New Sheath for SP-10 not so good.

R

Roguer

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Jan 5, 2015
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I know they went with the lower quality sheath to make their knives more affordable. But they should check to see if the sheath is going to fit properly and safely.

My SP-10 that came with the under whelming new sheath, it barely fits, I have to gently push with some force to get it in and every time I remove it, the inner plastic lining shavings come out. I had to side line this knife till I can get a new sheath for it on safety grounds. Having a big blade like an SP-10 slashing out of the sheath if it gets hit hard or just normal usage is some thing I don't think I would like to happen.

The lower cross strap doesn't fit over the guard, it feels so tight I can feel the blade tightly on the sides, the belly of the knife seems a bit to big for sheath.

At first I thought "Oh dang elcheapo sheath", but seeing how well my new SP-8 (gave first one to sis so my brother-in-law can do some work also! :D) rides in the "New and Unimproved sheath!" in a more compact and decent manner making it way easier to carry, I thought it would be the same for the new SP-10 I pulled out for inspecting and getting it ready to be the season loaner. Really not all "New and Unimporved!" sheaths aren't that totally...er not so... bad, but this seems a bad match up for sheath and knife.
 
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I don’t know if these are still around, but there used to be lots of casexx bowie sheaths in brown leather for $10-12. I believe these fit, though I’m not sure about the snap closure.
Edit: these don’t fit as well as I thought; wouldn’t recommend this option at all.
 
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Thanks! I had good hopes for the "Underwhelming New and Unimproved!" cheaper made sheath. For my SP-8, it made it a slimmer and trimmer carry system, so the new "Underwhelming New and Unimproved!" does improve the carry option for at least one tool. But the "Underwhelming New and Unimproved!" sheath for this SP-10 just literally is going to cut its way out of it by the looks and literal feel of it. Can't blame the great knife that the SP-10 is for this dilemma, the SP-10 is a knife that just wants to cut! I am totally happy with the SP-10! :D
 
Not to pile on or anything, but a fixed blade sheath should not be an afterthought. It’s a critical part of the system if the knife is intended to be actually carried and used. I have an SP46 and 47 and while the sheath is pretty good quality it is silly oversize/long. One size does not fit all. Ontario is not the only maker to fall prey to this.
 
I have seen this situation sooo many times. US knife/tool firms like Buck, Estwing, Kabar, and many more (now including Ontario)... They are trying to stay competitive against their all foreign made knife/tool competition. Sheaths/scabbards are the first to go in their quest to keep their cost down and keep their main product (the knife or tool itself) viable against their competition. One will often see these US made knives, and/or tools, coming with sheaths/scabbards made in Mexico, Taiwan, or China. These sheaths/scabbards simply add too much to the overall cost when made in the US, and makes the US product less attractive to the masses because of that cost/price. But, I got to say, the Ontario product knives/tools (sheaths aside), remain great bangs for the buck. The foreign outsourced Ontario sheaths are simply "the nature of the beast" in our global trading world, and in a world where cutting costs is extremely necessary to stay alive.

Anyone pricing good quality US sheaths made of kydex or leather, knows how pricey such items can be.
 
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You make some good points. I own and use knives and axes from all the makers you mention and would like to see them prosper, so if outsourcing the sheaths is necessary to be competitive then so be it. But they should fit at the very least, no matter where they come from.
 
i would be fine if there was a no-sheath option; I usually upgrade the sheath anyway, and most knives can be outfitted in 8-9oz leather for $20 if you know where to look—as long as you don’t mind molding the leather yourself if necessary. Ontario knives are made to work, so I don’t mind doing a little work to get the perfect sheath. I do think that if they would have an option to spend a little more for a sheath upgrade, a lot of people would buy. I can’t post a link here but if anyone wants to pm me I could give you a phone number of a shop that will do it(if it isn’t against the rules.)
 
On a related subject, does anyone know who manufactured Ontario's sheaths prior to their latest Chinese made and US made Desantis versions? I am talking about the cordura/leather combo styles they had offered for so long. Were they US made?
 
PocketKnifeJimmy said:
On a related subject, does anyone know who manufactured Ontario's sheaths prior to their latest Chinese made and US made Desantis versions? I am talking about the cordura/leather combo styles they had offered for so long. Were they US made?
Click to expand...

They were made in China as well. I’m not sure about the sp10 though, which was half leather.
I just checked the old sheath for sp-10, it says USA on the snap button, so I guess it was made in the US.
 
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Hey guys, first off, sorry for not responding to this sooner or being around much at all.

This is surprising to me to read. Part of the reason for the new sheaths was that we weren't happy with the existing ones. Most of that was supply chain issues that would (hopefully) not be visible to you guys, but fit was infamously an issue among our sheaths for years. We went with a cheaper option, but we reviewed them extensively and actually really liked what we came up with. I'm a big fan of reducing bulk, so I actually liked the new ones better. I'll have to grab an SP-10 and see what's going on.
 
PocketKnifeJimmy said:
I have seen this situation sooo many times. US knife/tool firms like Buck, Estwing, Kabar, and many more (now including Ontario)... They are trying to stay competitive against their all foreign made knife/tool competition. Sheaths/scabbards are the first to go in their quest to keep their cost down and keep their main product (the knife or tool itself) viable against their competition. One will often see these US made knives, and/or tools, coming with sheaths/scabbards made in Mexico, Taiwan, or China. These sheaths/scabbards simply add too much to the overall cost when made in the US, and makes the US product less attractive to the masses because of that cost/price. But, I got to say, the Ontario product knives/tools (sheaths aside), remain great bangs for the buck. The foreign outsourced Ontario sheaths are simply "the nature of the beast" in our global trading world, and in a world where cutting costs is extremely necessary to stay alive.

Anyone pricing good quality US sheaths made of kydex or leather, knows how pricey such items can be.
Click to expand...

This is a pretty good description of the reasoning we talked about at the time. I'll add to this though - it's not just that we found the market at large unwilling to pay extra for a sheath, it's also that there was very little agreement on what sheath they'd want. Make a kydex sheath and people go out and buy a leather one, make a leather one, they get kydex. So not only was it driving our prices up, a lot of the people buying our knives were paying all that extra for a higher end sheath and then STILL going out and getting a custom made one. Every time I got that feedback here or at a show, it was just killing me.

We lowered our prices pretty dramatically when we rolled out the new sheaths. In fact, in some cases where the math made it possible, we lowered the price by more than the amount we saved on the sheath. The idea was absolutely to make sure we passed the savings along in the form of more affordable knives.
 
The sp-10’s I have, the original Cerberus with kydex sheath, the 498 and 499’s are the only Ontario made sheaths I still use. I am glad that Ontario found a way to keep costs down, because their blades in 5160 and d2 are the most affordable options and also the best value. Even Busse knives, which sell for ~$400 and up don’t come with sheaths!
 
Its only my new SP-10 sheath my SP-10 seems to want to eat with plastic shavings coming out. The SP-8 as I said before I think makes a slimmer carrier, and the new sheaths for the RD6s, RD Tantos, TFI, and RAK and the Woodsman work (7total I think), and do make them a little slimmer and trimmer to carry. Can't say same for the RTACK II I got, I put it in the back up sheath (RTAC II Sheath as it would fit any of my OKC bigger knives) I got a while ago that fits is for the RTAK II, but it fits as well the few times I put it in and out. My only other complaint about the new sheath is the hilt strap (lower strap) some times get caught and gets undone when going through dense woodsy stuff, also on the SP-10 the lower strap isn't long enough to go over the hilt.

My guess is its bit too narrow for the full curve of the blade of the SP-10.

Reason I got some more knives was great sales going on and I needed to restock a bit after giving some away as gifts for those who I knew they needed a good knife.
 
Did you ever find a solution to the sp10 sheath dilemma? I’m seeing them on sale for 39.99 again!
 
You had to tell me they were doing yet another sale...I'm Ranger Detachment proof!

But really....a Cerberus saved me enough to justify that SP-8...

The Cerberus just makes to much sense, the SP-8 is for those who come to help and clear more stuff who don't like "pointy" things to use. Also its more "civil" to have in "public" woodsy areas. With the Cerberus I'm getting I can give my brother the RD4, he does more better deer processing than I do, and he may get an SP-8 for if he does the that kids club outings stuff.

As for my SP-10 sheath dilemma...using the sheath my older SP-10 came in to field test the blades to make sure they work ok. Really the SP-10 just loves to chop!
 
I bought a leather sheath for my other Cerberus, but I still use the kydex from the original. Don’t show him this knife, he will say it’s better for deer than the rd4! The sp-10 could be carried without a sheath, I guess: I used to see a lot of people in rural Colombia carrying their machete on a string tied to their belt—not razor sharp, so not too much risk of hurting yourself. My Cerberus, though, is kept razor sharp and I usually carry it concealed. I read that it was developed for the special forces group of the marines, but have no idea if true. I really want to buy a chimera this time, but since I’m not a knife fighter I have no justification for doing so! The sp5 is also tempting, at 37.99.
 
Just got my SP-10 in the mail this morning. For the most part, I like the new sheath. The cross guard strap rotates for us lefties which is nice for a change, but it was a b***h to get snapped, just a little to short, but I got it snapped. I figure I'll leave it snapped for a good while, and it will stretch out a little. The MOLLE back is nice, this one will be strapped to a pack, can't imagine trying to haul it around on a belt!
 
I can't get the strap over the cross guard, and it eats the inside of the sheath, the SP-10 does. Its the SP-10s fault because it likes to cut and bite things! :D Some thing you want the knife to do. ;)
 
PocketKnifeJimmy said:
I have seen this situation sooo many times. US knife/tool firms like Buck, Estwing, Kabar, and many more (now including Ontario)... They are trying to stay competitive against their all foreign made knife/tool competition. Sheaths/scabbards are the first to go in their quest to keep their cost down and keep their main product (the knife or tool itself) viable against their competition. One will often see these US made knives, and/or tools, coming with sheaths/scabbards made in Mexico, Taiwan, or China. These sheaths/scabbards simply add too much to the overall cost when made in the US, and makes the US product less attractive to the masses because of that cost/price. But, I got to say, the Ontario product knives/tools (sheaths aside), remain great bangs for the buck. The foreign outsourced Ontario sheaths are simply "the nature of the beast" in our global trading world, and in a world where cutting costs is extremely necessary to stay alive.

Anyone pricing good quality US sheaths made of kydex or leather, knows how pricey such items can be.
Click to expand...
Buck has brought sheaths back to made in the USA
 
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