As some of you know, I am an amateur leather-worker, and one day, at church of all places, a friend asked me to make a knife sheath. He is a bear hunter and wanted to carry this knife on his leg as a “back-up.” Now, I don’t know much about hunting, and even less about bear hunting, but I figure if I am going to defend myself against a bear that I have just pissed off with a couple of shots from a high-powered bear rifle, I would want something a bit more substantial than a knife, and a .50 Smith and Wesson Magnum jumps to mind immediately.
But, what do I know, so I told him to bring me the knife and I would make a scabbard for it. Well, he did, and my jaw dropped when I saw it. The blade was 13½ inches long and had a bone and brass handle. As near as I could figure, it weighed about 2 pounds. I can’t imagine dragging myself, a large-bore rifle and ammunition and that heavy knife strapped to my lower leg. I did build the scabbard for him and it turned out rather nicely.
The strap is to secure it to the lower leg, but I made it so it could be carried on a belt in case that need arose, and I suspect that after the first time he walks several miles through the dense forest with that thing strapped to his leg, it will make the return trip attached to his belt.
Incidentally, I didn’t make the money. The Government does that. I just included it to indicate scale.
