Leatherman Charge and Wave belt holsters

Historical hint

It was 2018 when I designed this belt holster. I needed it when I realized that the original cordura sheath could not withstand the harsh environmental conditions that characterized my SAR activity. And of course the leather version was out of the question, for the same reasons.

I therefore spent a lot of time in drawing and testing, until I reached a printable object without supports, practical and robust. The test of time proved me right, and the photos prove it.

Description

The object is printed vertically, with supports disabled as it is already equipped with supports.

For obvious reasons, it must be printed with a rubbery filament (typically TPU) and with a low shore hardness. I made it with ZCory Rubber HS filament, quite expensive, but of exceptional quality. Its characteristic is that it never loses its shape over time, together with excellent behavior in hoverhangs (the real Achilles heel of this print.)

Technical details

You can see that the object file is accompanied by three other stl's. They are shapes to be used as modifiers for the built-in supports. For example to reduce the perimeters and modify the infill, as shown in one of the attached photos. They don't necessarily have to be used. I created them in order not to waste the expensive Rubber HS during the trial and error phase.

Post production

When printing is finished, hopefully without problems, the supports must be removed. You need a cutter, while to separate the lid from the support, I recommend a sharp electrician's scissors, which produces a clean cut, controllable with precision.

Finally, the press studs need to be riveted. The hole for the female on the lid is 5.4mm, while that for the male is 4mm.

Conclusion

As I have widely stated, this is not an easy print, it is probably more like a stress test. But the holster shown in the photo accompanied me for two years in fires, floods, and open sea operations. In the end the one that suffered the most was the Leatherman Charge. A demonstration that 3D printing is not just prototyping.

[EDIT 12/24/2022]

Added step file to make remixes easier.

At the request of The Camels Butt, I've added a variation for the Wave model. It is untested, there are no guarantees that it will be acceptable. I wait for confirmations before changing the title of the project, including also the Wave model.