I just got this new riflemans knife hand forged by Mike Mann of Idaho Knife Works. I sent it to Chuck Burrows of Wild Rose Trading and had him make a period correct sheath.
I know the 9" blade is too big to be practical and the quilled and beaded sheath is too fancy to carry in the woods but....pleasssse tell me I should take it hunting.
Here's what Chuck said about the knife and sheath,
"The sheath liner is double thickness elk rawhide with a braintan buckskin piece sewn into place at the inside top. The cover is braintan buckskin dyed with walnut hull dye. The sash flap is a piece of buffalo rawhide. All sewing was done with linen or hemp thread or real elk sinew. The beads are antique 8/0 pound beads. The style and porcupine quillwork decoration is based on a couple of existing original 18th sheaths. The quills were dyed with natural dyes: the black/brown quills were dyed with a mix of walnut hulls and ground charcoal, the red with red ocher, and the yellow with rabbit brush, a local southwest member of the sunflower family. The cone tinklers are handmade brass with buffalo hair tufts, They are attached with linen cord through copper and antique glass pound beads."
BTW - the blade is based on the one excavated at Ft. Ticonderoga."