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UnixRonin
94
Mar 26, 2017
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ScottieG
253
Jun 5, 2017
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UnixRoninFor some leather handgun holsters, I put the unloaded handgun in a thin dress sock, put that fully seated in the holster and wait a couple days. It have not had to wet the leather yet. Of course, this would be tougher to try with a knife.
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The sheath is a little of a disappointment by comparison, not up to the standard of the knife. It's nicely enough constructed, well stitched, and acceptably well finished for a mass-produced piece, but is not molded to fit the knife properly. Mine wouldn't even go in out-of-the-box.
You can fix this, though. Start by running warm — NOT hot — water over and into the sheath for several minutes. Get the leather thoroughly wet, but not soaked, then shake/wipe it surface-dry and wrap it up in a plastic bag. Set it aside for about 30 minutes to let the leather fibers absorb the moisture. After about 30 minutes, take your knife, wrap it snugly in Saran wrap to keep it dry, and work it into the sheath until the hilt bottoms against the stop about 2" inside the sheath. (If you're not sure where the stop is, stick your pinky finger in there along the stitched edge and feel for it.) You should be able to JUST see the edge of the second tubular rivet. Leave the knife in place for 15-20 minutes, optionally taking some smoothly curved object such as the handle of a table knife and gently working the leather up against the hilt where it meets the blade. (It should be slightly stretchable with moderate force.) Take your knife out, unwrap and dry it, and set the sheath aside to dry. Work the knife in and out a few times while it dries.
You might need to repeat this process more than once until the knife seats all the way in and is snugly retained, but can still be pulled out without needing both hands. After the first time you should only need to soak the upper portion of the sheath, as far down as the hilt actually goes into it. When you're done, give it a light coat of something like neatsfoot oil, mink oil or Lexol leather conditioner. (Do not use mineral oil unless you want to permanently darken the leather, and don't use a drying oil like linseed or flaxseed oil.) Fiebing's is a good brand for neatsfoot oil.