How do you carry your fixed blade?

[slicksleeve]

I’m am a (very amateur) knife maker. I’ve made this knife for a friend as a gift to her husband. I don’t know him, or any of his habits. I will get her opinion but she probably doesn’t know how he would like to carry, and it’s a birthday surprise and probably won’t ask him. I personally like to carry a knife on my belt on my weak side, spine forward, as I always have a pistol holstered in a pancake on my strong side. I doubt this guy carries a firearm, but I will ask. I make pancake type sheaths for mine, but some people probably like the kind that have a loop behind the leather with the stitching only on the blade side.
So, what are you guys opinions about general sheaths? Provided your not carrying a pistol, do you prefer strong side, weak side, spine forwards or toward the back?

 

[Obturation]

I like a fixed blade on my belt with the sheath down inside my front strong side pocket. Keeps it from flapping around and I can cover the handle with my shirt if I want to.

 

[bikerdoc]

Big folders are my go to, but when I perceive a need to wear a fixed blade I do one of 3 things:
1, strong side, behind my holster, spine forward. Nylon or leather sheath.
2, large fighter, leather sheath,on the right leg above the calf secured by a 3 inch leather strap with buckle
3 A neck knife with kydex sheath on a beaded chain.
YMMV

 

[WrongHanded]

If you make a spear point shaped (aka symmetrical) belt sheath, he can drop the knife in either way round.

 

[lemaymiami]

I keep my fixed blades simply wrapped in cloth since I keep them nearby but not on my person... A folder is on my person whenever I'm awake. If I had the skills you've displayed - and the ability to make sheaths for them... I'd provide the knife without sheath and tell the purchaser to have the recipient contact me to have the sheath made for the way they choose to carry it... I can see both ways of doing it - first, including the price of the knife as delivered with the sheath figured in - or charging separately for that sheath depending on what the new blade owner specified... Either way that would be a high class custom rig... Very nice blade by the way...

 

[jeepnik]

Depends on blade length and style. I'll carry them vertically on the strong side when carrying a cross draw holstered handgun. Or on the weak side when carrying a handgun on the strong side. I have other blades that carry very well horizontally on the belt line. And a couple work really well horizontally in the small of the back. Then there are a few small neck knives and some designed for boot carry. Lately, this has been my preferred. But I'm looking into a slightly smaller footprint sheath. I really don't need the stone attached.

 

[carsten1911]

Small fixed blade on my person practically as long as I dont sleep or take a shower.
Strong hand side
Vertical
Symmetrical kydex sheath with holes
paracord through kydex sheath to make outside-the-belt-loops.

Simple setup, I could change sides, angles etc. just by altering the paracord.
Maybe a good idea for someone who wants to find out his preferred carry method.
If this is found one could (for aesthetic reasons, e.g.) have a leather sheath made that fits this carry method...or just keep on using the kydex sheath.

Hope this helps!

Greetings
Carsten

 

[Corpral_Agarn]

First off, a custom knife, by a close friend, is my kind of a gift!

When I was experimenting with small fixed blades I found it convenient to carry like this:



I seldom do this anymore but I do have that same small fixed blade on my horse riding rig. I keep it really sharp for emergency type stuff.

It rides on the belt near the front but angled a little more (rather than straight horizontal):

 

[theotherwaldo]

Back when I carried a fixed-blade knife on a daily basis, I would normally carry it in a scabbard with a carved wood body and a wire framed attachment that clipped it vertically on my belt or pack harness.
The scabbard allowed the blade to be reversed.
I usually carried my pistol in a sleeve near the bottom of my pack, although I sometimes hung the gun and knife on my belt (with suspenders) when travelling light.
I don't like to appear to be armed... .

 

[Armored farmer]

I seldom carry a fixed blade anymore.
Strongside on a crossdraw rig.
Attached to a safety harness strap
Attached to a pack strap.
A pic for @Corpral_Agarn l agarn... my high school hot rod. My boys all drove it to school too.

 

[Corpral_Agarn]

I seldom carry a fixed blade anymore.
Strongside on a crossdraw rig.
Attached to a safety harness strap
Attached to a pack strap.
A pic for @Corpral_Agarn l agarn...View attachment 937780 my high school hot rod. My boys all drove it to school too.

Gorgeous truck!

 

[slicksleeve]

Thanks for all of the feedback guys. I’ll currently working on a leather strong side, right hand, spine forwards sheath. Nothing fancy, just a straight drop. This on the recommendation of the lady who’s husband I’m making it for. I’ll update in a few days with a photo.

 

[waterhouse]

I carry my gun appendix, and if I carry a fixed blade it is a thin knife in thin kydex IWB just behind my strong side hip. I normally carry a folder though.

Unless I’m hunting or camping or generally away from society, and then the fixed blade either hangs from my belt or is worn horizontally on my belt.

 

[Boattale]

Thanks for all of the feedback guys. I’ll currently working on a leather strong side, right hand, spine forwards sheath. Nothing fancy, just a straight drop. This on the recommendation of the lady who’s husband I’m making it for. I’ll update in a few days with a photo.

Those work just fine for my preferred carry, weak side, spine to the rear. My actual favorite is weakside near horizontal slightly grip up in kydex.

 

[JShirley]

Depends on the size of the blade. Large blades I carry spine up, horizontally on my non-dominant side. Small fixed blades I carry vertically on my dominant side.

John

 

[Valkman]

Slicksleeve, let's see more of your work!

 

[slicksleeve]

let's see more of your work

The one is my first attempt with a deer antler.
The other has handle slabs I made from a retired Air Force officer’s uniform shirt. It was a gift to him from his girlfriend. As you can see, I like to work with farrier’s rasps. I get a free handful every six weeks when he comes to shoe our horses.

 

[slicksleeve]

The green and black handle one is construction paper bonded with bondo fiberglass resin. Don’t know how it will hold up long term. I put it in a charity auction, and it sold for $50. The blue ones are made from class A uniforms. French blue pants and navy blue shirt. I use them as door prizes at our office Christmas party. The three cherry wood handle ones were made for my wife’s three best friend’s husbands. They seemed to be happy to get them.

 

[Valkman]

Very nice work! Hey that's nice getting free files, I'd use them too!

 

[mdauben]

My fixed blade carrying is generally limited to either small neck knives (surprisingly, carried around my neck), or medium size knives of the Mora, Puuko, or Bushcraft style, carried in a dangler sheath on my belt.

When I'm bringing bigger knives with me, they generally live in my pack, not on my person.

 

[kBob]

Knew an NCO decades back that carried i an odd way the two years I was around him. He had a pocket knife for normal chores, just a common slip joint. His sheath knife was odd. It was a flat stamped out throwing knife such as folks might play with in the late 1960s that had a grip that was just a thin layer of "Dip-Coat". As sold they had no real edge but he sharpened the forward bit of both sides of the semetrical blade enough to do some cutting chores and used it for a camp knife on occasion. He actually threw the darn thing with great regularity when no brass was about. He had been a dog handler in an Infantry outfit in VN and was a bit odd....and still had the damn dog in 1974, in europe!

He threw flat slip style with the grip in his palm and was both accurate and powerful inside ten yards. I have always thought that throwing a blade was silly outside adventure films, but we do have Freedom of Religion....

He carried down the center of his back high enough he could reach the grip by reaching over his head. The knife was in a flat leather home made sheath attached to a loop of thin cotton webbing. He would hold the knife over head and stick both arms through the loop and then drop the knife behind his head. this gave him a strap across the back and a loop over each shoulder. He generally pushed the sheath ulder the strap on his back to prevent flapping about and showing as he wore it under his service blouse.

Seemed silly, but I was reluctant to tell some one that earned a Bronze Star with V device that did so for an action where he killed six NVA at close combat range that he was full of it. If it makes the bear happy, don't poke at it!

Obturation described my carry when I did carry a fixed blade while not in the field and many years as a civilian.

"a fixed blade on my belt with the sheath down inside my front strong side pocket."

As my unit when enlisted wore our blouse untucked ( much to the anger of many other units officers and such) , until our last new CO killed it, I carried that way most of the time in garrison as well.

In the field I had no set way and for a bit even did the suspender carry or pack strap carry both up and down. One way I liked but only did a time or two in LBE was to swap out my Alice clip canteen cover for a floppy old Korean war vintage one with hooks. I used the hooks on the top row of holes on my belt and duck taped my German Army issue "Kampf Messer" horizonatal and parallel to the belt under the canteen. You guys that have been enlisted... imagine getting a new Captain for a Company Commander with zero field experience as an Infantry Officer and having him catch you carrying such a "Non US Issue" knife in such a manner in "His" Company....I think you can understand why I only carried that way a couple of times. I understand that during his time as an LT he made a very production assistant to the S-whatever at Battalion, but if it was not in a field manual he did not believe it.

The most common sheath knife in my unit in the mid 1970s was a Buck, followed by aircrew Knife, and then (don't laugh) a personally customized Mess kit knife in a home made usually cardboard and duck tape sheath. Buck folders in belt pouches were almost uniform. Big following for quality Eicorn switch blades ( until that last CO showed up, My first CO carried one!)

In latter years Boy Scouts discouraged Big Honking Knives of any sort and so some other Scout leaders grumped at my habit of wearing such "in front of the boys" and I actually carried my sheath knife in my shoulder bag. I generally belt carried in the woods on my belt between my right pockets call it 4 o'clock.

-kBob

 

[labnoti]

My main concern with carrying a fixed blade is the legally contentious issue of concealing it. Years ago, I tried open carry of a fixed blade for a while but gave it up because the attention it received was undesirable to me. Concealing folders is reasonably well-protected by the laws of my state and the ones around me where I travel. As far as I understand it, concealing any fixed blade is untenable in California and while it is not necessarily illegal in Oregon, Nevada, and Arizona, the laws of these states restrict concealed carry. In Oregon and Nevada, it is illegal to conceal a dirk, dagger, or "stabbing knife" (OR), "machete" (NV). It is actually the interpretation of what a dirk or dagger is that leads to the conclusion that all fixed blade knives and folders that are opened are illegal to conceal in California. While Oregon and Nevada don't have the same interpretation as California, Nevada makes it illegal to conceal any knife which could be considered a, "dangerous or deadly weapon." In Arizona, the law requires a person carrying a knife concealed to notify law enforcement officers of this fact upon contact, unless it is a pocket-knife (which is probably interpreted as folder). Notably, the concealed carry firearms permit in some of these states does not license or permit the holder to conceal knives or edged weapons. It seems to me that carrying anything but a folding pocket knife is a legal minefield.

When I experimented with carrying a fixed blade, I tried sewing a sheath into the cargo pocket of cargo pants. I believe it would have failed California's standard for open carry because only the handle was visible outside my clothing. If I had hung the sheath from my belt, my coat would have covered it if not an untucked shirt. The problem with the cargo pocket was that the pant leg could be pulled up quite a ways before the knife was withdrawn. I like neck-sheaths, and tried that but found it if I could not put the knife inside my shirt, it would swing around unless I clipped it to the front of the shirt and then it would pull on the shirt. The most practical solution I found was to lash the sheath to a backpack or put it inside the backpack. Curiously, concealing any legal knife in a backpack is not a crime, but if I conceal an ice-pick next to my .357 Magnum, I could be in big trouble, for the ice-pick.

 

[Nuclear]

I have one fixed blade knife at the moment, and I carry it while hiking or camping primarily. I had a local make a kydex sheath (the one that came with it was not useful) that would hold the knife at an angle for what I would describe as a "cross draw" position.

It has been awhile since I went to an AZ CCW class, but the last time I did we were told that if you could legally own a weapon, and you could conceal it, the permit covered it (except for nunchucks, and they've since fixed that little bit of craziness in the law). AZ has gone to a "Constitutional Carry" law for firearms, but I don't know what impact that has had on blades. Quite frankly, considering how little attention there is around carrying firearms here, I'd be surprised if openly carrying anything short of a sword would get you a second look.

 

[Mikhail Weiss]

I’ve carried my little fixed blade appendix style, handle up, edge forward. The plastic sheath has a Tek-Lok-like device that makes attaching it to a belt easy and unobtrusive. When not worn that way, I’ve just carried it in a pocket in its sheath, or in a pocket with a length of cord attaching the sheath to a belt or belt loop.

I’ve carried a larger fixed blade when camping or hunting on a belt, strong side, either at the hip or behind.

 

[slicksleeve]

So I wound up making a simple fold over sheath. Made to be worn on the right hand side, spine forwards. It’s not perfect, was kind of a learning experience.