SurviveNthrive
11-10-2007, 05:33 PM
Last night I was kicking back, watching DVR'd episodes of the Outer Limits and other shows and sorting through stuff...I discovered a broken green buckle on a relatively nice pistol belt so I did a project I haven't done in over twenty years.
I made it into a Ka Bar Sheath. The material is as durable as you can get and the eyelets allow you to thread wire and 550 cord outers through them and they'll hold. The belt's clamp makes the loop and the brass bands provide tension for the sheath, so you don't need a strap and snap.
The only thing I need now is an insert. I'm trying to remember what I used before, but I think it was an spring steel piece, roughly as wide as the blade...this maintains the shape of the sheath, helps with tension, and protects the sheath by keeping the sharp point of the Ka Bar from cutting the material. Using the holes and lining them up, it comes out either a bit too short or a bit too long for perfect with a Ka Bar, with some other knives, you might need less material.
It's an amazingly simple project, quickly done-I did it in the field the last time after finding an old pistol belt, but I also 100 mph taped it. You only need pliers (Gerber or Leatherman) a good sharp knife, and a lighter for melting the belt so it stops fraying.
I suppose someone high speed would sew a piece of cordura or canvas near the top where the cut off is and use brass rivets instead of 550 or 330 cord.
The funny thing is, whether it's my Ka Bars, the Ontario version, or even those neat import cheapies, they all have great sheaths so it was sorta unnecessary as a project, just neat to do and man it was like riding a bike.
Oh, and as this was a large belt, I got material to make another one!
I made it into a Ka Bar Sheath. The material is as durable as you can get and the eyelets allow you to thread wire and 550 cord outers through them and they'll hold. The belt's clamp makes the loop and the brass bands provide tension for the sheath, so you don't need a strap and snap.
The only thing I need now is an insert. I'm trying to remember what I used before, but I think it was an spring steel piece, roughly as wide as the blade...this maintains the shape of the sheath, helps with tension, and protects the sheath by keeping the sharp point of the Ka Bar from cutting the material. Using the holes and lining them up, it comes out either a bit too short or a bit too long for perfect with a Ka Bar, with some other knives, you might need less material.
It's an amazingly simple project, quickly done-I did it in the field the last time after finding an old pistol belt, but I also 100 mph taped it. You only need pliers (Gerber or Leatherman) a good sharp knife, and a lighter for melting the belt so it stops fraying.
I suppose someone high speed would sew a piece of cordura or canvas near the top where the cut off is and use brass rivets instead of 550 or 330 cord.
The funny thing is, whether it's my Ka Bars, the Ontario version, or even those neat import cheapies, they all have great sheaths so it was sorta unnecessary as a project, just neat to do and man it was like riding a bike.
Oh, and as this was a large belt, I got material to make another one!