Sometimes you're buying the sheath

Had an interesting idea lately -- Sometimes you're buying the sheath. Whatever the quality of the knife; if it has a poor sheath, you won't use it or might loose it...

Hopefully you evaluate the knife and its sheath. From what I have seen and read it is common to find a knife desireable and to immediately find a better, often custom-made, sheath.

I don't usually look at the sheath when I'm buying a knife. I buy the knife I want and then the sheath is a secondary issue. If it comes with a good sheath, that's a plus. If not, I eventually get around to rectifying it.

Speaking of which, I've got a Benchmade 201 Activator sitting in my closet right now. I absolutely love the knife, but I hate the factory sheath. I keep meaning to find someone to make me a nice new sheath (a nice IWB kydex one would be perfect), but it's one of those things that is so far on the back-burner that it's likely going to take another year or two before I finally get around to doing it.

As someone with little knowledge, I have to ask:

What makes a good sheath, and how do I go about finding (or finding out how to make, or where to have made) a better one, if I have a knife with a not-so-good sheath?

Some sheaths are obviously made to meet the lowest possible price point, and usually this is pretty evident. They look terrible, they do a poor job of retaining the knife, they start to fall apart, and...all in all...they just look and feel like junk. Otherwise, it comes down to what you prefer in a sheath design, based on experience.

Personally, I'm not usually a big fan of leather. I prefer kydex, as I find it to be more durable, safer, and it doesn't hold liquids and smells like leather tends to. I also don't like sheaths that flop around while I'm walking, as I find it annoying. Finally, I don't usually like sheaths that use a tab of fabric/leather to secure the knife, as I find this rarely works well and often gets cut off accidentally over time.

If you notice, the sheath that comes with the Benchmade 201 has all of these things, which is why I can't stand it.

Sheaths are the bane of knifemakers and manufacturers. No matter what sheath you provide, at least 2/3's of the customers will dislike it, regardless of how well made it is. That's why some manufacturers don't sell their knives with a sheath at all. I can tell you we seriously considered it.

In the end, the sheath you get is a compromise between cost and performance and generally, cost is a major factor. Folks usually won't pay more for a high quality sheath when odds are they won't like it anyway. And, sheath costs can significantly impact the selling price of a knife.

There's a story I've heard more than once that the first time Gerber produced a knife where the knife cost more than the sheath, Pete Gerber had a huge party to celebrate.

Sheaths are a PITA! BTDT, got the t-shirt. :-(

John McCann did some demo's on Sheath making at the Dirt time site,both leather & Kydex,of which the common person can accomplish as per step by step info.Very informative regarding this,& He exclaims he is not an expert,he just wanted to have some sheaths to his specs!He did a Darned Good job of it,that's for sure!

I, for one, seriously consider the sheath when buying a knife, as a belt knife is almost useless without one. It is an integral part of the investment, and a cheap sheath makes a nice knife look cheap too. It is important enough to me that I might buy a similar model knife in a different brand to get a decent sheath.
I know that some want Kydex, some want leather, some want water resistance, etc. I wish makers would sell all of their belt knives and big folders with a cheap temporary sheath at a reduced cost, and make several different sheaths immediately available online or by mail for each model at a reasonable cost with a coupon. Everybody saves money and everybody is happy.

+1 Byrd Hunter.

I have a Buck 221 Silver Creek Fixed Blade Bait Knife that I rarely use. Part of it is the size and weight (I'm a folder & saw combo kind girl) and part of it is the sheath. It's a nice sheath except that it doesn't feel secure on my belt. The knife fits snuggly in the sheath but the sheath feels a little too loose on my belt because it doesn't have a closed loop for the belt, but is slip over instead.

Everyone has preferences. I rarely carry a knife on my belt and primarily want a sheath so the knife blade is safed in my pack, or wherever it is stored.

I've recently picked up knife making for a hobby, and as a result ended up making kydex sheaths for them. I also have gone back and replaced the sheath on several other knives I owned (yes Doug, I replaced my Mk3 sheath; love the knife, hated the factory sheath).

For those of you wanting replacement/custom sheaths for some of your own knives, look into making your own out of kydex. There's more than enough resources online to easily learn how to make your own, and the materials themselves are cheap. I'd be happy to answer any questions if you have them.

I've used all sorts of sheaths. I think leather is the nicest, but I worry about it getting wet and about its long term durability. I got a kydex sheath for my Becker BK10, but found it clunky - and reinserting the knife was a two-handed operation. I worry about the safety of nylon sheaths - though I liked them for large folders - like the one Doug used to sell with the Mk1 (though I stopped using them about the time Doug stopped selling them - and I now just use the clip in a front pocket).

Though I'm sure Doug frets over them I have to say that the combo nylon/kydex insert sheath that Becker and Doug come with is honestly the best combination I've used. I like the choice of a snap on the keeper strap, and Doug's sheaths have a nice combination of attachment points that can be removed as desired.

My only ongoing worry is that over time removing/inserting the blade will eventually slide the keeper strap, but so far that hasn't been an issue.

Oh, and I like that Doug went with the black nylon. The green nylon sheath that came with my Becker BK10 is a tad too military looking for me.

in my experience the sheath is a decent indicator of the quality of the knife. if the sheath is of high quality, odds are the knife is at least decent, whereas if the sheath looks ready to crumble on the table, odds are the knife itself isn't worth owning.
this doesn't apply to antiques obviously, though an old sheath in good condition would indicate that the knife was well cared for, and therefore less likely to have fatal corrosion under the handle.
none of this is law, but it is worth paying attention to.

Busse makes great knives but sidesteps the issue by not supplying a sheath at all. Personally I find it annoying that a knife costing several hundred bucks ships in a cardboard blade cover, but probably anyone spending that is either going to keep it pristine (ie collector) or commission a custom sheath.

I like Kydex myself. A mixture of Kydex and nylon is really useful. One thin I often do with Mora knives is to stick the cheap but effective plastic sheaths they come with down into a leather holster. You get the beauty and character of a handmade sheath with protection of the plastic one. I will try to take some pics after work.

I recently bought a very nice Case sheath knife that also happened to come with a very nice Case sheath. I paid quite a bit for both, but I wouldn't have sprung for either if they hadn't come as a nice and appropriate package. All good sheaths should have some common features, IMHO. Assuming decent quality finished leather, first on my list is that the sheath part covers most of the knife, including a large portion of the grip, that it have a secure flap cover that keeps the knife from falling out accidentally, that it have a sturdy belt loop, and that it have some kind of liner in the sheath. As long as it has those characteristics, I'm pretty happy.

A few years back I found a very high quality leather holster in a gun-store $5 bin. I tried a couple revolvers and found that it was built for a S&W 686; I didn't have one of those. I bought the holster and a couple months later found a very nice 686 to go in it.

I don't mind paying for a quality sheath.