[m a k e-l o v e-a n y-w a y-y o u-d a m n-p l e a s e].direct.from.sweden.LOVE AND PEACE JONAS STYLE
Shocked and mortified that Matt Draper (aka Waxes Eloquent) had created an auto popper Kydex sheath before he could, Bladeforums.Balisong's very own Jonas aka '2Sharp' (ostbagar@hotmail.com)rushed in to rise to the challenge and sent in his own kydex sheath for testing and review. In my opinion this new design surpassed his OLD design by LIGHT YEARS In my opinion Jonas' first sheath (see the first article in this series) had many shortcomings and was not too practical as a daily carry sheath. This new design takes the cake and establishes Jonas as definitely one of the better custom Balisong Sheath makers out there, due to his sincere love and ingenuity for and with the balisong.
If Waxes calls himself the 'Original Evil Genius' then I would call Jonas the 'Swedish Madman' (If I find some 'scanned' pics of him I will post ^_^ it's hilarious). Unlike Waxes however Jonas does not put as much time into his Kydex sheath hobby. As of now he is currently spending most of his time with his love, Veronica and his schooling - which he doens't love as much as his honey. =) As such it will be harder to get his sheaths than Waxes, so be prepared to wait or sweet-talk this talented indivual to make you one sheath straight from Sweden.
Every progression must have some special insight or function turned to reality. So what makes Jonas aka 2Sharp's sheath so amazing? Well for starters it is designed to be an auto popper, but it don't stop there, This sheath can accept a Balisong in BOTH PUNYO IN AND PUNYO OUT as pictured in the above shots. To put it plainly this could very well be Gollnick's very own wet dream put to reality =) They TOO said that it couldn't be done but it just took time for Jonas to do it.
RETAINMENT - I have said it time and time again. The best way to retain a Balisong in a kydex sheath is not by contouring to handles but to use them damn Skeletonized holes, but it seems that some designers I talked to didn't think so. Jonas' sheath is not tight at all, the mechanism that locks the knife in place are those dimples that fit perfectly into the skeletonized holes, thus (since the sheath is loose) the sheath can accept the knife in both Punyo in and punyo out (tang in anf tang ouyt) without regards to the slanted/non pararallell handles.
The sheath is slim fitting and retains the Balisong in the sheath with ZERO M%TH$RF^CK*NG play even after numerous draw cycles the sheath has not warped or loosened. No way this Bali will fall off. Period. It IS kind of annoying when my officemates grab the balisong from my belt when they tease me. Next time they do that I'm gonna break their hands >=).
COMFORT - Ah how can we forget the sleep test. To put it frankly this sheath comfortable and the positioning of the balisong was in a way that it did not poke into me.. I sleep like a baby when I wear it. Under the shirt it is undetectable, and soon you forget about the knife until you need it.
ACTION!! - In regards to the issue of deployment, this Bali sheath retains the knife SOLIDLY yet deploys it smoothly. In every respects Jonas has created a Kydex version of the immortal Benchmade 'cocoon', minus the flap. To those people used to the Cocoon, they will like this sheath. You draw the knife horizontally by sliding it out and can resheath the knife in any configuration you please. If you sheath the knife in the TANG OUT/PUNYO out position then the sheath will, like second nature, auto pop the latch for you, just like a BM cocoon. This sheath is a toy in itself. I love it because you can put the knife back in any way you please.
Reinsertion is also a no brainer for this sheath. it comes in and comes out perfectly and liek second nature any which way you please.
PROTOTYPE - This being a prototype Kydex sheath it is not spared from it's share of shortcomings, but as always I try my best to both criticize these custom sheaths and help design them for the better if the maker will accept my suggestions. As of the moment I can find two areas of improvement for this sheath.
# This sheath was designed for Skeletonized Handled Balisongs in mind because of the retaining mechanism (dimples that lock intot hte knife handles) Although this design is simple yet TERRIBLY effective, it might pose problems for balisongs without skeletonized holes. I am not certain on this issue until Jonas aka 2Sharp makes a sheath for a non skeletonized balisong. As balisong handles are angled and not perfectly horizontal a sheath taht contours tightly to the handle sides and not the holes might not be feasilble for a reversible kydex sheath.
but on the good side, Kydex sheaths (as I keep on noting) is meant for USERS and not keeper balisongs. And the curent trend is that users are mostly skeletonized handles.
# I am very saddened to report that Jonas' Auto Popper design has had misfires (in other words failed to auto pop the latch) in a consistency of 10%-20% fail. This usually happens when the knife is drawn under stress and terribly fast. But that's my job, to catch things liek these for the final version of the sheath. I found that the knife must be drawn smoothly and then slightly pulled upwards. A conscious effortmust be made in order to ensure that the sheath does not misfire. To remedy this I suggested a slight redesign of the sheath as described below.
SniperBOY's FINAL WORD - Wow! It just gets better and better. Jonas's designs have come a very long way and althogh relatively simple it is something no other kydex sheath maker has every considered. 2Sharp's sheath is a masterpiece for sure. And he has assured himself to be the first custom maker to create a multi carry balisong sheath. Whether punyo in or punyo out, this thing is a blast top play with. This sheath was originally supposed to be designed as an FBI style shoulderrig to be worn on the weak side. Whichever way you choose to wear it you DEFINITELY won't get bored of this sheath.
My advise is to contact Jonas asap if you prefer his design. Cause if he gets too busy, veronica won't let him make sheaths for you =D nehehehe!
