Middle Earth Ranger Forum

I am looking for a nice save knife with a throwing knife. I would like a scabbard for the knives. Does anybody have any good ideas of what i should try to get?

I think I've got the right thread for you. <<<Right there.

Thanks for the thread link but I am looking for knives from like the ranger's apprentice series if you can help me out with those. I am hoping to be able use the knives as daily tools and weapons do you have any ideas for things like that.

To get something like what is mentioned in the Ranger's Apprentice series, you're going to have to get creative. Several of the members here have looked for good working versions of the knives described in the books, but right now there's nothing "off the shelf" that really seems to fit the bill. Still, there are pretty close options for both knives out there, it just takes some looking around. If you want to find something with the right blade shapes, brass/bronze cross-guards and butt-caps, and the "leather washer" style handle construction, you may be looking in vain, but there are quite a few examples out there that probably qualify as "close-enough." The scabbard, on the other hand is something you would probably have to either make yourself or commission from someone who does it professionally. Either way though, if you want something 100% book accurate, custom is probably the only route at the moment.

Yeah, that thread I posted wasn't a direct solution to your problem, but it was five pages' worth of discussion on the subject, specifically with Ranger's apprentice in mind. Manveruon's right, though...there isn't a pre-made set in existence that we know of from a maker that's worth the time just yet, so you may want to just do some digging on KultofAthena.com and find a few knives that look right to you and make your own scabbard, or be willing to invest in a fully custom pair.

Thanks that website looks good I will have to continue digging around on it to try and find some that I may like

I once heard the swordsmith for the LOTR films got started because he couldn't afford / couldn't find the swords he wanted as a young man.. so he made them. Worse ways to start than that, and I bet your scoutmaster would be willing to make a team project day for making your own stuff.

I can't help on the knife part (maybe grind down the tip on a big ol' bowie knife?) - but for the leather, I think you're in luck.

I don't know a thing about the RA book series, but reading the thread Greg links to, a simple "pancake" style sheath might be what you're looking for. And the good news is that that's about the easiest thing under the sun to make! You can do it with just a couple pieces of leather (not my video):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-boU9wH6G4

Just stack both blades beside each other and sew around each one.
You don't even need to buy specialized tools when you're starting out: an old wooden-handled awl will take a beating from a regular hammer, but you can do it. Use a fork to space your holes and a regular box cutter to cut the leather - some stacked cardboard box material for a work surface (not on mom's dining room table!) - you can get started in crafting leather really cheaply. : )

You can dye the sheath black with just a vinegar-rust solution. Put some steel wool, old nails - anything ferrous - in a jar with vinegar in a room temperature area and wait: soon enough you'll have traditional and almost-free black leather dye. You can apply with a paper towel: just rub the project down with baking soda when you're done to neutralize the acid.

Final stage of waxing the sheath is a little more complicated, but with care you can do it in the kitchen. Here's a guy doing it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iu-78NiSPCU

(I've heard horror stories about wax fumes and open flame - can't say how likely it is - but I use a hot plate in an open area)

Or if you want to go the modern 21st century way to keep it easy: Fielbing's dye and leather finish is fairly inexpensive.


Happy crafting!

Thanks guys for all the info I can't what to start working on my many things and projects that you guys have suggested for me.

Ooh!

Couple more things about this kind of sheath: first, you'll need some kind of welt to keep the blades from cutting the stitching. I've never made a blade sheath along this pattern - but a google search for welt pancake sheath turns up tons of hits with good ideas. Here's one example:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showt ... ick-Sheath

Also note: If the pancake sheath is very wide, it will fit better to your body if you give it a bit of a curve. Sew in the blades, but hold off marking/cutting the belt loops until the central part is done: then hold the whole affair up to your body, so that it curves around your waist as it will when you're wearing it. You may mark/cut the top layer, cut away the waste, hold it back up to your body, and mark the bottom layer. This will make the top layer ever-so-slightly wider than the bottom layer. It's much more of a pain to cut and sew this way, but it will fit much better once it's complete.

And just to make it it clear: this design is utterly modern. There's no technical reason it couldn't have been crafted in the historical Britain RA is based on: just that - like tie-dye and bell-bottomed blue canvas trousers - it wasn't.

That said, Fantasy is only bound by internal consistency and the Rule of Cool - so have fun!

If you want to go a little more old school, the double frog arrangement is still out of period of the medieval world, but was used in the colonial era:

Thanks I really like all of the ideas you are suggesting for me.

Yeah, if you're going for something that *looks* medieval, that might not be the 100% best option - however it is easy, cost-effective, and totally functional. Also, there would probably be a way to dress it up to make it look a little more "medieval-ish". I've always found Flanagan's descriptions of the scabbard a little perplexing, and not very detailed, so you've got a lot of room for personal interpretation. Personally, I've always preferred the idea of the throwing knife being nested on top of the saxe scabbard, similar to how Strider's byknife is nested on his sword scabbard (or, for that matter, how a number of historical hunting swords had knives and other tools attached to their scabbards), but I admit that it's not exactly how Flanagan described the design.

Thanks I'll probably put some of my own flare into the design as I make it.

My wife and I run the literary web site called Halt's Playground we are also part of the SCA as well as this site. I have been making Araluin Ranger related seax and throwing knives as well as the double sheaths. if you are interested read that link that Greg put up until you get to the second page and you will see some of my older stuff. If you want a pretty good representation of Flanagan's kit pm me and we can talk. ~Ringulf

Ringulf wrote:My wife and I run the literary web site called Halt's Playground we are also part of the SCA as well as this site. I have been making Araluin Ranger related seax and throwing knives as well as the double sheaths. if you are interested read that link that Greg put up until you get to the second page and you will see some of my older stuff. If you want a pretty good representation of Flanagan's kit pm me and we can talk. ~Ringulf

Thanks I will.

So I was just browsing DeviantArt and came across this interesting piece. It's actually a pair of medieval kitchen knives, but the sheath set-up fascinated me, and I thought I'd share it here, as it appears to be applicable:

http://skane-smeden.deviantart.com/art/ ... 5289&qo=52

http://skane-smeden.deviantart.com/art/ ... 93831&qo=0

http://skane-smeden.deviantart.com/art/ ... 93831&qo=1