[John in AR]

I recently discovered a new sheathmaker that I thought I'd share. I picked up one of their more involved designs for a Cold Steel Trailmaster; the trailmaster isn't my favorite woods knife, but I simply didn't have a left-handed sheath for it, so I had one done for it first...

Anyway, the trailmaster in factory kydex sheath. If you like these, great; personally I can’t stand them; personal opinion only and not objective assessment, I admit…

Same trailmaster in the Bay State Leather ambidextrous sheath, which works for lefties & righties both. (Looks very plain in this pic, but this is the bare-bones view - it gets better.) Sheath can be had in brown or black – when I ordered mine, Bruce actually made up two in brown, posted pics and let me take my pick; all in just over a week – very good customer service. The little protrusion on the edge will be explained as we go:

This particular sheath comes with a two-section accessory pouch, intended for a multitool and ferrocerium rod:

Pouch is made to fit around sheath, with straps & snaps on the back:

On the sheath, held in place by four snaps and the small (looped) leather protrusion on the edge:

Continued below...

 

[John in AR]

Continued...

Back side with the pouch attached – showing snaps & securing loop (not sure what to call that loop…); it’s just a little hollow sleeve:

In the pouch, I put a Leatherman supertool 300, and a combo magnesium/ferrocerium stick. If I were Daniel Boone with months of no re-supply in sight, I’d go with a thicker ferro rod and forgo the magnesium:

For the finishing touch - in the looped protrusion, a small sharpening steel (taken from a retracting Gerber sharpener) fits like it was meant for it. Narrow duct tape wrapped to give a little better grip and to prevent it sliding down out of the loop:

All said & done, grabbing this knife sheath gives me a large woods knife, a very good multitool, a sharpening steel for both, plus fire-making capability. All in a simple (admittedly not feather light) grab-n-go package:

Summary - very, very happy with the package. Only one change I may make is to regarding the belt attachement. It’s currently a quick-attach snap setup and I’ll likely replace the snap with a screw or even rivet. Nothing inherently wrong with the snap-on setup and it’d probably be fine forever as is; but being somewhat of a belt-and-suspenders fan when it comes to woods gear, I like the idea of a non-quick-attach setup better than a snap. Not a criticism at all; most people would probably prefer the snap – just not my preference.

Overall, the quality is excellent. The leather is stout without being brittle or clunky, everything fits very well, and the stitching & edge finishing (two weak points for a lot of leather goods) are both top-notch.



This webpage is where I originally found Bay State Leather – as fate would have it, it’s a group of pics & reviews by another satisfied customer: http://www.m4040.com/Knifemaking/Sheaths/Sheaths.htm

That page has one done in black, for a scrapyard dogfather instead of a trailmaster. Very sharp in black with the nifty paracord wrap, but again, just not my preference.

Bay State Leather sheath page: http://baystateleather.net/KniveSheaths.aspx

This is the two Bruce made when I ordered one – the dark brown is the one I chose; the antique brown may still be available if a person didn’t want to wait to have one made to order: http://baystateleather.net/CustomOrders.aspx

Final comment – based on just the one transaction, I’m happy enough with the product & service both that I’ll likely have a similar rig made up for my 8” marbles ideal as well. The fact that I’d use his product for my favorite, and most-used woods knife is about as high a recommendation as I can give.

 

[DaRkWoLf]

That's a really nice looking setup. Classy.

They have some great pricing too, seemingly. Thanks for sharing, I might be giving him some business.

Do you happen to know the make of the blade in image #12 on the page showcasing his sheath work?

 

[John in AR]

Sure don't, but I'm sure he could tell you. I've spoken with him several times and he's more customer-friendly than a lot of businesses are nowadays.

 

[AustDeathMachine]

John- Thanks for the post on these sheaths. I also like the pics and seeing one of the knives by the Frizzel Brothers.

 

[jasper]

Thanks for the post John, I have a few old knives I have been meaning to look for some sheaths for.