Customize Your Knife With This Ultimate Guide

(Best Survival Knife Kydex Sheath!)

Creating a custom Kydex sheath for your survival knife is an easy process that takes minimal materials.

Here are the necessary steps to do so: 

• Pick out heavy-duty vegetable tanned leather of your color preference or any color that best matches the issuing of the blade. This supple yet durable material will be more amenable to forming with heat than fabrics, which are stiffer and burn faster. A darker blue cloth covering on one side is not required, but it gives you another flair option should you desire it without burning through too much material.
• Place two pieces of materials inside on top of each other with enough space on either end for gluing purposes later on.

How to Make Your Kydex Sheath

 

Step 1

Take an 8″x11″ sheet of Kydex. To make a sheath for a standard-sized perfect survival knife, cut the material to be 8 inches wide and 12 inches long — but make sure you include two extra inches on one side (2×5=10). Next, draw five lines (or more if your fillet knife is very short) equidistant apart--about 1" -1.25" from one another--across this width; do the same with the end that was not trimmed off. Now bend these flaps around to form loops around opposite corners of your survival blade (cutting edges facing outwards!) and get it as close to fitting snugly as possible.

Step 2

Measure and cut your knife Handel and blade measurements. Once you have the correct size for the blade, use a belt sander or sandpaper to get the shape of the fixed blade knives so they will fit snuggly in place. Next, once you can put pressure on your blade without feeling any resistance from the knife handle, remove enough material at the edges so that there is about an inch border around all sides of your left-overs. Then, cut two pieces that are 1/4" x 3" and two pieces that are 1/8" x 10". 

Step 3

Cover the blade with a thick drop of molten Kydex at the point where it will contact. The vast depth needs to have contact from both edges, creating a tight seal to keep moisture from seeping in and causing corrosion. If you don't do this step correctly, your knife will gradually lose its edge and become dull while stored in its sheaths. One last thing -- make sure you only dip the blade's cutting edge into the molten Kydex because if any other part rubs against it, that area will become deformed and unable to hold its cutting shape over time.

Overall, be sure that you've made your adjustments. Next, flip the sheath upside-down and slide your knife in, checking the blade length exposure over the belt loop above it. Finally, before ordering it, set aside some time to learn how to custom fit a Precision Fit Tactical Knife Belt Loop.

Step 4

Measure the full tang knife blade down the center of the length, marking with a pen or pencil. Placing your thumb on one side and the opposite hand's index finger on the other will measure blade angle. Next, make an arc up from the point marked along with the handle toward you, ending at the butt end of the sheath. Drop this line down to meet the marked blade angle line. This is our "center-point" for attaching belt loop straps! We'll need approximately 1/2 inch clearance around our center, so we add about 1 inch onto each side, thus making 3 inches total for the distance between the current edge and mount edges when dropped off front and back edges.

Step 5

Insert your best survival knife with a handle up through the top of your sheath and arrange it as desired - with the tang blade point facing outwards, flat against the front edge of the sheath, or upside down so that it falls loose from its pouch during a struggle it is less likely to cause injury. 

To create retention for your knife, measure from where you want your blade steel to rise out of the sheath as far as you wish for an adequate grip on it, then drill two holes in that spot at least 1 inch apart near where you have projected how high off the inside bottom surface of your Kydex belt loop will be when completed.

Step 6

Since your survival knife is of the utmost importance, you should keep it on you at all times. Unless you're entering a courthouse or courthouse annex, this means that your knife needs its sheath. The best way to get around this is through preparing one yourself with leather or Kydex - also known as plastic canvas. 

Step 7

The blade of your best survival knives should always be capped with a clear plastic cover. The reason behind this is that Kydex will never be as strong as its full potential since you left a large chunk of the body unfinished. Protective pouches for knives should always have a durable rubberized coating, and the liner should also be super-tough to prevent any cuts from slipping through.

Step 8

The survival knife should be inserted into the sheath, blade up before it is screwed in. This will keep the blade aligned with the quick-release straps once it is put on. The top belt needs to be tightened first, then work down to tighten both other straps. When you can push all three pieces of webbing together, that means your three straps are tight enough, and all should be set. If you go too tightly, though, there should only be one-inch excess so if you can't zip up your sheath, try loosening the last strap some for rubbing against another piece of webbing or something like that because too much tension will cause other problems later on which could lead to your quality knife falling out while running.

I hope these tips help you on your journey towards being prepared for when SHTF with your custom-fit survival beans bearing its custom-built container.