention. I'd rather have a strap then a magnet myself, since anything snagging the hilt would pull it right out despite the magnet anyway.
 
Sheathmaker Normark and I had a bit of a debate about this some time ago on these forums. A most interesting point he made was that using a magnet for retention opens up the possibility of small steel pieces like staples getting caught in the sheath and scratching the bejeezuz out of your blade. That in itself convinced me that magnets are bad juju in sheaths.
 
I think I will stick with the straps, although I have not had any issues with the snap-in kydex sheaths.
 
Dog of War said:
A most interesting point he made was that using a magnet for retention opens up the possibility of small steel pieces like staples getting caught in the sheath and scratching the bejeezuz out of your blade.
Click to expand...

I was lying around a local lakeshore reading and reached for a pencil to make a note when I inadvertently pulled out my scriber. Tungsten carbide tip, with a small magnet at the top. I lazily ran the magnet through the sand and was really surprised to find huge amounts of iron filings coming up!

I wonder if magnets in a sheath might not pick up filings from time to time as well, which would also scratch a blade, and do so almost invisibly -- who would know what was doing it?

Many times people refer to kydex scratches on their knives, but kydex is too soft to scratch steel. More likely sand or grit that got inside. No sense asking for metal grit on top of that.
 
Hey Guys...

Dog of War..

I remember that conversation....

Esav...

Exactly....

The air is filled with iron particles being blown around.. Run a magnet across most anything and you'll find magnetic particles, even in ordinary house dust..Run a magnet across a window screen and see what it picks up... alot of which is from outer space

Now imagine putting a magnetized knife down, the knife picks up some crap, when it's resheathed, the magnet being stronger, pulls that crap off the knife, and deposits it right into your sheath..

Not a problem if you've got a user knife.. Big problem if the knife has the hell buffed out of it, or you like to keep it in like new condition....

A client sent me a Nealy blade/sheath that was getting scratched from the sheath...
I carefully took the sheath apart and found that a paper staple was doing the damage...

In my eyes,, it's just a problem waiting to happen.. Theres Absolutely No need for it in a synthetic sheath, when the kydex itself can do the same job or better at retaining the knife...

However with that being said,, the only time I could understand it's use is when used with a leather sheath., especially when they are nice little Gents knife like what Don makes..

It's much the same as lining a sheath with felt to prevent scratching..Good idea in theory..
ttyle

Eric
O/ST
 
I have a small fixed blade that has a wood lined sheath using magnets to hold the knife. It's got a certain cool novelty factor to it. It can be loosened out with mild back and forth shaking in an inverted position. I would not count on it for secure retention beyond casually using it around the house, but it's not designed to be jump-rated so that doesn't really bother me. I bought the knife for the knife, not in spite of the sheath. If at some point I wanted a better active carry sheath then I'd send it to a sheathmaker, like Normark :thumbup:.
 
One problem for me with Kydex, and similar materials, is that it isn't stable at temperatures extremes, and those extremes seem to be fairly narrow. A knife can easily be in 30 below temperature in most of Canada, and it can get too hot even in a car or near a fire. Makes me nervous.

I respect Normark's opinion because he's one of the best.
But the material only takes me so far without some backup

The magnet is supposed to be insurance.
I like some safety or backup if there's a chance I'm going to impail or cut myself five hundred miles from a doctor.
A strap, a fold over cover. a magnet - they'll do different things for you.
magnets are super quick draw and very reliable inverted carry.

And great for magic tricks.
 
I have a small Gerber Pak axe that has a small knife made to fit in the hollow handle. It has two magnets, one in the hollow handle and a mating magnet molded into the bottom of the knifes grip. Really decent design. At first I was a bit worried that the knife might pop out while chopping, but it's never happened yet. Since it's magnet holding to magnet, I don't have a magnetized blade and small metal bits aren't going to scratch the blade.

It was on clearance for the same price as just the axe, so the nicely designed small knife is a great bonus.
 
I wonder if magnets in a sheath might not pick up filings from time to time as well, which would also scratch a blade, and do so almost invisibly -- who would know what was doing it?
Click to expand...

I was wondering the same thing
I have a Colt Mini Guardian (CT59) that has a magnetic sheath
It SEEMS like it's blade on magnet contact
I figured it was a cheap imported knife, so metal on metal rubbing wasn't much of a concern during the design stages
I'm gonna exam it more when I get home
Are there ones with Kydex "protecting"/covering the magnets?
I'm not all to familiar with Kydex sheaths for knives

I also have the Gerber hatchet with the knife in handle
It seems like it really "locks"/tightens the final 2 inches of "push" into the handle
It hasn't come out yet and I even used it as a thrower a few times
 
I have been using rare earth magnets in all of my sheaths with snap retainers for several years now. Two 1/2" magnets will lift 14 lb if directly on the steel and backed by a magnetic retainer (piece of steel).

I bury them in the sheath spacer with only a thin covering of chamois over them to reduct scratching.

The tradeoff is between a risk of scratching or losing your working knife in the bush some where if the snap comes open. If you have ever been stuck in the bush without a decent knife you will soon learn to accept the risk of scratches.

Pouch style sheaths do not require magnets if properly designed.
 
I have a couple of RJ Martin's Kozukas with CF wrapped wood
sheaths with retention magnets in the sheaths.

The sheaths are very 'skinny' and do not attact any attention.

Jerry
 
I'd worry about my bank and credit cards getting zapped by the magnet. A properly made sheath (read: Normark) shouldn't need them.
 
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