I've got a Buck/Hartsook Ultralight that I've used as a neck knife from time to time. Between the good retention system and being such a small/lightweight knife it works well as a neck knife.

Unfortunately, the diminutive size and lack of handle scales also make it uncomfortable to use for anything more than light tasks.

This is where kydex sheath comes in, you can reform it to whatever tightness you desire, I've tweaked most of mine. Not something you can do with leather or injection molded sheath.

The only time I carry tip up is scuba diving with a short dive knife on my BCD strap

I prefer to keep my sheath knife on a side strap on the pack rather than the pack strap. Not only that, I have the lanyard looped in the strap as double insurance. It is pretty rare indeed that a person needs to have a sheath knife "on the ready" but if people feel comfortable with that then that's their business.

i hike in the los padres national forest. i typically do not see anyone else on the trails that i hike.

and there are cats out there.

when i was new to hiking i carried a fixed blade, in a kydex sheath, upside down, on my backpack's shoulder strap. the sheath had a snap button strap that secured the handle of the knife. it wasn't going anywhere unless needed.

i felt that if a cat ever pounced on me from behind grabbing my neck - as is their style - and although face down in the dirt, i just might be able to readily reach the knife and give the cat a real surprise.

the more i read about human / cat interactions, the number of people killed, and about the life of the cats, i came to realize that an encounter with mr. cougar would be a very rare event should it happen to me.

so i stopped carrying the knife that way.

it was just a choice i made.

but i have watched ranger shows on t.v.

dexter, too.

A small confession. I have hiked for decades in cat country, including one area in Arizona where the rancher I came to know quite well had never been able to raise a foal to adulthood because of cat predation. In that area I have seen cat tracks on top of mine while descending from a climb.

I also hike a fair amount of time in the Los Padres.

In all of that - cat encounters - zero. Cat sightings - zero. Cat sightings and encounters by friends and associates - zero.

Mountain lions are interesting complex critters, but they are an insignificant hazard to humans. Just look at the statistics. Small children are more at risk, but that is why they have parents.

I usually carry my knife in my pack or on my belt.

all of what you say aided in my decision-making process to not carry that knife - at all.

every ranger i have ever encountered has been asked the question - none have seen a live cat in the woods, not even the backcountry rangers.

i do have a sharp or two with me - in my pack.

i, too, have seen prints over my tracks. eerie.

I've seen Mountain Lions in Los Padres 3 times in the last 2 yrs!I saw one from a distance,about 1/8 mile in Malibu.I've seen & observed a Mountain Lion with 2 cubs in or near the Sespe Wilderness area for about 5 minutes!I see Coyotes & Packs of Dogs often as well as Many Mulies,& I've seen Black Bear in Soledad Cyn.,recently last summer! I think rangers are holding back from telling the general public,what they actually do see on a daily basis.Tip up or Tip down,Just make sure you have at least one with you,when you are hiking!

Big Cats always scared the crap out of me. Unlike most animals you almost never hear them or see them. More often than not, the only way you know they were there, is because you see their tracks on the way back. More than a few times I've seen their tracks following me. As you can imagine, it's a very eery feeling.

Years ago I briefly dated a girl that worked at a Zoo in Nebraska. Once she took me in to show me the animals. I was about eight feet away from a pair of cougars in a pen and I couldn't freakin' believe how big they are! Having seen housecats intimidate large dogs I can scarcely imagine what a cat that size could do, or what possible good a knife would do you. Obviously it would be a lot better than nothing, but I have to think your odds of successfully fighting a mountain line with a knife are pretty slim.