Ordered the olympus C765 from Amazon. So now I finally have the chance to show my main knife to you guys.
Sheath contains para cord (tied at the back) Swedish firesteel, Vic honing stone and BBQ firestarter paper as emergency tinder.

The sheath is home made. Thats the reason I was given it by my brother, he lost the origional. The knife is used everyday for cooking. Thats when you learn your tool! And not just to open the pizza packaging... <img src="/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

the photo's aren't great. Not happy with the camera, colours are too rich and the monitor is defective. The colour may be my fault, although unlikely due to the mode set to "auto". But the monitor is definetly not. Shame as I wanted to use it with Xmass. Doubt that the replacement will come that soon <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> If I send it before the 25th, or else Im on my way to Schotland with a defective camera. Bit of a dillema....





Reinhardt

i also just got a new digital camera. Here is a small selection of my tool kit. The sky looks awfully dark these days, so the lighting really isn;t good at all.

Looks like a pretty sturdy knife... how did you make the sheath?

Brian,
I've written an earlier post on the site about the knife you might like to read it:


Bit more detail on the making of the sheath:
I wrapped an old belt tighly around the knife without overlapping the leather. Then got some very wide black tape and primitively taped the belt around the knife. Had to use more than one pair of hands so I had an extra "hand" helping me with this part. For the belt loop I folded the last part of the belt around and taped it against the back. Finished it with camo/DPM tape. After a while got bored of the colour sceme and taped black over it. Resulting in a sturdy sheath. The "container" for flint and stone are made by cutting up parts of a photo camera fim cylinder. The advantage of the home made belts is that can be carried on any belt i.e. military isssue size. Also knife does not create noise when drawn from the sheath.

Hope this helps,
Reinhardt

Well I be dammed but that knife looks like exact replica of Hitler Youths knife. If you are looking for a sheath I think you can probably pick them up by a dozen in Europe. Just my 2 cents...

That is very interesting and I missed the original posting so thanks for sharing that. If you still haven't found a sheath (and are still looking) I would bet the guys over as BF could given you more info on the knife (including where to get replacement sheaths) than you (or at least I) ever imagined. They have proven extremely knowledgable and helpful for me in the past.

Brian and Matt,
My quest for the sheath has ceased. As I modified my personal sheath for the extra survival items carried. The origional metal quard just would not look right with bits of tape and plastic. But thanks for your suggestions.

Reinhardt

You could always try making a sheath out of birch bark, as a conversation piece - I made one for an Erikson Mora knife last summer and I like it better than the original black plastic one. (Although it was a first attempt and not very well made, it seems to hold the knife more securely.)

IIRC, Mors Kochanski's "Bushcraft" (aka "Northern Bushcraft") has a section on crafting that describes how to make one.

I would have fun doing that for one of my Frost Moras unfortunatly I can find no birch anywhere although every field guide on earth says I'm surrounded by it. <img src="/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

Aardwolfe,
I tried making beakers out of birch bark but it used to crack at the seems. Then I read in a book you have to soak it first. Any more tips before attempting it? What do you use for stiching it together? Sounds like a great idea anyway.

Reinhardt

Disclaimer: I'm by no means an expert at this.

The trick was to use the bark while it was still fresh off the tree. If you let it dry out it will be harder to work with, although I think you can steam it to get it back to its supple condition.

You don't stitch a birch sheath together with anything, it's more like a weaving. I was hoping there would be a description of it in Kochanski's book, but there doesn't seem to be, so I'll describe the technique as best I can by looking at the sheath I made. I don't think there is only one way to do it, either; if it works and you like the design, then it's good; otherwise you did it wrong <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

1. Take a strip of bark about 4 times as long as the blade and wide enough to serve as the sheath. Fold the ends to the middle, then fold it in half again, so you have a fourfold thickness with an opening at one end. I'll refer to the "outer wall" and the "inner wall" and hope that it's clear what I mean.

2. Cut a long, thin strip of bark, about 1/3" to 1/2" thick. Push one end of it between the "outer" and "inner" wall on one side, almost all the way through. Wrap it around the sheath one turn, then push it through between the "outer" and "inner" wall on the opposite side from where you started.

3. Keep doing this until you have used the entire length of the thin strip; you will probably have to use more than one strip to complete the weaving.

4. You can add a belt loop to it - Mors showed us how but I didn't make one (which I should have) so I don't recall exactly how he did it. But I don't think it's rocket science. Once you've made the sheath, you should be able to think of a couple of ways to design a belt loop for it.

The knife will be held inside the sheath by the friction of the two opposite sides squeezing on it. Even on mine, which is a beginner's attempt, if I pick it up by the sheath and hold it with the knife handle downwards, I can shake it up and down without the knife falling out.

(The smooth inner bark should form both the inside and outside of the sheath; the "paper" side is what grips the weaving strips and prevents them from coming loose.)

I hope this helps.

Aardwolfe,
thank you for taking the time to write this, certainly a great help and keen to try it.

Now I realise the mistake I made when attempting to create a cup: the bark was cut off a dead birch.

Regards,
Reinhardt

Of course you know, if you strip the bark off all the way around you'll kill the tree. But if you take a strip just from one side of the tree, which was what the early people did, the tree will continue to thrive for many years. (Apparently, though, the "second growth" of bark the following year has special properties - don't remember what they were, I'm afraid - and the Indians would often deliberately strip the bark off the tree one year, then come back and take the second growth bark that had covered the injury the next. This would kill the tree - but I guess in those days, there were more birch trees than there were people so it didn't have much impact on the environment.)

But you're right, the bark needs to be taken from a live tree. Birch bark off a dead tree makes good firestarter, though. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Polak 187, that was my first reaction as well, Hitler Youth knife.

All you ever wanted to know about working with Birch Bark

http://jumaka.com/birchbarkcanoe/index.htm

Bill