Thread: Playing with leather

This is the sheath for my go-to hunting knife which is only ever used for butchering in the field. It is a Knives of Alaska Alpha Wolf in cryogenically treated D2 steel. Excellent little knife.
This is what my basic sheaths look like before adding sleeve and belt loop. This one doesn't have sleeve or loop as it just goes in my belt pouch. The blade is around 3inches or so long and the sheath is only around an inch and a half wide....note I have removed the Chicago screw half way down to show the 5mm hole it would be in. The top screw still in supports the opening and stitching and there would be 2 holes down the side below handle molding for a sleeve if I was going to fit one...the second missing screw is just more support for the stitching.

This sheath does not open like the bk7 one does as the knife handle is the wrong shape for this to work. This is what you would describe as a friction hold sheath. It's still molded to the lower section of handle and most of the first finger grip on the handle which still holds very firm... again two hands are required to remove knife but doesn't lock over knife like bk7 but it ain't gunna fall out as the shaping alone holds it but is just flexible enough to move when knife put in or out.

You can see how the sheath again matches the contours of the handle but from the top you can see it's just an open hole. Again all edges are burnished to finish for that smooth polished wood look. If you look closely in first and second photos you can see the dip in the sheath outer skin where the inside edge of the protection strip extends to to protect blade/stitching.
So that is the basic starting point for my sheaths then sleeves etc are added so if for some reason belt loops or sleeves are damaged they are easily replaced without having to make a hole new sheath. Also if you want an over the knife safety strap with popper etc then these can be built into the sleeve rather than having any metal from the back of the popper or rivets or stitching in/on the sheath itself which also protects the blade.
Phew... Does that novel make any sense to anyone?

Oops forgot the picture of the opening...

There she is ...it must be getting late.... been out bush all day chasing large furry animals and starting to feel my age..lol