Why we don't design for the belt

Look at how people move outdoors today. Most carry a backpack. Many wear a plate carrier or a chest rig. Very few walk around with a big fixed blade on the belt, because it chafes, catches on seats and gets in the way of a hip belt.

Yet most knife sheaths are still designed for the belt first. Everything else is an afterthought: a clip that does not fit your strap, a sheath that is clumsy, ugly or loose.

Where the knife should be

The best places to carry a fixed blade are the front of a backpack shoulder strap and a front pocket of a vest. Both are reachable with either hand, and both stay out of the way when you sit, climb or run.

What that means for the sheath

• Lashes with cord. There are countless backpacks. Cord fits all of them, so we do not need a mount for each one.
• Locks the knife. It stays in even when the sheath is upside down.
• Opens with one hand. The other hand is usually busy.
• Minimal. No bulk, nothing that rattles.

That is the brief we design the APEX NEWTON sheath to.