Would you carry your GSO in the stock sheath upside down?

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Jul 14, 2014
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See thread title for my question :D

I'm really only asking for hypothetical reasons, but would you trust the retention for an extended period of hiking with your knife inverted? Have you done this?

Any thoughts on small models up to the mighty 10?
 
I only have a 5.1 so far but would definately trust the sheaths retention to hold it inverted.
 
I carry my GSO 4.1 upside down all the time on a pack strap. Great sheath, doesn't budge a mm.

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I carry my GSO 4.1 upside down all the time on a pack strap. Great sheath, doesn't budge a mm.

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Nice! This is one thing I was envisioning. How do you attach the knife to your pack strap? Standard clip or something else? Bonus SURVIVOR! points for pics :D

Thanks, Skycool!
 
I'm not at home for a few days but I just attached the stock clip upside-down on the sheath and clip it on some molle. But the nose of the sheath under the next webbing up on my shoulder strap.

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Makes sense. No rush on pics, but if you think of it when you're home, I'd still be interested. Thanks!

EDIT: Which pack do you use???
 
I carry a 4.1 inverted on my belt often, I like to pack that way. It's not coming out of there inadvertently, no worries at all. The 10? No. At least not my particular 10 and my particular stock sheath. Although it stayed in after my little snowmachine debacle the other day, I could see it getting away inverted. Gives me a little shiver sitting here, thinking about that blade on the loose.
 
I have no reservations at all up through my largest S!K, the N/S 5.1. I have carried my N2, 2.7, and 3.5 inverted for neck carry, a 4.1 inverted on a pack strap, and a GSO5 on the molle of a 5.11 Rush 24 pack. No issues ever.

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The stock sheath is good but I will never carry it upside down. You never know what might snag it and caused me to loose my favorite knife. I will not take the risk.


Don
 
Only if I was walking on my hands.

Awesome :) That's pretty much me too, I just don't tend to carry fixed-blades inverted.



BUT I have no worry about losing one of my knives that way, even up to the 10. In this old video, if you skip to ~1:30 and watch for about 20 seconds, you'll see one of the ways that I carry my GSO-10 that often puts it at an inverted angle, and it is plenty secure:

[video=youtube;jNyRf8jgdvU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNyRf8jgdvU[/video]
 
Thanks for the input, guys! My first instinct was to NOT carry this way, except for the 2.7 or necker II on a pack strap. I wanted to see if anyone would enthusiastically convince me that the potential risk is worth the hypothetical convenience.

Chiral, I like that carry method! Wow. For the 10 and someday the 12, that could work really well. Did you MacGyver yourself the carry strap or just borrow it from something else?
 
In this old video, if you skip to ~1:30 and watch for about 20 seconds, you'll see one of the ways that I carry my GSO-10 that often puts it at an inverted angle, and it is plenty secure

I could not do that with my 10 in my existing stock sheath setup. But, I absolutely would if my sheath was more secure.

I looked back through my pictures and tried to find one of the way I pack my SYKCO 711 on a baldric strap. What I did was contact Chuck at Chuddybear who built me the strap and the 'frog' which accepts the large teklok. I have the 711 in a mashed cat pancake sheath with a teklok on the back, and when I want to carry it with the shoulder strap, I just clip it inverted on the frog of the baldric.

I've carried it for miles that way and it makes a bigger knife very manageable. I'm not going to say it's impossible to lose it out of there, but between the quality mashed cat sheath, and the grippy respirene-c handle, I've just never had one ounce of trouble with it after putting a ton of use on it. Plus, if you want to go back to belt carry just unsnap the teklok from the frog and go back to your belt. Or if you want to use any other blade that already has a teklok installed, just snap it on the frog. Easy peasy. You also don't have to limit it to blades, you can carry anything that is teklok compatible, and which also balances out and carries comfortably for you on it. For example, I have also carried sidearms with the baldric as sort of shoulder holster setup.

ETA: I realize our GSOs don't have res-c grips, but any snap-fit kydex should work with the micarta scales IMO and IME.
 
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Thanks for the input, guys! My first instinct was to NOT carry this way, except for the 2.7 or necker II on a pack strap. I wanted to see if anyone would enthusiastically convince me that the potential risk is worth the hypothetical convenience.

Chiral, I like that carry method! Wow. For the 10 and someday the 12, that could work really well. Did you MacGyver yourself the carry strap or just borrow it from something else?

I'll be honest, i don't get pack-strap carry of a knife... a BIG tool like a machete or axe I can see going on the pack, but why not have the knife at your side all the time? Wouldn't that be more convenient?
If I am hiking through the woods, my pack is the most likely thing to snag on something and need to be removed. If I am hiking in a public park, displaying a knife prominently on my strap might not be wise. As soon as I get to a rest point, the pack is among the first things to be dumped. If I am canoeing and portaging, do I really want my knife among my potential losses if my pack jumps ship? *shrug* Best advantage I can think of to carrying your knife that way is that you don't forget to leave it behind when you need to go someplace potentially less friendly to knives ;) (done that more than once) But the each their own!


Re the sling on the GSO-10, it is indeed a strap from a random duffle-bag clipped to a couple bits of cord remnant. The cord bits have a knot on either end and the center is stuck through one of the sheath holes to form a tiny loop to which the strap is clipped. Easy on, easy off :thumbup:

IMG_0486.JPG



I could not do that with my 10 in my existing stock sheath setup. But, I absolutely would if my sheath was more secure...

HK, have you thought about installing a tensioner like on the Junglas stock sheath? Would be easy to do and might give you peace-of-mind...
 
CG, I'll try to get a picture of my baldric rig. I think you'd like it, at least for reference to weigh the pros and cons. There's very little sliding around, and it draws wonderfully one-handed.

HK, have you thought about installing a tensioner like on the Junglas stock sheath? Would be easy to do and might give you peace-of-mind...

Nope. I've never owned a junglas and am unfamiliar with that. Off to google I go......
 
CG, I'll try to get a picture of my baldric rig. I think you'd like it, at least for reference to weigh the pros and cons. There's very little sliding around, and it draws wonderfully one-handed....

Knife, sheath and strap getting a little rough-looking over the years, but still functioning just fine. Especially considering the rough use. It's jimmied around on my side a bit in the picture where I'm wearing it. Usually lays straight down in line with your arm, and doesn't sit quite as high as it appears there either, due to the angle of the camera.

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I've carried my gso 4.1 upside down in stock sheath hiking through WV mountains for about 90 miles.

Go for it.
 
Upside down or sideways the OEM kydex sheath on all of my GSOs will hold without movement. I can't say that about all of my other kydex sheaths.
 
Upside down is great!! Keeps debris out.
I think the GSO sheaths will hold upside down no problem. The ones I had all had a nice hold on the knife.
 
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