Knife Chat: Slicing to the meat of all things sharp

[12_Gauge_Chimp]

Nice blade, Rick.

I'm assuming the sheath isn't factory since those probably would've been made of canvas or nylon with a belt loop, right ?

Nope. A lot of those old Central American made machetes came with a frilly leather scabbard. The one I bought 35 years ago had one too.

Interesting. Aside from Condor's stuff, I've never seen a machete with a leather sheath.

Most machetes I've come across have canvas or nylon sheaths.

[RickOShea]

Nice blade, Rick.

I'm assuming the sheath isn't factory since those probably would've been made of canvas or nylon with a belt loop, right ?

Nope. A lot of those old Central American made machetes came with a frilly leather scabbard. The one I bought 35 years ago had one too.

Interesting. Aside from Condor's stuff, I've never seen a machete with a leather sheath.

Most machetes I've come across have canvas or nylon sheaths.

I don't know if it used to be a thing down there, or if they were just made for the tourists and for export.

A few moar examples...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/324794896301?hash=item4b9f48cfad:g:uesAAOSwC4hhRmM~
https://www.ebay.com/itm/165010252529?hash=item266b60a2f1:g:cCUAAOSwz6BhEave#viTabs_0
https://www.ebay.com/itm/304048734880?hash=item46cab782a0:g:RL0AAOSwEIlg2lUs
https://www.ebay.com/itm/313502277926?hash=item48fe312126:g:XcQAAOSwCQtgdevC
https://www.ebay.com/itm/144007127519?hash=item21877e61df:g:WlIAAOSwuktgdcAe
https://www.ebay.com/itm/264882640282?hash=item3dac3c559a:g:Qn8AAOSwyR5fdMfO
https://www.ebay.com/itm/133456815247?hash=item1f12a5648f:g:s~kAAOSwkylfAIpn
https://www.ebay.com/itm/313651030547?hash=item49070eea13:g:y7wAAOSwNkRg5FoC
https://www.ebay.com/itm/164931675259?hash=item2666b1a47b:g:d9cAAOSwc3Bg121G
https://www.ebay.com/itm/124902869313?hash=item1d14ca8941:g:lDwAAOSwN0xhQkwP
https://www.ebay.com/itm/362763660751?hash=item5476662dcf:g:h0YAAOSwY3hdiQ~w
https://www.ebay.com/itm/363428102927?hash=item549e00c30f:g:0kUAAOSwPl1gna7I

[Mr. E. Monkey]

I would guess it's probably more of a touristy thing.  My dad got me a machete from Panama ages ago, and it had a leather sheath.  Very kitschy.  I would figure a canvas or nylon sheath would probably be preferable in rainy weather.  That, and they'd probably be a bit lighter, if you are carrying it around a bit, that would probably be a plus.


On the other hand, I'd seen quite a few Filipino bolos at local markets with wood scabbards (usually palm lumber, because it's light and cheap).  Then again, those blades are a bit thicker and heavier than machetes, so that might make a difference, I guess.

That being said, that is a neat-looking sheath you have there, Rick.     

[12_Gauge_Chimp]

I'm betting it's a thing they do for tourist stuff.

They make fancy leather sheaths for the tourist stuff and nylon or canvas sheaths for the stuff the locals use. I think it's a similar thing to do in parts of Nepal and Thailand.

[RoneKiln]

Decent steel wasn't always so cheap, and people didn't always have so much junk. Nor did we always have a near limitless source of entertainment to occupy our evenings. There may be some legit historical/cultural basis in taking the time to make pretty leather sheaths for what used to be expensive and highly visible tools.

[NT2C]

Speaking of adding blades to rigs...

I decided it was time to add one to my EDC "rig":



(Kershaw Chive assisted flipper with a sub 2" blade)

The "flair" and suspenders are part of my "harmless grandpa" look (supplemented but my usual Hawaiian shirt and wood cane) and a surprising number of folks fail to notice the subtle things that are giveaways. 

[MacWa77ace]

Speaking of adding blades to rigs...

I decided it was time to add one to my EDC "rig":



(Kershaw Chive assisted flipper with a sub 2" blade) PINK

The "flair" and suspenders are part of my "harmless grandpa" look (supplemented but my usual Hawaiian shirt and wood cane) and a surprising number of folks fail to notice the subtle things that are giveaways. 

I'm dying ova heeeeya. LOL. Grampa Greyman!

The first thing I see of this post is the pic of the suspenders and I think "who the ____? can only be N2". Then I look at the post's owner and yep. 

[flybynight]

Speaking of adding blades to rigs...

I decided it was time to add one to my EDC "rig":



(Kershaw Chive assisted flipper with a sub 2" blade) PINK

The "flair" and suspenders are part of my "harmless grandpa" look (supplemented but my usual Hawaiian shirt and wood cane) and a surprising number of folks fail to notice the subtle things that are giveaways. 

I'm dying ova heeeeya. LOL. Grampa Greyman!

The first thing I see of this post is the pic of the suspenders and I think "who the ____? can only be N2". Then I look at the post's owner and yep. 

I wear suspenders sometimes also.  Just like NT2C  , under a cover shirt ( Not Hawaian tho )  Just like he and I talked about. . To hold up,flashlight, phone,  keys,  gun, knife, reloads.  It beats tightening your belt like a tourniquet  to hold everything up. 

[12_Gauge_Chimp]

I've been thinking of picking up a pair of suspenders myself.

Thanks to me now carrying my G21 in addition to the other crap I have on my belt, my pants now want to sag further than usual and my belt isn't really built to handle the extra weight of handgun and reload.

So that's where suspenders come into play. I'd prefer the kind that attach to my belt loops and not to the pants themselves, though.

Any recommendations?

[flybynight]

I've been thinking of picking up a pair of suspenders myself.

Thanks to me now carrying my G21 in addition to the other crap I have on my belt, my pants now want to sag further than usual and my belt isn't really built to handle the extra weight of handgun and reload.

So that's where suspenders come into play. I'd prefer the kind that attach to my belt loops and not to the pants themselves, though.

Any recommendations?

Until you just asked, I had never heard of the kind to attach to belt loops. Just looked them up and realized I had thought those hooks were for something else. Interesting

[NT2C]

I wear suspenders sometimes also.  Just like NT2C  , under a cover shirt ( Not Hawaian tho )  Just like he and I talked about. . To hold up,flashlight, phone,  keys,  gun, knife, reloads.  It beats tightening your belt like a tourniquet  to hold everything up.

Oh, I do that too.  With all the crap in my pockets I need to.  On average I gain 25-35 lbs between nekkid and fully dressed with all my stuff.

[NT2C]

I've been thinking of picking up a pair of suspenders myself.

Thanks to me now carrying my G21 in addition to the other crap I have on my belt, my pants now want to sag further than usual and my belt isn't really built to handle the extra weight of handgun and reload.

So that's where suspenders come into play. I'd prefer the kind that attach to my belt loops and not to the pants themselves, though.

Any recommendations?

Get a quality pair that has some decent bite to the clamps and clamp them to the belt.  It's stronger than the pants and won't rip apart.  Those suspenders that attach to belt loops are useless.

[NT2C]

I've been thinking of picking up a pair of suspenders myself.

Thanks to me now carrying my G21 in addition to the other crap I have on my belt, my pants now want to sag further than usual and my belt isn't really built to handle the extra weight of handgun and reload.

So that's where suspenders come into play. I'd prefer the kind that attach to my belt loops and not to the pants themselves, though.

Any recommendations?

Until you just asked, I had never heard of the kind to attach to belt loops. Just looked them up and realized I had thought those hooks were for something else. Interesting

They're only as good as your belt loops, and a lot of pants are skimping on those these days.  Some types of jeans have even eliminated a few.  I have one pair here with just one loop in the center of the back, and one on each hip.  Great if the belt is just decorative, sucks wookie balls if you actually use the belt to hold up the pants.

[12_Gauge_Chimp]

I've been thinking of picking up a pair of suspenders myself.

Thanks to me now carrying my G21 in addition to the other crap I have on my belt, my pants now want to sag further than usual and my belt isn't really built to handle the extra weight of handgun and reload.

So that's where suspenders come into play. I'd prefer the kind that attach to my belt loops and not to the pants themselves, though.

Any recommendations?

Get a quality pair that has some decent bite to the clamps and clamp them to the belt.  It's stronger than the pants and won't rip apart.  Those suspenders that attach to belt loops are useless.

Thanks for the recommendation, NT2C.

Any particular brands you'd recommend or should I just go with whatever suspenders have good clamps ?

[NT2C]

I've been thinking of picking up a pair of suspenders myself.

Thanks to me now carrying my G21 in addition to the other crap I have on my belt, my pants now want to sag further than usual and my belt isn't really built to handle the extra weight of handgun and reload.

So that's where suspenders come into play. I'd prefer the kind that attach to my belt loops and not to the pants themselves, though.

Any recommendations?

Get a quality pair that has some decent bite to the clamps and clamp them to the belt.  It's stronger than the pants and won't rip apart.  Those suspenders that attach to belt loops are useless.

Thanks for the recommendation, NT2C.

Any particular brands you'd recommend or should I just go with whatever suspenders have good clamps ?

I'm currently wearing a pair from Duluth Trading that just refuses to die.  Same pair I wore when I met you and your family, and they were a couple years old then.  Never had a pair last this long.  Hell, I just gave away my hi-viz (bright lime green) to my neighbor.  She wanted a pair in a bright color.  They look a helluva a lot better on her curves than on mine, if you know what I mean. 

[12_Gauge_Chimp]

I'll check those Duluth Trading suspenders out, NT2C.

Getting back to knives, I've been considering getting one of those CRKT CEO knives with the little flipper thing. I've got one of the earlier models with the thumb stud, but it can be kind of tricky to open. CRKT addressed that problem by making the new ones with a flipper instead of the thumb stud and now I want one.

There's a few other knives on my wishlist, including a really nice Buck 893 GCK tanto that I really want, but the CEO flipper might be the one that's most affordable at this point.

[NT2C]

I'll check those Duluth Trading suspenders out, NT2C.

Getting back to knives, I've been considering getting one of those CRKT CEO knives with the little flipper thing. I've got one of the earlier models with the thumb stud, but it can be kind of tricky to open. CRKT addressed that problem by making the new ones with a flipper instead of the thumb stud and now I want one.

There's a few other knives on my wishlist, including a really nice Buck 893 GCK tango that I really want, but the CEO flipper might be the one that's most affordable at this point.

I've had one on my wishlist for a while now.  Really like my LCK+ Large though

[12_Gauge_Chimp]

I'll check those Duluth Trading suspenders out, NT2C.

Getting back to knives, I've been considering getting one of those CRKT CEO knives with the little flipper thing. I've got one of the earlier models with the thumb stud, but it can be kind of tricky to open. CRKT addressed that problem by making the new ones with a flipper instead of the thumb stud and now I want one.

There's a few other knives on my wishlist, including a really nice Buck 893 GCK tango that I really want, but the CEO flipper might be the one that's most affordable at this point.

I've had one on my wishlist for a while now.  Really like my LCK+ Large though

I had to look that one up. That's a nice knife.

I used to carry nothing but CRKT knives, but once I bought my Spyderco Tenacious, I switched to Spyderco. I've got a bunch of CKRT blades, though.

Matter of fact, I did a count of all the knives I own and the total was something like 80 or so blades. Most of them were folding knives. I don't have a lot of fixed blades, but there's a few on my wishlist that I want.

The main one I want right now is the Buck GCK tanto. It's a bit large for EDC, though.

[RoneKiln]

I wear suspenders sometimes also.  Just like NT2C  , under a cover shirt ( Not Hawaian tho )  Just like he and I talked about. . To hold up,flashlight, phone,  keys,  gun, knife, reloads.  It beats tightening your belt like a tourniquet  to hold everything up.

Suspenders can be nice. But when actively preparing for disasters, it's far better to just get back into shape so your hips can actually hold up your belt. 

Woodsghost is great at helping out with that. But don't accept his burpee challenge.

[Optimist]

I got a pair of uBEE suspenders from Duluth that I quite like. They have hooks that go underneath the belt rather than connecting to the pants themselves. This means you need to wear both a belt and suspenders, but I usually do anyway as the suspenders keep the pants up and the belt keeps the shirt tucked in. Plus, it means you still have a belt to hang things off of (I've actually been wanting to add belt loops to my bib overalls so I can carry more stuff, it feels silly to stuff a fixed blade knife in a sheath into a pants pocket).

Most of my relatives seem to prefer the suspenders that hook onto buttons that are permanently attached to the pants. They are hammered on kind of like rivets so you don't need to sew anything.

Speaking of adding blades to rigs...

I decided it was time to add one to my EDC "rig":



(Kershaw Chive assisted flipper with a sub 2" blade)

The "flair" and suspenders are part of my "harmless grandpa" look (supplemented but my usual Hawaiian shirt and wood cane) and a surprising number of folks fail to notice the subtle things that are giveaways. 

I've wanted one of those Kershaw/Ken Onion knives in the crazy rainbow colors for a long time, but I keep talking myself out of it.