Carrying a Fixed Blade Horizontal - 2 Options
Why carry a fixed blade horizonal rather than vertical?
Carrying a fixed blade horizontally rather than vertically offers many advantages. For some, they find it much more comfortable, as it doesn’t dig into them when they sit down or bend over. Another advantage is that you can draw the blade with either hand into a point up or point down variation (as seen in the picture to the left) — something that can’t be done nearly as easy with a vertically carried blade. A third advantage is that the draw requires much less room and hand movement than drawing a blade from a vertical position, you can simply reach up under your shirt and draw the blade out.
While there are many advantages to carrying a blade this way, there is also some downsides. One being that not every blade can be carried in this orientation - it has a lot to do with the size and shape of the blade as well as the sheath set up.
Option #1 - Using a pull-the-dot soft loop
A very easy and secure way to carry a fixed blade horizontally on the belt line is to run a pull-the-dot soft loop around the sheath and through the eyelet. You can find soft loops with the needed hardware included here.
Steps
Put the slotted post through the hole in the back of the soft loop.
Add your sheath on top of this assembly.
Put the snap stud on the front side of the sheath and secure it to the slotted post with the provided screw.
Run the soft loop behind and over top of your belt and snap it to the front of the sheath.
Option #2 - Utilizing the “pocket hook”
This first option requires the sheath of the knife to have a “pocket hook”. The pocket hooks original function is to be carried in the pants pocket. When you go to draw the blade, the hook catches on the top edge of your pocket and releases the blade, leaving the sheath in your pocket and blade in your hand.
We can also use the pocket hook to carry the fixed blade horizontally by running the sheath behind your belt loop. Allow the pocket hook to catch on the belt loop and the blade to hang towards your center line. The pocket hook will keep the sheath from coming through the belt loop when you go to draw the blade. You can run this setup with or without a belt, although running the knife behind the belt (still hooked onto the belt loop) offers better retention.
