Using Rawhide For Knife Sheath Making. (First Approach - not the best)

For the first project I used beaver rawhide and buckskin. Any rawhide may be used as long as it's thick.

On a side note, the knife used was made from a file and finished simply to make the most of the steel.

I began by soaking the main rawhide, an additional reinforcing strip, and a hide thong used to make a critical stitch located at the bottom of the sheath.

Once thoroughly reconstituted, I stitched with rawhide where the tip will ultimately sit once the interior of the sheath is dry; I avoided the very tip and used the dull slanting area just above the edge as a target stop location for this rawhide stitch.

I did not stitch along the rawhide—only the tip.

I slid the knife carefully into the soaking sheath and viced down the folded rawhide for a few hours to set.

In the final stages of drying, I periodically flipped it on a table. I knew that the rawhide would eventually develop ripples on the unstitched or reinforced area where the back of the blade was exposed, but I was ok with this.

Once the rawhide was dry, I simply stitched the buckskin sheath around the rawhide-wrapped knife.

Note the broad "top" of the sheath design where the handle of the knife is; when a thong is attached to the topmost corners and the ends tied together, the sheath can dangle around the neck without the knife turning or twisting.

The same technique was used for this knife. The rawhide was soaked and wrapped around the knife, and then it was wrapped with buckskin thread. The knife was then left to dry. Once dry, the rawhide was removed and cut so that the knife could be easily removed and returned to the sheath. 

Make a buckskin sheath to snugly hold the rawhide inner sheath. 

It's easy to prefer buckskin to sinew for sewing.

Rawhide has shown to be the original plastic sheath.

In the past I had, with great success, opted to stitch the buckskin around the plastic sheath the store-bought knife came with; the rawhide in this article simply took the place of this plastic.

The sheath has worked well after some use. I may make a sheath next time that is able to accommodate a variety of knives.

I don't imagine that the sheath would maintain its shape if well soaked.

Update - I don't like this process, as the rawhide can warp while drying, shrink too much to remove the knife later, and take time to dry, and pre soaking is all around unnecessary.

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