Small of back knife?

[NateHodge]

Whats a good knife to carry SOB? Im liking the ESEE Izula and the Gerber GhostStrike style. Im ignorant to fixed blades, so you guys feel free to give me some recommendations. Also, if you know a good kydex sheath for horizontal carry, Im all ears.

 

[Tpost]

Benchmade Hidden Canyon. They offer it in both leather or kydex horizontal carry sheath.

 

[JJ_Colt45]

The White River Backer Pro has a kydex sheath you can set to carry horizontal of vertically ... I haven't worn it SOB but it would work.

 

[Wurrwulf]

@JK Knives Hurley Creek or Horsewright Vaquero Ultralight would make very nice, unobtrusive small of back carries.

Vaquero:

Hurley Creek:

You may need to find a custom maker to do a horizon belt sheath in rydex, though.

 

[BladeScout]

Whats a good knife to carry SOB? Im liking the ESEE Izula and the Gerber GhostStrike style. Im ignorant to fixed blades, so you guys feel free to give me some recommendations. Also, if you know a good kydex sheath for horizontal carry, Im all ears.

In order to answer your question, it would be nice to know, what you are going to use the knife for?

Offhand, Id recommend the Spyderco Street Beat. Excellent knife for most mundane tasks/EDC. Sheath comes with the excellent G-clip and can used for either horisontal, vertical or canted wear.
Sheath is Boltaron, not kydex. Doesnt make much of a difference though.

Also, if you know a good kydex sheath for horizontal carry, Im all ears.

Personally Im not keen on SOB horisontal knife carry but then I ride a motorbike. Iron bar across ones spine whilst riding, no thanks.

As for a sheath, have you considered making one yourself? Its a fun DIY project and not complicated nor expensive. Tutorials are readily available on the interwebz.

 

[zzyzzogeton]

Not a recommendation on what to carry SOB, but, .... from an EMT point of view, I don't recommend carry a knife (or any other hard object) SOB while driving. If you get in a rear end collision (as the front vehicle), any object of significant size COULD cause severe back injuries.

It's a rare occurrence because everyone who carries something SOB doesn't get in a rear-ender and every person carrying something SOB doesn't get hurt in a rear-end collision. In 30 years of EMS work, I've been on 2 calls like this. Neither were knives, both were CC handguns, but the concept is the same - large (and large is relative) object driven into the lower spinal cord causing trauma.

Not to be a buzz-kill, but....

And now back to our regularly scheduled thread.

 

[Steely_Gunz]

I've tried carrying a knife (and gun) in such a way, and I cant seem to find a comfortable way or useful way to do so. From a day to day point of view, I find that my short rides up over the knife to expose it or at least cause it to bunch up.
As zzyzzogeton mentioned, you can really hurt your back weighing a piece if metal back there. I learned my lesson several years ago when I slipped on wet concrete and landed on a Glock 36 iwb sob. No damage other than my pride and a purple bruise, but never again.

The only place I see sob being kind of useful might be hiking where you aren't concerned about concealment, and it keeps the knife handy. Then again you are talking about potentially slipping and landing on it and causing some injury out in the wilderness.

If it were me, I would go with something small and wear it horizontally on my side instead of behind my back. I have been curious about the Ghost Strike myself. Looks kind of handy.

 

[Filthyj24]

I carry my Altitude between my 4 and 5 o'clock and my J-frame right behind that. Like others have mentioned, I wouldn't carry anything directly over my spine.

 

[jmh33]

Not a recommendation on what to carry SOB, but, .... from an EMT point of view, I don't recommend carry a knife (or any other hard object) SOB while driving. If you get in a rear end collision (as the front vehicle), any object of significant size COULD cause severe back injuries.

It's a rare occurrence because everyone who carries something SOB doesn't get in a rear-ender and every person carrying something SOB doesn't get hurt in a rear-end collision. In 30 years of EMS work, I've been on 2 calls like this. Neither were knives, both were CC handguns, but the concept is the same - large (and large is relative) object driven into the lower spinal cord causing trauma.

Not to be a buzz-kill, but....

And now back to our regularly scheduled thread.

Read this.. I agree..
John

 

[abcdef]

I also have heard it's not safe to carry any hard object in the small of your back.

 

[Horsewright]

Thanks Wurrwulf for the recommendation. I do make and have made many SOB sheaths and the knives to go in them.

This lady and her husband were some of my most ardent supporters of the concept.

Thats her husband coming in to grab the rope:

We did a show awhile back and lots of folks were stopping by the booth that were already wearing my knives and sheaths. Couple of ladies were carrying that way.

I did notice that both of them carried them off center not directly over the spine.

Salty has carried one like that for years. This Vaquero Utralite lives on his leggings belt.

He has gone to off center, edge up carry nowadays though:

Cooky carries one too:

Mostly to check the ribeyes for the crew:

I have drifted away from the recommending the concept for entirely different reasons then already mentioned here. In our cowboy world, we carry a knife most of the time for emergencies. What we call "getting western" or "real live action cowboy sh..!" Ya got horses, ya got cattle and ya got ropes and people and entanglements of an unbelievable rapidity and severity can occur. A knife back at the barn or in your pocket at these times is pretty useless. These two young ladies from MT State U were part of the crew putting on the show mentioned above. They stopped by the booth too:

I'm a strong advocate of horizontal crossdraw and here's why. In those moments, when things are getting western, real fast, the gal on the left can get her knife out with either hand and the gal on the right only with her right hand. I have been in those wrecks. I've cut three people and three other horses out of carnage in my lifetime. I want to get to my knife with either hand. That's my reasoning for the horizontal crossdraw. I vote for the gal on the left.

As ranchers/cowboys we don't lead a bubble wrapped life anyhoo: This one could get western REAL fast:

If that big calf had run up my left side faster than I can turn and face him all kinds of bad stuff can happen. Getting turned and the rope pinning up the front leg takes some of the juice out of the calf.

The wife has a lively one on too stretching her twine:

She carries horizontal crossdraw as well and for the same reasons.

The couple up above that I mentioned as the strong advocates of SOB carry recently switched to horizontal crossdraw as well.

 

[115Italian]

 

[22-rimfire]

Most of the smaller Dozier knives have a wonderful horizontal carry kydex sheath that you don't need to remove your belt to wear it where ever you want. I prefer cross draw if I am carrying a small fixed blade where I don't want people to see it easily. As mentioned, I also like the White River Backpacker Pro with its factory sheath that is adjustable to either horizontal or vertical carry. But you will have to take your belt off to wear it or wear a second belt. I do the second belt thing in the woods with my 5" M63 Smith 22.

Personally, I don't want to carry a knife behind me (SOB) due to access issues and potential spine injuries. Knife choice would depend a lot on your planned use for this knife. Most people carry SOB for self defense with guns. Don't care for it, but it's common practice.

 

[Pr3inar]

Going to join in with the other warnings: a colleague of mine got a fracture in his spine when his patrol car got rear ended, and his hand cuffs was on the back of his equipment belt.

 

[22-rimfire]

Going to join in with the other warnings: a colleague of mine got a fracture in his spine when his patrol car got rear ended, and his hand cuffs was on the back of his equipment belt.

Many spinal injuries are for the rest of you life. You only have one of those. No SOB for me. I would carry cross draw on my left side. With a gun, pocket carry or simply police style belt carry (open carry or partially concealed) for me. Reaching around to your back is a great way to get knifed or law enforcement to draw on you.

 

[riversidedep]

I carried an Al Polkowski Polecat vertically in a kydex sheath SOB for a few years until the sheath clip fatigued and broke. It's a very "flat" knife and carried well, however re-sheathing a knife carried SOB is quite tricky and less than convenient. I always felt like i was either going to stab myself in the spine or stab my hand.

 

[NateHodge]

After reading your comments, especially horsewrights, carrying offcenter front does seem to be a better option. Easily accessible with both hands. I will add that it was just a thought mainly for work, not while driving, and it would have been offcenter above my left buttcheek, not exactly small of back over my spine. But im reconsidering that for accessibility reasons. Im just considering a work knife to keep from using a $200 pocket knife for work. And since Ill still have my knife, phone, keys, and other stuff in my pockets, im running out of real estate and a belt sheath would help with that. But i dont like vertical carry because it pokes into my side and a low ride sheath is kind of floppy since I do climb around and under stuff. Thanks guys.

 

[Cosmodragoon]

Carrying over your spine is generally not a good idea but there are factors to consider. Imagine falling on your back or getting pushed into something hard. The width of the item controls the depth of impression on flat contact. The height, length, and overall shape of the item control the area of impression. Most defensive firearms are over an inch wide so they'll tend to press a lot deeper than your average knife. This can be a real problem. The issue with knives is more a matter of them acting like a bar across the spine. Spreading out the area with a sheath can help a lot. Something like Horsewright's leather holsters (pictured above) are probably ideal if you need to go this route.

 

[Horsewright]

N NateHodge I should mention that over the years I've found that about 7" oal on the knife is the most knife most folks can carry horizontally without it getting it caught on stuff, door frames, counters, seatbelts, life, etc. Keep er under 7" and you will forget its there until needed.

 

[007Airman]

Benchmade Hidden Canyon. They offer it in both leather or kydex horizontal carry sheath.

Had one, super nice blade.