Is there a good alternative to using krydex or leather for such things?
Yep....
Find a discarded pick-up bed liner. The material is heat moldable. Use a saber saw to cut. Go slowly as the material will heat up, flow around the blade and then solidify behind the blade. Leaves you with a solid piece again and a silly look on your face. Cut it with a low tooth count blade on the slowest setting.
Then attack it with a heat gun. Works great. Good for other projects were you need to mold a very rugged shape like a wheel well protector etc.
Nomad
PS: I posted this yesterday and it seems to have disappeared...