# Nobody Sells Axe Sheaths Anymore! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 14, 2016, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobody-sells-axe-sheaths-anymore/768557 "2016-10-14T21:50:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2016, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobody-sells-axe-sheaths-anymore/768557/1 "2016-10-14T21:50:20Z")
I am flabbergasted. I didn’t have a sheath for my Boy Scout hatchet as a kid, but the Boy Scout section of the local Penney’s had a leather kit that let me make one. I have been using that same sheath (with many repairs) ever since. And I still use the hatchet, mainly on downed branches in my backyard. The sheath finally gave up, and can’t be repaired. I don’t like leaving a sharp instrument unsheathed (although I have quite a collection of other axes and hatchets now that I’ve inherited through the years), so I wanted to get a new one. I thought this would be a good time to get some sheaths for all those other axes and hatchets I’ve got, too. Only nobody sells them. I tried the hardware stores – Home Depot, Lowes, Ace. Even though the Home Depot website says they sell them, they don’t. So I tried department stores. Both the Target website and the WalMart website says they have them. But they don’t. Nor does K-mart, or “overstock” stores like Ocean State Job Lot and Christmas Tree Stores. Sporting goods stores should have them, right? I went to Dick’s Sporting Goods, Eastern Mountain Sports, and REI. No, no, and no. Surely the Army Surplus store has them, right? They’ve got _everything_ related to cutting tools. Nope. They didn’t even know what I was talking about. The Boy Scouts. Penney’s doesn’t have a Boy Scout section anymore, but if you look, you can find Boy Scout stores. I found the local one. They had lots of leathercraft, including holsters for LED flashlights. But not for hatchets. NO??? Even the freakin’ Boy Scouts? To ge5t your “Totin’ Chip” you have to … > [@](#): > > Demonstrate proper handling, care, and use of the pocket knife, ax, and saw …which surely includes keeping the thing _sheathed_ when not in use, right? > [@](#): > > Basic safety rules and requirements for this recognition are: > 1.Read and understand woods tools use and safety rules from the Boy Scout Handbook. > 2.Demonstrate proper handling, care, and use of the pocket knife, axe, and saw. > 3.When not using a blade keep it covered (sheaths, folding knives, etc.). > … > … > … > **[Totin' Chip](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Totin%27_Chip)** > > The Totin' Chip is an award in Scouts BSA that shows a Scout understands and agrees to certain principles of using different tools with blades. It can be physically represented by a patch or a small paper card. With this, a Scout has the right to carry and use woods tools. A Scout must demonstrate to their Scout leader, or someone designated by their leader, that they understand the responsibility. > This certification grants a Scout the right to carry and use woods tools. The Scout must show th... How can you keep it sheathed if they won’t sell you a sheath or a kit for one? Not all hatchets and axes, even among those sold by the BSA, come with sheaths. I asked the guy behind the counter, and he told me that they stopped selling them three years ago. What the heck? I DID find several internet sites selling sheaths, and I purchased from one of these. I also found sites telling me how to make a sheath, but to do so requires leatherworking tools I don’t have, and am not going to buy. And, for the record, those websites for Target, WalMart, and elsewhere did NOT say you could only purchase them through the internet. To my mind, that implies that they have them in the store. I finally did find a couple of sheaths in a store – up at Kittery Trading Post in Kittery, Maine, a place filled with a wide variety of hunting and camping gear. And they only had two of them out. So what’s the deal? Why isn’t anyone selling these anymore? Most stores selling axes and hatchets in my experience (and I’ve had quite a bit this week) don’t sell them with sheaths. Often they only have an obviously temporary plastic covering, if anything. Does everyone just leave their axe and hatchet blades unprotected? Why did they stop selling them. Why in Baden-Powell’s name did the Boy Scouts of all groups stop making them available? It’s not as if everyone suddenly switched to those newfangled _digital_ hatchets, with internal safeties. ---
**Author:** ![Mtgman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Mtgman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mtgman)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2016, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobody-sells-axe-sheaths-anymore/768557/2 "2016-10-14T22:00:26Z")
Because the proper sheath for an axe is your ex-lover. Enjoy, Steven ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2016, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobody-sells-axe-sheaths-anymore/768557/3 "2016-10-14T22:00:38Z")
It didn’t occur to you to convert a buggy whip to a hatchet sheath? Boy Scouts are supposed to be handy AND prepared. But yeah, I know what you mean in general. Some things that have gone west on us… shouldn’t have. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2016, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobody-sells-axe-sheaths-anymore/768557/4 "2016-10-14T22:13:37Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Only nobody sells them. Amazon [sell](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Heritage-Leather-1001-Standard-Single/dp/B00G95015E/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1476483092&sr=8-1&keywords=axe+sheath) [them](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Axe-Replacement-Leather-Sheaths-replacement/dp/B004GZHUMG/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1476483092&sr=8-2&keywords=axe+sheath). ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2016, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobody-sells-axe-sheaths-anymore/768557/5 "2016-10-14T22:24:37Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > And, for the record, those websites for Target, WalMart, and elsewhere did NOT say you could only purchase them through the internet. To my mind, that implies that they have them in the store. This is a little naïve. The websites lacking axe sheathes in stock don’t imply they have them in store; frankly, if they have them in store they show up on the website too. No, the absence of a product in a large retailer’s website means that it doesn’t exist. At all. No need to try to spend money on it. Instead, buy some of the stuff we do have! Because that money you’re holding needs to be spent in our store. And if we don’t carry it, you don’t need it. I wish I were kidding. Less cynically, I’ll just say that they’re not in the business of referring people away from their stores. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2016, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobody-sells-axe-sheaths-anymore/768557/6 "2016-10-14T22:29:59Z")
I ran into the same problem. Finally I found an(almost certainly crappy) axe at Menards on sale for like 8 bucks that had a decent sheath. So I got it and threw the new axe somewhere in a corner, and used the sheath on my good axe. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2016, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobody-sells-axe-sheaths-anymore/768557/7 "2016-10-14T22:39:59Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Amazon [sell](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Heritage-Leather-1001-Standard-Single/dp/B00G95015E/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1476483092&sr=8-1&keywords=axe+sheath) [them](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Axe-Replacement-Leather-Sheaths-replacement/dp/B004GZHUMG/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1476483092&sr=8-2&keywords=axe+sheath). Please read my post in its entirety. No bricks-and-mortar stores sell them. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2016, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobody-sells-axe-sheaths-anymore/768557/8 "2016-10-14T22:41:13Z")
> [@wolfman](#): > > I ran into the same problem. Finally I found an(almost certainly crappy) axe at Menards on sale for like 8 bucks that had a decent sheath. So I got it and threw the new axe somewhere in a corner, and used the sheath on my good axe. Interesting solution, but it still leaves you with an unsheathed axe. Better to throw it out, lest someone confiscate your Totin’ Chip. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2016, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobody-sells-axe-sheaths-anymore/768557/9 "2016-10-14T22:42:19Z")
> [@Mtgman](#): > > Because the proper sheath for an axe is your ex-lover. > > Enjoy, > Steven Handy, but a pain to carry around. And bound to get you talked about. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2016, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobody-sells-axe-sheaths-anymore/768557/10 "2016-10-14T22:58:28Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Interesting solution, but it still leaves you with an unsheathed axe. Better to throw it out, lest someone confiscate your Totin’ Chip. I suppose I could take find the new axe and work it on the grinder. Nobody expects you to have a sheath for a hammer. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![magnusblitz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@magnusblitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magnusblitz)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2016, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobody-sells-axe-sheaths-anymore/768557/11 "2016-10-14T23:45:19Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > So what’s the deal? Why isn’t anyone selling these anymore? Most stores selling axes and hatchets in my experience (and I’ve had quite a bit this week) don’t sell them with sheaths. Often they only have an obviously temporary plastic covering, if anything. Does everyone just leave their axe and hatchet blades unprotected? Why did they stop selling them. Why in Baden-Powell’s name did the Boy Scouts of all groups stop making them available? It’s not as if everyone suddenly switched to those newfangled _digital_ hatchets, with internal safeties. Based on my (limited) experience I would guess that it was probably 50-50 on whether a new axe is sold with a sheath or not. Certainly seen plenty of both. I’d guess that there just simply aren’t enough people looking to buy sheaths on their own, so it’s not worth the floor space to the store. I think a lot of people do leave them unprotected. The hatchet I own just hangs from a peg in the garage, no sheath. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2016, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobody-sells-axe-sheaths-anymore/768557/12 "2016-10-14T23:51:58Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Please read my post in its entirety. D’oh! Mea culpa. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2016, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobody-sells-axe-sheaths-anymore/768557/13 "2016-10-15T00:51:55Z")
This is what I miss most about the old-time department stores. You could be damn sure that even if Penny’s didn’t have the Official Boy Scout sheath-making leathercraft kit in stock, you could go to Sears and get a genuine Ted Williams sheath for your Craftsman axe. ---
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2016, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobody-sells-axe-sheaths-anymore/768557/14 "2016-10-15T02:10:04Z")
[Axe sheaths](https://www.google.com/search?q=axe+sheath+kits&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8#q=axe+sheath+kits&tbm=shop) ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2016, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobody-sells-axe-sheaths-anymore/768557/15 "2016-10-15T04:08:28Z")
Nobody sells them because nobody axe for them because nobody can say “axe sheaths”. Imagine somebody has time to work his way through the phone menu and finaly gets a live human, who hears someone on the line say “Y’all got axe sheaths?” Just a minute please, I’ll connect you to the deli. Axe is the most misspelled word in the language. Accodin to the dicionary, the corect spelling is “ax”, and “also axe” is a variant. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2016, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobody-sells-axe-sheaths-anymore/768557/16 "2016-10-16T06:51:57Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > No bricks-and-mortar stores sell them. Those still exist? Next, you’ll be telling me that people are still putting up with TV channels, instead of just watching what they want, when they want, without commercials. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2016, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobody-sells-axe-sheaths-anymore/768557/17 "2016-10-16T08:30:26Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Handy, but a pain to carry around. And bound to get you talked about. You don’t have a rabbit costume and a hook hand do you? Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![sunstone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunstone/32/3372_2.png) [@sunstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sunstone)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2016, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobody-sells-axe-sheaths-anymore/768557/18 "2016-10-17T00:59:13Z")
You could try Smoky Mountain Knife Works. They have many many listed! I don’t have any interest in the business other than being a knife collector. > **[Search results for: 'axe sheaths' | SMKW](https://www.smkw.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=axe%2Bsheaths)** > > Smoky Mountain Knife Works, the largest knife store, has folding knives, fixed knives, and all types of knives for sale, from Case, Buck, SOG, Benchmade, etc. ---
**Author:** ![FloatyGimpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/floatygimpy/32/7750_2.png) [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2016, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobody-sells-axe-sheaths-anymore/768557/19 "2016-10-17T04:05:07Z")
I honestly thought this was going to be about condoms that smell like axe body spray and thought “Eww, wouldn’t that burn your penis?”. Mind you this is coming from the person who, as a youth, thought that guys masturbated to porn magazines by rolling them up and sticking their penis inside the tube - something about the penis touching the pictures of naked ladies or something. Carry on… ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2016, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobody-sells-axe-sheaths-anymore/768557/20 "2016-10-17T04:13:54Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Please read my post in its entirety. > > No bricks-and-mortar stores sell them. What about Axe Sheath Avenue? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobody-sells-axe-sheaths-anymore/768557.md?page=2)