I'm writing this post to see if anybody here can offer some advice on fixing hilt wrapping that is coming unraveled.

I bought a tanto-style knife a while back, the CRKT first strike, and for a while it worked out beautifully as a general purpose knife. However, the wrapping at the top of the hilt, where the guard would be, was tied in contact with the knife's edge and has been severed at the point of contact which is causing it to unravel. To further compound the problem the wrapping in question is an integral part of retention for the sheath, which has no clasp or strap to hold the knife in place.

My question is whether anyone has any advice for replacing the wrapping in such a way that it will still function with the sheath to keep the blade secure. Before anyone asks the warranty does cover this but for various reasons I want to keep this particular knife and the warranty would only allow for complete replacement. So, does anyone out there have any advice for materials or techniques?

Hi Josh,

I am completely unfamiliar with the knife, aside from pictures and ad copy. The biggest hurdles are probably going to be that the factory knife has resin impregnated "ito" and your aptitude/skill at knot tying and duplicating the wrap.

The basic theory of doing a turks head is covered in a thread here somewhere, many pictorials will come up on a Google search.

In order for the original retention concept to work, matching the size of the current ito is probably going to be critical. It may end up being a case of trial and error in getting the knot to be the right "bulk". A Google for tsuka ito, or tsuka-ito will bring up both sources and tutorials on how to do the cross-over diamond pattern, as well as end knots.

I have to imagine that folk have alreay been re-wrapping these and a post to www.bladeforums.com might bring folk out of the woodwork.

I can understand the sentimental attachment part of it, I really can.

Cheers

GC

Thanks, for the terminology and the advice. I'll see it anyone on bladeforum can offer something.

sorry but, please don't call that knife a tanto...
just because it's a knife and it's got a pretty hilt wrap doesn't mean it's a tanto, you know? lol
as for the wrapping, i've got the same problem before and i fixed it just by imitating the original wrap. It's not that difficult and I think you can do it on your own but in case you can't, I got an idea: find a kendo or any japanese martial arts trainer (some times koreans can do it too) in your local area and ask him to do it for you (that's what I did when I broke the hilt of my katana, i went to my sensei =P )

Finishing the wrap with a layer of epoxy cement should give it a hard surface finish and even more if partially wrapped and epoxied and then more wrapping and epoxy: Good to practice the wrapping first without the glue so as to be able to do it without hesitation when applying the epoxy ( the 5 minute kind ).

The biggest problem is the messiness of working with the very sticky wet epoxy.

Rubbing alcohol seems to be good to clean any epoxy on the wrong surface and hands if done right away ( at least I remember it that way ;) ) Might be a good idea to try with some cord first. Oh, wet wipes using the rubbing alcohol are better for clean up than tissue paper that will just stick everywhere.

Getting the knot to fit the scabbard might be difficult even if the knot is basically the same as the original.

Actually if your original wrapping is only cut near the edge, and not completely unravelled, epoxy could hold everything back together and create a wear resistant surface on the cord.

I know I put a little epoxy on mine even before it could start giving me some trouble.

Hope this helps. :D