Too-tight scabbard
- Thread starter Mike L.
- Start date
Put small wooden wedges/shims between the two scabbard halves at the throat of the scabbard. If it is too tight to do so, usually a little soaking in water will help loosen the hide a little. You will need to let the scabbard thouroughly dry before usage/storage again.
- Joined
- May 9, 2002
- Messages
- 12,250
I've had pretty good luck soaking the scabbard in water for a bit. Then driving a slightly larger wooden wedge into the mouth of the scabbard and letting it dry slowly for 24 hours. I then take the wedge out and see if it has improved the fit. If so, I leave the it in front of a fan blowing cool/room temp air without the wedge as that wood and leather can hold moisture for a good long while. Heat would dry it faster but might cause the scabbard to draw up again. Slow and cool. However, the last thing you want is to store your khuk in a scabbard you THINK is dry and find out out later that it wasn't
http://www.himalayan-imports.com/Carry.htm
Kami Sherpa on adjusting a traditional scabbard :
When I served in the Indian Army as a rifleman my tools were the Mark 3 and the khukuri. Sometimes I was in the Terai where it rains everyday. Sometimes I was sent to Rajhastan where it never rains.
My scabbard would change with the conditions. I and my comrades would loosen up our scabbards if they got a little too tight. Whittle a wood wedge and soak it in water. Then press it very firmly into the scabbard as far as it will go. Let it stand overnight.
You can also shrink your scabbard if you soak it in water and then
wrap it tightly with a belt or piece of rope. Let it set overnight.
I used a LOT of shoe polish on my scabbard when I was in the Indian Army -- and I still use it to this day. Today there may be better products but old habits have a way of staying with one.
Kami Sherpa
Kami Sherpa on adjusting a traditional scabbard :
When I served in the Indian Army as a rifleman my tools were the Mark 3 and the khukuri. Sometimes I was in the Terai where it rains everyday. Sometimes I was sent to Rajhastan where it never rains.
My scabbard would change with the conditions. I and my comrades would loosen up our scabbards if they got a little too tight. Whittle a wood wedge and soak it in water. Then press it very firmly into the scabbard as far as it will go. Let it stand overnight.
You can also shrink your scabbard if you soak it in water and then
wrap it tightly with a belt or piece of rope. Let it set overnight.
I used a LOT of shoe polish on my scabbard when I was in the Indian Army -- and I still use it to this day. Today there may be better products but old habits have a way of staying with one.
Kami Sherpa
- Joined
- Sep 2, 2006
- Messages
- 1,076
I keep many of the old chopsticks from take out. They are different shapes and sizes, big and small round, square, sorta triangles
They make great shims to stretch the sheath mouth. My sheathes change a lot from Mid Summer full of moisture to mid Wynter very dry.
The khuk that hangs by my bedside and has the most regulated year round temp and moisture is always ok
Good ideas, thanks.
Hope mine help as well.
Mark
They make great shims to stretch the sheath mouth. My sheathes change a lot from Mid Summer full of moisture to mid Wynter very dry.
The khuk that hangs by my bedside and has the most regulated year round temp and moisture is always ok
Good ideas, thanks.
Hope mine help as well.
Mark
I would worry about the water soaking method. I think that moisture might remain inside the scabbard for a long time, depending on the external heat and humidity. I wouldn't know when it was safe to resheath the blade without it becoming rusty. Sometimes tarnish or rust spots appear just from exposure of the 5160 steel to the air, let alone to damp wood or leather.
Maybe it would be ok if the blade were heavily oiled. I wonder how Kami Sherpa dealt with that problem under field conditions?
I've only needed to stretch a scabbard once. What I did was to put a coat of leather conditioner on the scabbard and force in a couple of plastic shims. I left it for about two weeks and after that the khukuri fit. It was snug, but not too difficult to sheath and unsheath.
Maybe it would be ok if the blade were heavily oiled. I wonder how Kami Sherpa dealt with that problem under field conditions?
I've only needed to stretch a scabbard once. What I did was to put a coat of leather conditioner on the scabbard and force in a couple of plastic shims. I left it for about two weeks and after that the khukuri fit. It was snug, but not too difficult to sheath and unsheath.
- Joined
- Jul 28, 2011
- Messages
- 267
I leave it in front of a fan blowing cool/room temp air without the wedge as that wood and leather can hold moisture for a good long while. Heat would dry it faster but might cause the scabbard to draw up again. Slow and cool. However, the last thing you want is to store your khuk in a scabbard you THINK is dry and find out out later that it wasn't
Steely is right....draft the moisture out of the sheath instead of bake it out!!
Oops! I missed Steely's comment.
I suppose if you're not in a hurry -- like if this is your third khukuri, or your tenth -- you could use the water soaking method and let the scabbard dry out for a week or two, even without a fan.
I still wonder how Kami Sherpa would have done it in the field, or "in the Terai where it rains everyday." I suppose people in the field learn all sorts of little tricks for these problems.
I suppose if you're not in a hurry -- like if this is your third khukuri, or your tenth -- you could use the water soaking method and let the scabbard dry out for a week or two, even without a fan.
I still wonder how Kami Sherpa would have done it in the field, or "in the Terai where it rains everyday." I suppose people in the field learn all sorts of little tricks for these problems.