Leather for th looks and general use. Kydex for jumping out of planes, jumping in the water, etc.

Naturally, I would prefer leather...:o)
With the treatments they have today, such as Sno-Seal etc, it is not hard to weatherproof the leather if you prefer it.
Personally, I use Neatsfoot Oil as the first application, then a light coatin of Mink Oil. Heavier coats of Mink Oil tend to darken the leather a bit more but if you work it into the stitching and the leather, it will totally waterproof the sheath.

Oh, just to add...I've sent quite a few sheaths over to Iraq and Afghanistan, both to "Contractors" and to military folks. Main complaint they have against Kydex is the noise when you withdraw the knife.
As one of the Recon guys told me "It's just enough noise to get you killed".
But I wouldn't guess the noise would bother anyone on a camping trip or the like.

On a satin blade kydex can scratch the finish...other than that consideration both work well...kydex tends to give a quicker draw if that is an issue....interestingly in extreme cold leather is more durable... if kydex is exposed to the elements in seriously low temps it can shatter...never happened to me but I checked it out and it can happen. My preference for military use knives is kydex....no amount of oils etc keep leather right in a tropical jungle...not if your there a while...but for concealed use involving shoulder carry or a Dundee across the back set up for larger knives I like leather...I also like leather or canvas or nylon for an inner forearm carry...it is much more quiet...infact leather without "snap" straps is ideal for certain military uses... I have sheaths of both...the only thing I don't like is velcro...it is very loud with it's "tearing" noise.

I like Kydex for durability/use and leather for looks. Since I only get sheaths for my users Kydex always wins.

all good answers (and jokes!) and their you have it gRat, get BOTH! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Kydex has no character... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

One of the coolest ideas that I like for a military use type sheath is a leather lined kydex set up. You get the durability of kydex and the quite draw and general sound deadening qualities of leather. Of course I have also seen gun holsters made the opposite of that, with kydex inserts in leather holsters.

You can draw kydex slowly and fairly quiet...but I agree that leather is better in this respect. I have'nt encountered a scenario where this has made a difference but could forsee circumstances where it might come to play. These days though it is virtually impossible to move quietly with all the gear issued... I tried to train some guys recently who were wanting to keep a flack vest on during a ghillie crawl....they were so far off the ground it was ridiculous....took some photo's and they could hardly credit how bad it was either...all told you cannot operate effectively with all this armour...so the issue of "kydex scrape" or "press stud snap" hardly seems to matter.

I saw one guy with a Molle Vest who had all the pockets front side filled because he had a patrol sack on complete with a camel liquid pack go down into a firing position and his head was about a foot off the ground...and he was about as stable as a see-saw...just a recipe for getting "fragged" straight off...IMO...

Another thing I've noticed..the serious folks playing over in the "Sand Box", at least the ones I've had contact with, don't like the issue knife at all. For every day usage most seem to carry the Gerber MK II, the Ek Model 5, and yeah..the old tried and proven USMC Ka-bar.

If you want to learn how to configure your gear properly you need to watch SF soldiers that have "been there, done that" so to speak. I have helped cut wounded soldiers out of some seriously convoluted gear configurations. You find one thing in common at the bottom of those vest/jacket set ups with everything available from Blackhawk, Battlelab, TAD Gear, etc. etc. clipped to them, and that is usually a scared youngster who is now bleeding profusely and wondering what just happened.

Sorry guys, didn't mean to hijack the thread, the gear thing is a sore subject with me.

Yeah, it gets driven home sometimes that war is, after all, a serious business. Not long ago had email exchange with OS guy who wanted sheath for Gerber MK II made for left hand carry, though he was right handed.
Explained that he wanted his "strong hand" free for wrapping around the enemies throat from behind...got me to thinking that what we consider a hobby or interest can be very serious business indeed. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />(

Leather is almost always my first choice, and if made and treated right will do just fine in almost any conditions. And leather can be made with a lot more creativity too. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />




However kydex works too and has it's advantages at times. A lot of my blades spend more time in kydex because I'm too busy making leather for everyone else... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> But ultimately whenever possible I eventually make leather for my favorite users. The one exception is my EDC Bad Warden necker, kydex seems to work better for me there. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" />