Birch Bark Knife Sheaths

[MikeWilkinson]

Not wanting to fork out a fortune on a nice leather neck sheath for my Mora, I'd thought I'd research a more 'crafty' approach to making one. Being that leather is quite expensive and not having the skills to work it, I did a little research and came up with this:-

http://www.pinewoodforge.com/sheath.making.html

A quick trip to the woods and a little hunting for a nice downed birch tree and I was armed with a nice sheet of bark for my project.

The bark wasn't quite long enough to make a sheath for my Mora, but has made a nice little neck sheath for my Opinel and another for my Firesteel.



What do you think?

Actual construction time - 10mins.

Birch has an amazing 'grip' and I can quite happily sling this upside down and shake hard without losing the knife.

Just need to find a piece long enough to make the sheath for my Mora now.

[MikeWilkinson]

Thanks to the heavy winds, a few nice pieces of Birch have now been lowered to within my reach, so here is an update on the knife sheath project - the final Mora Sheath.









I'm pretty pleased, but already planning a mark 2 with a firesteel pocket.

Who needs Kydex when you have birch bark!

[Howling Dingo]

Nice work mate..!!

[IanHopkinson]

That looks pretty nifty
i think im gonna have a go at that
leather is expensive and thats a really decent alternative !

[Ashley Cawley]

I really like the look of that Mike, great work bud, I'll be interested to know how it holds-up over time too.

[MikeWilkinson]

The neck sheath for the Opinel gets the most battering and was my first attempt, I'm glad to say its holding up very well, no cracks or splits and looks as good as when I first made it. I have a mini version that holds a firesteel and striker, that sits in my pocket and gets abraded by all the other junk in there, that too is holding up brilliantly. My Mora only really gets used once a week tops, It is still immaculate. I would say though that it is a little flexible and although it protects the blade fairly well, I think a wood or plastic inset might give it a little more support.

[OKBushcraft]

Wow! Very nice! That really makes me want to try that-just need to find some birch. Maybe some hickory brak would work...???

Have you seen hobbexp's vids on his birch bark crafts?

Here is one of him making a sheath for his mora. You can see it in many of his vids dangling from his belt.

http://www.youtube.com/user/hobbexp#p/u/37/kwCHCHLx984

[MikeWilkinson]

Just made a new Sheath for a Mora Carving Knife.

So here is my full selection + some detail on the Carving knife sheath.

[Bambii]

Brilliant sheath, i really like the natural look of the birch bark sheaths.

Great work

[Ashley Cawley]

I think they look brilliant, great work Mike