Sheath Storage?

Hi Guys, I live in a very hot and humid environment,though my Randalls are stored in a cool dark safe and regularly inspected and oiled,but what about the sheaths in such a climate,though they are in the safe too what other protective measures should I take?

marc.

It does not get much hotter or more humid that Birmingham..... if the safe is in an climate controlled room, I don't think you will have any issues. I do not.

Tunefink is correct , the sheaths are oiled here and do not need much more oil. I would not store the knives in the sheaths.
Stikman

Stikman Is right. The sheaths don't need anymore oil. The more oil the darker the leather will become.

Thanks,guys.It's not the sheaths I oil, I only oil the knife blades and I do not store the knives in the sheaths both are kept seperate.

The room is not climate controlled,Tune,but because of its location tends to stay much cooler than the rest of the house,which of course is the reason I chose it for storing my knives.

I wax the sheaths to offer an additional protective layer,but should the sheaths also be in protective cases?

All of my knives are in Randall zip up protective, cases of course.

marc.

Ren Wax on the knives and sheaths.

Wax is good.... the biggest threat will be mold or mildew. Just keep an eye on them.

I wrap the stones in Saran wrap and put them back in the pockets. It will prevent verdigris.

Thanks for the tip,tune I will do the same thing,then with the stones.

marc.

Mine are all users, but I put snoseal on the sheaths, I heat them on a heater or in the sun first, then snoseal, it does make them go a bit darker but it's good stuff...

Question for Stikman...

I am under the impression that Snoseal and some other waterproofing products intended for leather are primarily (or completely) petroleum products. I know some of them have the appearance and consistency of Vaseline.

Are these actually good for leather? For your sheaths?

Larry

Have never used those products , I think as long as you don't go to heavy with any of the products you will be OK , also after applying the products put them back in the heat, closed car in the sun etc., which will help the products to penetrate the leather.
Stikman

I do not put anything on my Randall sheaths. I have users and safe queens and the sheaths for both hold up for decades with no maintenance at all. They hold up much much better than lower cost sheaths from other sources. Heiser, Johnson and Sullivan sheaths are all superb products.

jclarksnakes,
Thanks for the compliment.
Stikman

This is the only thing I've ever put on a sheath, and I did so because I was concerned that the extreme heat/environment I was in at that time might dry out the leather. This stuff enjoys a great reputation, and it's specifically for leather. I would say consider it on your "user" knife sheaths.

Here in Colorado, the dry air is more of a problem.
The leather on my older sheathes and leather handles gets a white powdery surface.
I use a little BlackRock on my fingers and rub it on the surface until the white powder disappears.
Everything is good for about 6 months after that.
I think it is about time to look and I will take some pictures of the process.

Resurrecting this thread-

I have a white powder issue happening on six sheaths.

I have kept the sheaths in Zip-lock's with the air pushed out of them along with the specific stone for the correct sheath, etc. Why I like the Zip-lock's, it allows me to write all of the details of the knife so I can always be sure of the sheath that goes with which knife.

Some of the very long sheaths are not sealed and a couple of these also were showing some of the white powder.

It is not a mildew or humidity problem, seems to be the opposite low humidity and maybe moisture/oil in the leather wicking out of the leather? It wipes off with a little rubbing.

David what is Blackrock. Is this the issue you have had?

Want to nip this one in the bud!

Tom Flynn

I have seen the same on a few sheaths, but not all of them,
and they are all stored in the same place!
It does wipe off easily. I always wondered what causes it and why some sheaths don't get it?

Tony

Thanks Tony, I thought it was me.

I have drawers of sheaths and most have nothing and then one sheath in a drawer of 5 or 6 sheaths gets it.

Tom Flynn

Hi,
I'm sorry I did not follow up with pictures.
Some sheaths I can just rub with my thumb and they're good for a long time (up to a year) and others I use a soft cloth and it seems to work. I have a couple that I use a little Blackrock (very little) and it works great.
It is available at Amazon and other stores.

Thanks David!

What do you think causes the white film on the sheaths?

Tom Flynn

Tanning salts and oils/waxes. Leather is polished.

I think Lofty has the answer.
BlackRock has Carnuba Wax.
It hasn't changed the color on my sheaths. It is not recommended for rough or natural leather, so I use a circular motion with my fingers using just the natural oils from my skin on the roughback side of the sheath.
With the dry Colorado air, it seems to be the best solution.

I use Dr. Jackson’s Hide Rejuvenator. Superb for leather, obtainable at Tandy

To be more specific, waxes and oils migrate, and lift salts with them. The heavier and deeper the additives, including waxes, the more shows on the surface as volatiles evaporate, leaving crystalline paraffin or waxes, along with salts lifted from leather.

I once had the super genius brainstorm of super-saturating the leather to remove all vegetable tan acid salts (ie oak tanning), but all I received for effort were sheaths which turned even whiter and brighter sooner, along with petrified forever leather...still corroded the snot out of rivets and knives.

If you want acid free, you use heavy oil tanned (actually mostly done with an alum salt) which has between very little and zero reaction to metals. Eventually, the acids left in leather will destroy the fibers, no matter what you do, when using vegetable tanning.

Welcome to white sheath land. Wipe it off or rub it in, makes no difference, treat as salt stained boots.

un touched....as far as I know.....nothing
the keeper strap LEATHER still "squeaks" when snapped down...
:-)Rocky

yep, there is still magic, or, perhaps they used oil tanned. For sure, stuff from late 50s on can be rough on fasteners and brass and etc.,on mine. Some is also going to be influenced by humidity. Corrosion needs an electrolyte, to include humidity, AND even the waxes and oils, plus any salts from many tanning processes.

Was not very clear in an above post, but it seems my leather-forever preservation efforts succeeded in one area, the leather, BUT, the oils/waxes magnified corrosive effects on fasteners and knives by providing a current flow path on the vegetable tanned leather, as well as lifting out more salts to surface.

And all of the leather commentary is not mine, but lifted from commentary by museum curators in their often fruitless attempts to prevent leather from deteriorating, as the destructive effects of salts on the fiber bundles is an attack on the inside, which no surface treatment can effect.

That sheath sure is a keeper if a knife to match.

Ruana has a sheath wax with bee's wax and pine pitch. That's what I use on my users.

Pap

Thanks guys!

Appreciate the input. Really have never touched the sheaths since the day I got them; guess that will change. Something else to do!

Tom Flynn

The dreaded white stuff. I have it on some of my sheaths that were in the safe separate. Wipes off easy but looks strange. Most of my sheaths are stored together in gym bags they are all fine. Weird stuff. I also use the Ruana pine pitch on my users works great.

Before you do anything just get a soft cloth towel and pour some alcohol on it and wipe the sheath down. The stuff will come off. Be careful what leather preservative you use. Some will turn the leather a darker color.