Sheath strap question, Poll

[Shanghai McCoy]

Got a question, which do you prefer for the location of the handle strap.
Low on the sheath, towards the guard or High on the sheath towards the pommel?

Discuss...

 

[Boattale]

Low. High placement allows the knife to move too much. And actually I use low strap and paracord or leather lacing around the pommel on a couple of mine. I'll post photos later.

 

[Armored farmer]

I had a queen steel skinner as a kid that would slide up through the strap until it came to the guard. Half the blade would become exposed.

The blade needs to be securely held at the bottom of the sheath or else it could fold over and allow the blade to protrude through the sheath and into something.

I had a U.H. Golden Spike that did that.

 

[Zaydok Allen]

I had a queen steel skinner as a kid that would slide up through the strap until it came to the guard. Half the blade would become exposed.

The blade needs to be securely held at the bottom of the sheath or else it could fold over and allow the blade to protrude through the sheath and into something.

I had a U.H. Golden Spike that did that.

This ^^^^^

I've had the same experience. I crawl around in the bushes too much to have a knife ride up in the sheath without me knowing. I have a beautiful little knife with a garbage sheath that is basically a letter opener because of this.

 

[hso]

Low to hold it in the sheath easier

 

[mcb]

Friction or detent just like my holsters. Not straps on my sheaths or holsters. That said I rarely carry a fixed bladed knife on my belt. Its usually a multi tool in a sheath that does not have a flap or strap so I can one hand draw or put it away.

 

[RA40]

So long as the design retains the knife fully seated within the sheath. That said many of the sheaths that have a strap higher on the handle allow the blade to be exposed which is not good and those sheaths are not as well fitted.

 

[Speedo66]

I like the Scandinavian style where the knife just sits deep in the sheath.

 

[Boattale]

A representative sampling of sheaths that work well for me:

Far right is a custom sheath for an old Herter's. Sheath made in the1980's for me by a Saddlemaker in Jefferson City MO.

Next is factory sheath for the Golden Spike.

Center is a custom sheath for Bark River Canadian. It's 3V steel and is quite the knife. Sheath was made by Harry Savage. I added the lacing to hold the pommel closer to the sheath and therefore closer to me. The lace through the ferro rod keeps it secure too.

Next to the Fighting Knife is a factory Randall sheath. The paracord is factory and gave me the idea to copy on the Savage sheath.

And far left is a Case version of the USMC fighting knife. The strap is high on this one. The swell in the grip keeps the knife from moving up in the sheath - very securely. The knife is held close to the body with this sheath and strap too (even more so if the tiedown lanyard is used), which can be important in certain settings.

 

[Bazoo]

I like the buck 119 style that is a large strap that covers much of the handle. For my buck 192 I have an open top. It’s okay but I’d lose the knife if I tumbled down a mountain. I’ve been thinking about adding a retention loop of some sort.

 

[Shanghai McCoy]

Thanks for posting those pictures Boattale.
That's an excellent illustration for the various versions of strap retention.

 

[jmr40]

My preference is no strap. But if it has one low.