Boot Knife Sheaths

[444]

Over the years I have owned several boot knives.
I always thought they were a good idea. The idea of carrying a decent sized, fixed blade knife without advertising this fact to the world.
One thing that has always bothered me about boot knives is the way they attach to the boot. I just bought a Benchmade Gamer and noticed the same problem. The clip that goes over your boot has a very tiny opening. When you actually attach it to a boot the clip is them bent out at a crazy angle and isn't secure. Why can't they make these things to go on a real pair of boots ? Who is wearing these paper thin boots ?
The boots I wear at work (Danner Arcadias) are simply too thick of material. All the cowboy boots I own have a pull tab on the sides to help pull them on making them thick right where I would put the boot knife.
I don't get it. Is the term boot knife just a catch phrase or are these things actuall meant to be put in a boot ?

 

[CRridermike]

i found the same thing with my Gerber Gardian Back-up. i have 1 pair of boot they work with and those are my Dr.Martin's that are really thin and tall.

 

[HiWayMan]

I've never had a boot knife sheath that worked as it was meant to. So, I never use the sheathes that come with them. I generally make a sleeve out of cereal box cardboard covered with duct tape. I tuck this completely inside my boot and often times the hilt will also rest below my boot top. This has the advantages of being well retained, and not having to hike your pant leg up to your knee to deploy your knife. The whole boot knife concept is really flawed though in my opinion. It is kinda like ankle holsters for handguns. It is about the worst place to put a blade if you ever need it in a hurry. Try using the clip sheath either IWB or at SOB. These places allow a quicker deployment, however, they are not quite as concealable.

 

[Skofnung]

Here is my version of the boot knife that works quite well, though I rarely use it:

A 3 1/2" laminated Brusletto blade with an antler handle. It has no guard.

The sheath is of the "pouch" type, 3/4 of the knife's overall length being held by the sheath. There is a 1 1/2" tab sewn to the front, to keep it from sliding down.

This is worn in my sock, like a Scot's Sgian Dubh, with the upper of the boot providing extra support to th sock. I have made several of these getups for friends and family, and they seem to work well enough. If I can get my GF's camera and somewhere (way) to host the pics, I'll see about showing you what I mean.

Now. Here is an idea. I too dislike the way regular boot knife clips position the knife. I feel that even when the boot's upper is thin enough to allow the clip to work right, the knife's hilt is still up too high.

A solution; sew a leather tab (or loop) inside the boot upper for the clip to hook on to. This solves the thickness problem as you can use as thin a weight of leather as you want and it lowers the hilt of the knife.

Carrying a boot knife is a compromise. The best thing about it is that you can draw the knife fairly discreetly while seated at a table or in a simmilar situation. The worst thing about it is trying to get to it in a hurry.

Overall, I prefer to have the knife on my waist somewhere ast it is more comfortable and easier to get to. A boot (or sock) knife has it's place though...