Patent ID: 8069570

Claim:
A knife and sheath for housing the knife, comprising: a knife having a handle and a blade projecting from the handle; and a sheath configured to hold the knife, the sheath comprising: a sheath housing having an interior, and exterior, a front edge, an opposite rear edge, a first side edge and an opposite second side edge, an inner recess within the sheath housing configured to receive the blade of the knife and a slot in communication with the exterior of the sheath housing, wherein the knife is held by the sheath by inserting the blade through the slot and into the recess, a light emitting device within the housing and positioned adjacent an opening of the housing so as to project light out of the opening, the light emitting device including a battery to power the light emitting device and an actuator adjacent the exterior of the housing for activation of the light emitting device, a plurality of completely enclosed finger receiving openings defined through the housing and longitudinally spaced adjacent one of the side edges of the housing for receiving fingers of a user, the inner recess within the sheath housing configured to receive the blade of the knife overlying at least one of the finger receiving openings and including a slot in communication with the exterior of the sheath housing, wherein the knife is held by the sheath by inserting the blade through the slot and into the recess, with the blade substantially blocking the at least one of the finger receiving openings overlayed by the recess, wherein the knife blade may be withdrawn from the sheath to permit the fingers of the user to be inserted through the finger receiving openings and enable a thumb of the user to be positioned on the actuator for selective activation and de-activation of the light emitting device.