Machete Sheath Mods for Survival Bushcraft - Altoids Tin Survival Kit & More 

This one is 28 minutes long. I start out by showing you the modded machete sheath & the survival gear (in the pouches and secured to the back with ranger bands). If you are interested, the video goes on to show you the stock sheath (Rothco 18" Molle Compatible Machete Sheath). Then I show you how I modified it. I'm presenting the video in this way so that people interested in only the 1st 1/3 can just watch that. See you this Thursday at 9;m EST!

I have the same Rothco sheath for my Cold Steel 13" Tanto machete. My insert was trash aslo so I shoved the sheath that came with my machete down in the Rothco one and it worked out well. I also made a better shoulder strap using 1¹/²" rifle clips and the strap from a duffle bag.

Good video. Good job. On the sheath. God bless. From Glenn CATT. In Massachusetts.

Very cool. That came out great!! Good job sir!!

That's a pretty cool machete sheath. I've used Rothro gear before and it's all been pretty rugged for what it costs. I really like their mechanics bag, it stays in the bottom of my Alice pack with my camo gear and some extra undergarments. I collect machetes and have a couple of them I piggyback other gear to. My favorite survival type machete is the Cold Steels Heavy Machete. I've used machetes in many of my jobs over the years so I've tried just about every style of machete and the imo there are no machetes that can out chop it in its size range. It'll easily chop through a deers leg with one swing for example. It's not really heavy like the name makes it sounds. It's just a little heavier than other machetes it's length. It's like a corn knife on steroids. I keep a carbon steel Mora and a stainless steel wood carving Mora which is a super useful knife for lots of things. It's also got a Bahco, a 6" ferro rod and a bic lighter with a bunch of trex tape and rubber bands wrapped around it. I've secured it all with bunches of ranger bands and heavy-duty double sided Velcro tape. I've found that double sided Velcro brand tape is great for securing loads and joining saplings together for shelters and it's a lot stronger than most people imagine. Great video, that's a nice machete rig.

I live in the province of Quebec Canada. In these cold temperatures up here you will die with only a machete. You need all your energy, plenty of firewood and a quality shelter. You can pretty much do everything with an axe than with a machete and much more and with less effort. Cut and split wood, dig, cut and build a shelter through snow and ice, hammering stakes, make traps and weapons, cut through ice to set traps, ice fishing, to get water, or pull yourself out if you fall through the ice, dig in the ground to get roots, break stones to create other tools, use edge of axe to make sparks and create a fire, dig and chop your way out if stuck in snow and ice with your car or if your car is stuck in snow or mud, you can use a hatchet to chop small trees or large branches and put under wheels ect... With an angry grizzly bear in front of you what would you prefer as a weapon? My choice is clear, an axe! Plus a machete is not designed for the hard work that an axe or hatchet can do, so battering a machete on hard wood in a northern survival situation is not too good, better for the jungle. Watch documents on north american natives or russians in siberia and you will never see one with a machete and rarely see one without an axe especially in Canada.

I use Rothco sheaths and cut them if they need to be shorter than 18 inches for my Onterio machetes. I have machetes from 18 inches to 10 inches, no need for a huge survival knife, the steel is 1095. I sharpen all mine with a flat bastard file. Razor sharp.

Hello Everyone! 👋

Salut from Brunswick, Maine, US.

You sound just like Willem Dafoe!!!!

Duct tape is good for fires. I’d put an entire roll on it. As well as multiple other uses. Then you can peal it off as needed

Great mod! I'm a caveman sewing guy too!😂

I have seen people replace the plastic insert with the G.I. Ontario polymer sheath for the hard insert. Seems to work great.

Nice

Nice project, came out good...thank you Doug. I made the sheath for my machete out of leftover linoleum and duct tape...lol. Thanks again, God bless

Nice job on customizing your sheath. I have this sheet of a black plastic material that is heavy gauge. I buy it at the nursery where they sell flowers/trees/shrubs and all gardening supplies. They use this material to line backyard fish ponds with. You can glue it, stick velcro to it, sew it. I have water proofed a few projects with this. You could attach it to the outside of the pocket flaps to keep the rain water from entering. I have some survival kits in small camo bags that I think are actually Grenade pouches. I put Altoid tins in there with full kits. To ensure they are water proof I put the tins in Zip Lock bags before putting them in the pouches. These small pouches I have attached to knife sheaths. Along with a Ferro Rod, flashlight and back-up folder knife. I buy these two different class of Ponchos at the dollar store. One is sort of transparent, made of light plastic that costs a dollar twenty five. And the other Ponchos I buy come in different colors and are much heavier. They cost about four dollars. I often carry one Zip tied to my knife sheath survival kit. I have one or two in my truck and when I hear we can expect rain. I tend to carry one of the cheaper Ponchos on me. After seeing your video. I will be following your lead and try to get one of those Rothco sheaths and customize it to fit my machete that has no home. I got this cheapy machete sheath that came with my three dollar machete. And I tend to use it for all of my machetes. Some are too short and one is too long. I really need to do something. And I will, you have inspired me so I will get busy. Thanks so much for your video and your instructions so I can do this for myself. All The Best.

Great work. One suggestion to improve the ferro rod attachment would be to replace the static cordage with bungee courage so you could secure it by pulling a loop over the end vs tying it to the D ring.

That's a great set up Doug. I can see why you put the Altoids tin in the bottom pocket, it definitely fit better. That may differ from one sheath to another though because I've found that anything cheap and mass produced doesn't tend to be as identical as it should be from one to the next.

Good video and modifications Doug , thanks for sharing , God bless brother !

Great Video as always Doug. Many wraps with duct tape will hold that inner sheath together nicely and you can always peel from it when you need some. God Bless you Brother. 🖐

great vid sir. “something you’ve never seen before on a bushcraft video, Altoids in an altoids tin !! love it!

Very good my friend thanks for share your work with your tools

Great mods and great scenery and ending as always!

You’re gonna need to change the name of your channel from “Doug Shoe Bushcraft” to the Doug Shoe equipment show” had to unsubscribe.

That’s a safe rig, wonder how many accidents have happened with machetes and poor sheaths