Thursday, February 17, 2011

DIY: ESEE Izula II Belt Clip



While in Costa Rica, my EDC blade of choice was the ESEE Izula II. This second version of their Izula knife adds 1/2 inch to the handle and comes with micarta scales. For such a small knife, it has quite the bite (hence the name reference to the Bullet Ant).

I carried the Izula II by attaching molle clips to the screw points and then clipping it to my belt. Molle clips aren't really meant to be used in this way and are really more to secure gear to tactical vests or other molle strapping, so it's not a terrible surprise that this was sort of an inconvenient way to carry it.


When I got back I decided to go the route of purchasing the boot clip attachment, but after I calculated the cost of the purchase and shipping, it pushed it slightly beyond what I was willing to pay.

Of course, I did have a few spare pieces of kydex left over, a spare belt clip and some chicago screws...so why not just make my own?


I started off by lining up the sheath with the kydex and drilling out the holes. Really it was as simple as drilling out one hole, securing it with a chicago screw and then drilling out the rest.


The next step was trimming the kydex clip plate to match the sheath. The majority of the material was removed by scoring straight lines with a box cutter and breaking off the excess material. Rounding was carved by hand and then sanded smooth with 400 - 1000 grit papers.

I lined up the clip to where I wanted it to sit, and drilled out two holes at the end points, the width of the clip. It was then just a matter of connecting the holes with straight cuts and removing the material.


The belt clip was too long for my purposes so I cut off the excess with a grinding wheel and smoothed out the sharp edges.

Affixing the clip to the plate was just a matter of opening the the clip wide enough to slip it through a horizontal slit I made with a rotary tool (slit not shown above).



Once I screwed the clip plate on, the back end of the clip is sandwiched between the sheath and the kydex and is tensioned in place by the chicago screws.


The clip tension is perfect to keep it in place and it much more comfortable than the molle clips. While I made this clip plate for my Izula II, this is an easy project for any similarly sized knife. The Ka-Bar BK-11 (Becker Necker) or the Personal Survival Kit I built on it comes to mind as well.

8 comments:

  1. Nice set up..

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  2. Great job thanks for the tutorial. I was just a
    bit curious how this whole thing carries? Do you
    find it digs in to your side at all? I'm looking for a knife setup similar to this but would like to edc it and was just wondering about comfort?
    Thanks,
    Sean

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  3. Carries just fine, sometimes I forget it's even there...until I need it.

    Thanks for reading!

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  4. what size are those chicago bolts off the belt clip? mine are measuring about 10mm lengh, 4mm screw diameter. thx

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  5. Unfortunately I don't have calipers to get an exact measure, but those dimensions are about right.

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  6. This is exactly the type of DYI I was looking for. Looks simple enough, so tomorrow I'm gonna give it a shot.

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  7. I am in a market for small fixed blade as my EDC when I found your blog. Very nice what you didi with your Izula II. Maybe I'll buy one and do the clip exactly like yours. Thanks for sharing.

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