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Waxes' Automatic Punyo Sheath

It seems that everytime I see a custom Concealex or Kydex sheath maker, I have this inkling hope inside of me that he would make a kydex balisong sheath. As I propagandanize, Kydex and Concealex is the current quicksilver trend in the 'tactical' market, it is funny that it hasn't entered feverishly into the Balisong market as of yet. The Cocoon sheath has always been a pioneer and standard but I predict that concealex (Or Couteaux's custom condura, Hey Mikus!!!) will topple it ever so soon, especialy with the new butt ugly BM42 'your logo here knife sheath co.' sheaths Benchmade is using.

I would like to introduce Matt Draper (mdraper@mail.utexas.edu) (check out Waxes' Custom Concealex.) , the forums' very own Waxes Eloquent. Fan fave Concealex maker (check out the page I designed for him ^_^), and fellow Jerry Hossom fan. He shares the same passion for Hossom's knives as I do and hopes to have the largest Hossom custom knife collection on the planet. He enjoys working with custom concealex and in my opinion creates some of the best Sheaths out there and gets his gratification in astounding his customers. Each sheath is a toy in itself which can be converted and user customized for multiple carry positions with the help of a screwdriver and a little ingineuity, and unlike other tac Kydex sheaths it is smooth, streamlined, comfortable and most importantly DOES NOT feel like klunky Kydex which so many skeptics hate. All you need is ask and Matt will go that extra mile for you, and sometimes adds a little surprise or two in his works.

When I first handled his sheaths I was amazed about the intricate care and sophisticated design. It felt like leather or the rubberized nylon so popular in yuppie fashion nowadays (WARNING: Sniffing his sheaths induces delusionary hallucinations that cause homoerotic tendancies - sorry private joke in the Hossom ML :)). This feel is due to his 'special sauce' that he uses to coat his Concealex to give it an [Alien Skin] that feels smooth to the touch and somehow makes the sheath feel more organic than plastic. Matt is a great, funny and down to earth individual to talk to and will spare no effort in his craft, and even hand stitches his SB3 sheaths. His keen mind for design astounds me and never fails to surprise me - especially with his new line of Balisong sheaths. I had fun working with Matt and his new Balisong Concealex designs.

In his spare time he enjoys working on his PHD in psychology. =)

Matt calls himself an 'old school' Balisong fan, reminiscing about old days in high school where he would carry his trusty Balisong. Although he specializes in fixed blade sheaths he is always up for the challenge and rises to the occation with flying colours. After a few emails with him you will agree with me that anything I have written is far from empty propaganda.

I brought the sheath to work and waited all day until someone said "Hey can you open this bag of chips for me? (While snickering)" (Yes I am the resident knife freak everyone is sheepish of..) The answer was "Holy shit, where did that come from?!?!", while holding an open bag of chips in her hand. (I guess I try to earn my title of 'Ninja Master' at work.)

THEY SAID IT COULDN'T BE DONE. Traditionally, Kydex sheaths for balisongs have always facilitated the 'Tang/Punyo in' draw which translates into a reverse ice pick opening. Many balisong enthusiasts have hungered for a 'Tang/Punyo out' kydex sheath that adds the extra function of delatching the Balisong upon extraction and into forehand grip. Due to the shape of most Balisong handles and the limitations of traditional kydex design all designs have only yielded frustration.

So what did Matt do? He laughed and made his own. I have had the sheaths for a day now and it never fails to astound and enthrall me.

I have in my posession 2 of his new designs. The one pictured above is the 'Tang/Punyo out' Horizontal sheath which can easily converted into an 'In the waitstband (IWB)' (a current fancy) sheath by removing the 2 screws and attatching a separate clip. (I will do a review in a few days). I wear this perfectly horizontal on my belt right side.

My first test, this being exam week, was to sleep with the knife. (I usually do all nighters and sleep during the afternoon and somehow don't care to change into my Dragon Ball Z jammies :D) I am happy to say that I slept like a baby and the sheath didn't interfere at all. It was neither bulky or obstrusive. The Sheath rides loose on your belt and moves with you when you toss and turn. Traditionally, this is not advisable ONLY for horizontal draw but is not an issue for the draw method of this sheath. Matt can tighten the belt clip if needed, but it will compromise the sleeping test :p. When I woke up the sheath was tight and the knife secure. His clip design also facilitates easy attatchment and removal from the belt without undoing your belt.

Carrying it around campus was great too. It hid easily under an untucked T-shirt and didn't get in the way of me putting my hands into my right front pocket, and held my BM45 solidly. It being horizontal didn1t give me the 'cold tummy' feeling of the punyo poking into your gut.

Ofcourse I had to spend numerous rounds in front of the mirror practicing my draw. The sheath is NOT designed for direct horizontal draw as you might expect from typical Punyo in sheaths. The 'strip draw' is executed by pushing down with your thumb grabbing the safe handle then proceeding into the forehand opening. The sheath is designed to 'pop' the latch upon extraction. I didn't believe it could be done before as well but believe me, this sheath flows like silk and the amount of speed in the draw is astounding. It is so remarkable that I dare say that I would love to see how a slug like me armed with this sheath can go against Master Clay (balisongxtreme.com). Yes it has given me that delusions of grandeur confidence - watch me embarass myself =p. The draw, with minimal practice is as fast as lightning and has little to no chance of error.

This revolution is breathtaking, and I sometimes curse myself that I didn't think of this simple design myself, but as always it takes a great mind come show the obvious that many people fail to notice. By far I think that this is the greatest Concealex Balisong sheath you can get, in terms of comfort, concealment, innovation, fuction, SPEED and more importanly COOL factor figure 1.1. Words do not do it justice and until you see this sheath in action can you fully comprehend the 'coolness' factor in it.

I predict that some people might be skeptical about the integrity of this sheath to retain the Balisong. I must be honest that if someone were to punch the punyo of your Balisong the knife will fall. However, I am glad to report that runing into walls does not compromise the retainment of the Balisong. :). With everyday wear the knife neither rattled or made me nervous that it would fall. Matt meticolously forms the Concealex to conform to the handles and holes for skeletonized balis for a firm solid hold. However, if you are the kind of individual who gets their Bali sheath punched at all the time, you can reverse the sheath so that instead of the 'Strip down' maneuver, you can instead, do a 'Strip up' maneuver which will make it impossible for your Balisong to fall off by accident ( I prefer Strip down). Just ask Matt to cater to which configuration you would like (strip up or down and more importantly if you want the safe handle facing up or down) and which side you wish to carry it on. I feel also that the horizontal carry is perfect for this sheath but as always you can ask him to vary the design for multiple angles. (I warn you that anything more than 10-15 degrees will compromise the 'sleeping test' :) )

Matt warns that as with all Concealex this sheath will scratch brass handled Balisongs. If your balisong has stainless handles then there is no problem. As always it is advisable you have a concealex sheath made for users and not gems. This is commen sense though and is a disadvatage of concealex.

I can go on forever about how cool this Concealex Balisong Sheath is, but until you test drive it yourself you can never appreciate it to the fullest. It surpassed my expectations a hundredfold (NO EXAGGERATION) but that is to be expected from Waxes Custom Concealex. I suggest you contact Matt before his turnaround time gets too long. You can1t go wrong and I doubt you will have to take on his 110% customer satisfaction guarantee.

I plan to convert this horizontal sheath to IWB (which I have been getting into lately) and do a review in a few days, that is - if I can actually fathom the idea of not carrying my Balisong any other way. I am happy to own the 001 covertible Horizontal Waxes Custom Concealex Punyo out auto popping Balisong sheath (Mikus is the proud owner of the very FIRST Waxes Balisong sheath in IWB mode).
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