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Sep 16th REVIEW – Spec-Ops Combat Master Knife Sheath

ITEM: Combat Master knife sheath

MANUFACTURER: Spec-Ops

DESCRIPTION:

An after-market knife sheath to suit most mid-length and long length sheath knives. There are two models depending on blade length of the intended knife.

MATERIALS:

Cordura outer, with a kydex liner for the blade.

LAYOUT:

The outer sheath has MOLLE loops on the outside, and the mounting system can be used for conventional belts or MOLLE compatible load bearing equipment. A small pouch for sharpening stone, small torch or pistol magazine sized kit is on the outside of the sheath.

The whole sheath can be rigged up to personal load bearing equipment in whatever manner can be thought of. According to the manufacturer, the sheath is safe enough for jump operations if that’s your kink. Personally I only fall out of a perfectly good aircraft in day-glo colours to the adoring moans of foreign backpackers, so that feature is a bit wasted on me. Although, knowing the blade can’t be lost except for personal idiocy, is always nice.

There’s an absolute swag of tie-down and attachment points all over the sheath.

PERSONAL ASSESSMENT:

If you’ve ever been like me, and have brought a new knife, or worn out a leather sheath in the jungle, or wished you had more flexibility to mount your blade to your fighting rig, then this is a solution for you. Fairly cheap, flexible to account for most knives out there, and easy to adapt to most belts or platforms.

Pros –

Flexibility! You can have it how you want! These are also considerably less bulky than many OEM suppled sheaths. The best example I can think of is the Gerber LMF series – the sheath is frigging huge for such a small, compact blade.

Cons –

Whilst the sheath may not be specifically designed for your knife, there may be some slight fit and retention interface problems. Considering how badly designed many knife sheaths supplied from the factory are anyway, this isn’t a big issue. After all, it’s not too hard to take a heat gun like the shrinkfast 998, to the kydex to help it fit your knife a bit better.

SUMMARY:

Whilst not as cool as the Eagle made sheath I have for my Strider SOA, the Spec-Ops item is still a damn nice item. Spec-Ops makes two models of sheath, this one with a plethora of features, such as tie-down points and external pouch. There is a simpler “budget” model also available. I also bought a copy of this budget model in order to put my Strider SOA into my Smamit chest rig. After all, I didn’t want to cut up the beautiful Eagle sheath the Strider came with, when I can get a way cheaper after-market sheath. Works really well.

Ok, questions, queries, or doubtful points??