Throwing Knife Sheath Project

OK, I admit it – I really enjoy history and I enjoy common daily history most of all.  I want to know what folks wore, what they ate and what their homes were like.  I want to know about the crafts, about what was made & what was bought as well as who did the making and who did the buying.  I want to know who lived in a community and what did they do as a community.  I want to find the window on the past that lies hidden in the things from that past.

This interest has lead me first to Civil War reenacting and then on to Colonial American living history and rendezvousing.  Those hobbies in turn have gotten me back into sewing and then basic leather stitching.  I’ve been pretty busy this summer with home maintenance but that doesn’t mean I didn’t have plans for some cloth and leather work.  My current project involves making a sheath for my throwing knife.  Tomahawk & knife throwing are done competitively at rendezvous right along with rifle, smoothbore and pistol shooting.  I’ve been taking my hawk & knife to the range in a haversack and decided that its about time I make proper sheathes for them both, sheathes I can wear on a belt. 

This is phase one of the project.  Throwing knives are much thicker than standard knives and don’t have cut-the-steak sharp edges.  So they need a heavy sheath to handle the weight of the knife but don’t need to keep the user safe from cutting themselves.  I’ve made the belt loop big enough for my widest belt and stitched it down on the back of the sheath.  The sheath front has the leather folded over to give the sheath entry area a rounded edge.  The brass “63” button is purely decorative, its just there to match the “63” button that will secure the flap on the throwing hawk sheath I plan on making next.  The ‘U” shaped piece of leather is as thick as the throwing knife blade and will be sewn between the front and back of the sheath.  The smaller little rectangles of leather are spacers to give clearance for the knife handles.

I’ve discovered the really good history videos on YouTube – stuff from museums, academic conferences, BBC etc.  This is very very dangerous.