We martialists, as “gear guys,” tend to enjoy customizing our stuff. Be it hanging a piece of equipment on our Glock that we really don’t need to have or “Mayoing” a perfectly good Sebenza, if it looks cool, we want to do it. Not all of these projects are needless posturing.  Some are quite worthwhile, as I'll demonstrate.

Mike Sastre's neck work.

Most new fixed blades come with perfectly good leather or Kydex sheaths that hold the knives just fine. For any number of reasons, however, users may opt to change them. There are many different reasons for this, but in the end, they just want to make their experiences using the tools a little more functional and enjoyable.

Close-up of Mike Sastre's folder sheaths.

For example, I know a guy who is lucky enough to own not one, but four Bill Bagwell custom Bowies. These are the biggest and the baddest custom fighting knives out there. Each of these knives costs from $950 to $1,800 each. That is a large amount of money, and he carries the knives. Not one of these beauties are safe queens or wall hangers. The Bagwells come with fine leather sheaths, but the owner chooses not to mar them. Instead, he opted to have Mike Sastre of River City Sheaths make Concealex copies of the knifemaker’s Southern Comfort IWB rigs for each of the knives.

Bagwell Bowies with Mike Sastre Concealex sheaths.

I was able examine the knife and sheath set-up and was very impressed. Fit and finish were tight and very professional. The knives could be drawn and reinserted into the sheaths without problems, even though they did not have belt loops. This is possible because of the tension of your belt around the knife. It's a very simple idea, but it works great.

You will also notice that in addition to such fixed blade sheahs,  Sastre makes a number of clever sheaths used to secure smaller fixed blades, multitools, and numerous types of tactical folders. These include neck sheaths that are the favorites of cops, soldiers, federal agents, and fans of extreme outdoor sports.

A great big pile of Mike Sastre's sheaths.

If you are whitewater rafting down the New River in West Virginia and suddenly realize you need a knife, you don’t want to hear that it is lying on the bottom of the river. That is what makes sheaths like this so great.

The next time you're looking to customize your carry options, give Mike Sastre a call.