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Forged in Fire Contestant Introduces Wrist Sheaths

June 9, 2017

Bladesmith Josh Weston recently introduced a series of leather wrist cuff knife sheaths. The South Carolina-based maker and Forged in Fire contestant plans to take the project to the next level by expanding the line and scaling up production.

Weston designed his first wrist sheath to free up his own belt and pockets. “I’m a knifemaker that hates carrying knives because I don’t like a bunch of stuff around my waist,” he says. “People are always wanting to see my knives and I don’t carry one.” Each sheath comes with a diminutive hand-forged fixed blade from Weston’s workshop. A wrist sheath may not be the subtlest way to carry a knife, but Weston is hoping that the ‘vikingpunk’ aesthetic of his work will catch on. He maintains that his sheaths look as good with a dress shirt as they do with armor, and says the 2.25-inch blades hold their own in everyday tasks.

Josh Weston Wrist Sheath Group Shot

Forged in Fire fans will recognize Weston from seasons 2 and 4, where he took 2nd place in a khukri competition and then 1st place on a Filipino Panabas episode. The initial push to build a sheath for the wrist came from an off-camera discussion with judge and Filipino martial arts practitioner Doug Marcaida. “He said, ‘Get to work and come up with something that is out-of-the-box and cool,'” Weston recalls.

Josh Weston

The fluid motions of Marcaida’s martial arts have been an ongoing inspiration, and Weston says he aspires to make a wrist cuff karambit sheath for Marcaida to use. The wrist sheath concept will also appear in a collab with another Forged in Fire judge – Jason Knight. Knight made a knife called the Sparrow, and Weston’s matching sheath is appropriately called the Sparrow’s Nest.

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Despite a Forged in Fire victory under his belt, for now Weston is keeping his day job designing and rolling out websites. He plans to stick with the wrist sheath concept, gathering feedback and making improvements. A version with a hidden wallet and a pirate-themed model have already been developed. “I really want to work on it,” he tells us. “I’m not trying to blow up with a bad product.”

Versions of the wrist sheath will be periodically available through his Etsy storefront. The basic wrist sheath/knife combo retails at around $125.

Knife featured in image: Josh Weston Wrist Sheath

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