Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Review of Raven Concealment Kydex Sheath for Cold Steel SRK knife

Just got my new Raven Concealment Sheath for my Cold Steel SRK. Only (only!) took four and a half months. They do tell you about the wait after you order but that's a little ridiculous. I am not sure if they don't have enough demand for knife sheaths to make them a priority or if they are just overwhelmed with orders. I imagine their main focus is on their firearm holsters, they have a lot of good ones, but with only 4 versions of knife sheaths I would have expected mine a little sooner.

As for the sheath itself, seems good. The sheath appears to have excellent retention, you can shake it while inverted and it won't pop out. There is absolutely no rattle, and the included tek-lok is well installed, no wiggle, several mounting options (horizontal, vertical, 45). It certainly beats the hell out of the factory sheath. Much sturdier and the factory sheath had ZERO retention without the snap. I have no major complaints but.....for the price ($60 US + shipping) and the time, I'm not sure about buying another knife sheath from them. I definitely intend to get one of their handgun holsters, they have some excellent options, I encourage anyone to take a look at them.

I was a little surprised that there isn't a bottom drain hole. What I presume is the drain hole is actually a small hole on the back side of the knife, about 1 cm up, the tip of the knife extends past it. I imagine it would work well enough, just different from what I had seen before. Another odd point is that the knife doesn't form up around the guard as much as I expected. From their website: "Due to the design of Cold Steel's rubber hilts, the retention on these sheaths are set on the blade. They are secure and functional, but they are for "working blades" and will wear on the finish of the blade." They aren't kidding, there is almost no retention based on the sheath wrapping around the guard. I would have thought you could have it but I am certainly no expert.

Video to follow in the next few days.

UPDATE May 18, 2011: I've really come to appreciate this sheath even more over the last couple of weeks, it has rapidly become my favorite. It is expensive but I think the quality matches it. The waiting time is still an issue, it's frustrating to wait that long. Hopefully that improves, maybe they are all caught up now but I wouldn't hesitate to buy from them again, 4 month wait or not.

Video review now posted here

No comments:

Post a Comment