Slawburger
Master
I finally broke down and bought a "good" knife. My Swiss Army knife is still the most useful knife I own but I wanted something for camping that could be used to split or "baton" wood. I ended up with a Swamp Rat Rodent 6" Home from Busse Combat at Knob Creek. I really like the knife. It is wide along the spline for better splitting, the handle feels good in my hand and is very sturdy, the length is great for a camp knife and the coating appears durable. The knife checked all the boxes on my list but it didn't come with a sheath.
I found a nice sheath at Mashed Cat Outfitters Mashed Cat Outfitters Inc. - Custom KYDEX® Knife Sheaths. They were able to make the sheath from existing patterns so I didn't have to ship the knife to them. It is made really well, holds the knife securely until you push on the thumb bend, has a drain hole at the tip and is designed to be compatible with Tek Lok. The problem is that when I attached it to a Tek Lok the handle was about 5" above the belt line and dug into my side. It was also so high that I had trouble drawing it from the sheath. I didn't want to give up on the Tek Lok because I wanted to be able to attach the knife to my backpack as an alternate location. I tried using a DOH (Drop Offset Holster) adapter which lowered the handle but then the tip of the sheath was angled down into my thigh and uncomfortable (besides being disconcerting).
I found a thread about someone that had made a Universal Kydex Sheath Extension which seemed like what I needed. I sent an email to chiral.grolim@gmail.com and he quickly shipped the extension shown below (along with a leg strap and a "dangler" belt loop). I didn't need the latter two items but ordered a complete set rather than just the extension in case I changed my mind. It lowers the knife handle so that it doesn't dig into my side and I can actually draw the knife. It isn't perfect because it wasn't made specifically for this sheath but for a universal part it is sure pretty close. The price was reasonable, the design was simple but effective and I am very pleased with the extension.
Close-up.
Complete setup.
It took a few tries and experimentation along with some searching on the internet but I can recommend this setup. My knife and sheath (with the extension) are now quite functional and meet the expectations I had when I bought the knife.
I found a nice sheath at Mashed Cat Outfitters Mashed Cat Outfitters Inc. - Custom KYDEX® Knife Sheaths. They were able to make the sheath from existing patterns so I didn't have to ship the knife to them. It is made really well, holds the knife securely until you push on the thumb bend, has a drain hole at the tip and is designed to be compatible with Tek Lok. The problem is that when I attached it to a Tek Lok the handle was about 5" above the belt line and dug into my side. It was also so high that I had trouble drawing it from the sheath. I didn't want to give up on the Tek Lok because I wanted to be able to attach the knife to my backpack as an alternate location. I tried using a DOH (Drop Offset Holster) adapter which lowered the handle but then the tip of the sheath was angled down into my thigh and uncomfortable (besides being disconcerting).
I found a thread about someone that had made a Universal Kydex Sheath Extension which seemed like what I needed. I sent an email to chiral.grolim@gmail.com and he quickly shipped the extension shown below (along with a leg strap and a "dangler" belt loop). I didn't need the latter two items but ordered a complete set rather than just the extension in case I changed my mind. It lowers the knife handle so that it doesn't dig into my side and I can actually draw the knife. It isn't perfect because it wasn't made specifically for this sheath but for a universal part it is sure pretty close. The price was reasonable, the design was simple but effective and I am very pleased with the extension.
Close-up.
Complete setup.
It took a few tries and experimentation along with some searching on the internet but I can recommend this setup. My knife and sheath (with the extension) are now quite functional and meet the expectations I had when I bought the knife.
I really enjoy my Rucki. 
