Adding a snap to a Vic spirit sheath

[gustophersmob]

I’ve never loved the Velcro on the spirit sheath, and after 9ish years it has been getting a bit weak.

After seeing a post by Mags where he removed the Vic shield, I decided it was time to transform mine from Velcro to snap.

Here are a couple pics of the process

[gustophersmob]

And here is the finished product.

And what I did with the leftover shield.

I’m pretty pleased with how it turned out 

[zoidberg]

Both are mint mods, awesome.         I need a snap press thingy whatsit.

[gustophersmob]

Both are mint mods, awesome.         I need a snap press thingy whatsit.

Thanks!

I picked up a pack of 8 snaps and it came with the anvil and punch. Worked out pretty well.

The hardest part was finding something to support the anvil part that would slide into the sheath.

[MadPlumbarian]

Nice job, looks good!
JR

[zoidberg]

Thanks!

I picked up a pack of 8 snaps and it came with the anvil and punch. Worked out pretty well.

The hardest part was finding something to support the anvil part that would slide into the sheath.

[roamingcat]

Nice job  . I have been thinking about that mod too as I have never liked that velcro. Thank you for sharing the how-to 

[gustophersmob]

Nice job  . I have been thinking about that mod too as I have never liked that velcro. Thank you for sharing the how-to 

Thanks 

If you decide to do it and need help, let me know. I can give more details if it’s helpful.

[roamingcat]

Thanks 

If you decide to do it and need help, let me know. I can give more details if it’s helpful.

Thank you and much appreciated !

[magentus]

Nice one Gus  Where did you get the snaps? I'm having trouble deciding which ones to get. Yours looks great

[comis]

Great job!  Love that shield on lighter, that's gonna be one of the first made.


Just yesterday, I found the first LM PST I got 30+ years ago, and though the snap was all green and rusty, but thanks to the little piece of cloth inside the sheath, it didn't affect the tool one bit.  Just in case you haven't done it, but it is a pretty good idea to protect the tool from scratch.

[gustophersmob]

Nice one Gus  Where did you get the snaps? I'm having trouble deciding which ones to get. Yours looks great

Thanks, Mags! 

These are the snaps I got.  They're pretty common around here, in Walmart and in several hobby/craft type stores.  I honestly don't know how they are as far as quality.  I believe they are either nickle or nickle plated brass.

From what little I read on snaps, Dot brand is pretty highly regarded, but I couldn't find any that weren't overly large quantities.  They sell each individual snap component separately, and a lot of them are in quantities of 100    I also don't know how their availability is outside the US 

I figure I'll give these cheap ones a go, and if it fails I'll get a little more serious about finding a known good brand.

[gustophersmob]

Great job!  Love that shield on lighter, that's gonna be one of the first made.


Just yesterday, I found the first LM PST I got 30+ years ago, and though the snap was all green and rusty, but thanks to the little piece of cloth inside the sheath, it didn't affect the tool one bit.  Just in case you haven't done it, but it is a pretty good idea to protect the tool from scratch.

Thanks, comis! 

That's a good idea about the cloth.  I'm thinking a small piece of moleskin would fit the bill nicely 

[comis]

Thanks, comis! 

That's a good idea about the cloth.  I'm thinking a small piece of moleskin would fit the bill nicely 

Ahh...moleskin!  That's creative!   

[Aloha]

Nicely done on both the sheath on lighter.  Great use of the shield.   

[gustophersmob]

Thanks! 

I wasn't sure what to use it for, but I thought it was worth saving. Then I remembered Mechanickal's WTB thread about a Victorinox Zippo, and figured I could turn mine into one 

[Dutch_Tooler]

 

It would've been perfect to be able to reuse the shield with the snap but I can see that this would be very tough with commercially available snaps...

[gustophersmob]

It would've been perfect to be able to reuse the shield with the snap but I can see that this would be very tough with commercially available snaps...

Thanks! 

I had thought about that initially, but couldn’t think of a way to do it. It would have been cool to have the snap and logo.

[SteveC]

Nice job !   

[gustophersmob]

Thanks! 

[Syncop8r]

That's nice, well done. 

[gustophersmob]

Thanks! 

[gustophersmob]

A little update. I happened to be in Home Depot yesterday and came across a snap kit from General Tools. The snaps appeared to be much higher quality than the Dritz ones. They are definitely nickel plated brass and appear to be of a thicker gauge. Also made in the US, if that’s important.

I changed out the snap on the sheath and could definitely tell the difference when installing the General Tools version. It took more force to rivet them together, and it actually rolled the post over instead of splitting it. You can compare the pic below to the one above to see what I mean.

If anyone in the US is thinking of the same mod, I’d definitely recommend the General Tools snap kit over the Dritz. They are both the same price as well.

[comis]

Looks good!    Wish I get to see/hear it in action, I guess it might even sound different when snapping together.

[gustophersmob]

Looks good!    Wish I get to see/hear it in action, I guess it might even sound different when snapping together.

I don’t notice a sound difference between the two. It doesn’t seem like the General Tools version takes a little more force to open.

[MadPlumbarian]

I had to remember which but I did the same to one of my fav old time sheaths, funny part was I just posted the sheath on a diff subject and didn’t even think of it, but once that Velcro gives out it’s done,
JR

[gustophersmob]

I had to remember which but I did the same to one of my fav old time sheaths, funny part was I just posted the sheath on a diff subject and didn’t even think of it, but once that Velcro gives out it’s done,
JR

Nice! Has it held up well with the snap?

[temo]

Nice, I should do the same to couple sheaths. Tx about this inspiration (it can be done)

Sent from my VIE-L09 using Tapatalk

[MadPlumbarian]

Nice! Has it held up well with the snap?

Oh yeah, the trick with a snap is if it starts to give out a little, just take a pair of pliers and tweak it a very little, thus it’s not soo perfect and gives it a little more snap! At least that’s what I’ve done.. if not just put a new one in, it ain’t hard..
JR

[Outback in Idaho]

Oh yeah, the trick with a snap is if it starts to give out a little, just take a pair of pliers and tweak it a very little, thus it’s not soo perfect and gives it a little more snap! At least that’s what I’ve done.. if not just put a new one in, it ain’t hard..
JR

  That's what I did to an older original PST sheath, the kind that covers most of the tool. Keeps nosy people from seeing the multitool.  And more Leatherman connoisseurs know what is being carried on sight.