Vegetable-tanned leather and hand stitching produce a classic leather knife sheath. This can be used for everything from hunting knives to boning knives.
I make my sheaths from 3.5 mm russet. The laid-out hide is actually half the beast which has been split down the spine by the tanners. You will see there is a belly and two legs which is why it is known as a side of leather.
While you can make a knife sheath from any type of heavy leather, vegetable-tanned leather, or russet as it is commonly known, will make the best sheath. Most leather for clothing and upholstery is chemically tanned by the chrome method whereas vegetable tanned leather is tanned with oak and various other species of tree barks that tanners have found to be suitable in producing good leathers.
The difference is chrome leathers have been coloured and produced for specific purposes, whereas bark tanned leather is like a good piece of wood that has not been clogged up with paint etc and is still “living.” Therefore it can be cleaned and polished to give many years of satisfaction to the owner. This is russet.
The difference, as a general rule of thumb, is found by looking at the side-grain of the leather to see what colour the corium (grain) is. If it’s grey it’s probably chrome; a fawn colour signifies bark tanning.