The Art of Not Losing Your Shears/Knife

[Bob DBF]

The sheathe is exactly my problem (Blue Reef's one). If I don't tie the shears to my gear they slip right out.

I'm a far cry from a handyman, so building my own sheathe likes others seem to do isn't likely. Are there any on the market that are designed better? I mean, dive knifes don't spontaneously fall out of their holsters, neither should shears.

Dive Rite Shears - Daisy Chain Clip at LeisurePro

Velcro works, or for a lower tech solution, tie a loop of bungee on the shears so you put the shears into the sheath and put the loop around the bottom of the sheath where it sticks out below it's attachment.



Bob
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You only need two tools in life – WD40 and Duct Tape. If it doesn’t move and should, use the WD40. If it shouldn’t move and does, use the Duct Tape.

 

[Damselfish]

The sheathe is exactly my problem (Blue Reef's one). If I don't tie the shears to my gear they slip right out.

Ah, that one. Yeah, it's completely useless as is, I lost a pair of shears real quick that way. It sat in my parts pile for a long time. I recently attached it to the front of a pocket. I added a piece of velcro to loop through the large loop of the shears.

 

[ajduplessis]

Bungee cord

 

[Dr. Lecter]

The sheathe is exactly my problem (Blue Reef's one). If I don't tie the shears to my gear they slip right out.

I'm a far cry from a handyman, so building my own sheathe likes others seem to do isn't likely. Are there any on the market that are designed better? I mean, dive knifes don't spontaneously fall out of their holsters, neither should shears.

I've found the 'webbing attached to the sheath, through a handle loop, and sercured back to the sheath' approach to work well and it's the same basic retention concept that works for a lot of large knives and thumb-break holsters. The velcro on my sheath pocket works well enough for me, but if you wanted to go nuts you could have someone rivet, chicago screw, and/or stitch some plastic side-release buckles to one end of the webbing and to the sheath.

Or you can tie a bolt snap to it and stick it in a pocket as DD suggest, but I prefer to keep things with sharp edges in a sheath that helps confine those edges. Even shears open on their own from time to time.

 

[herr2720]

I just have a cheep holster sewn to the outside of my thigh pocket that keeps a pair of EMT shears with a disposable scalpel and a small pair of wire cutters. If I lose them I'm out $5, no big loss.

 

[g1138]

VeganShark. For the moment, loop your velcro through the larger shear finger hole and then velcro it down. This seems to help most of my friends.
I personally swapped to a friction sheath a long time ago.

I used to use a bungee loop as Nwcid does when my shears were mounted perpendicular to my body, so sheath opening pointing down when I was diving. Now with my current configuration, I load the shears vertical length-wise on me, or horizontal when I'm diving, I don't have an issue of it falling out even without the bungee, so I opted to get rid of it.

You can make a friction sheath using Trident neoprene cement in a tube, instead of using a sewing machine. Use a Q-tip that's had the fuzzy cut off to apply a nice peripheral line where you need to glue. That's what I made my last two out of. Works perfectly. I wouldn't use McNett's cement. Something about the consistency, I've never had luck with a package after it's been open and stored.
To make one, just take a length of 17in of webbing (2in in diameter) and fold like the letter Z, but off-center so the top and bottom strokes of the Z aren't even. With the longer end, glue the entire backside together (follow directions on your cement tube), except for 2in from your fold; this will be your webbing slot that connects to your BC or belt. With the shorter end, just glue the peripheral so you have a slot to stick your shears in. Let it cure for a half-day then get it wet, let it dry, then you're ready to go. It'll be a real tight fit at first.

Don't think of it as a handyman project, think of it as kindergarten arts and crafts.