Sock vs sleeve...how about a scabbard?
They look better and offer more protection. They are more pricey, but you can also make one yourself...I find with leatherworking though, that you never save money when you do it yourself...it comes out even once you add the cost of materials to the time spent in terms of your pay rate...but the added benefit is that you will obtain and practice a skill that you would not have had otherwise,...that has always made it worth it to me, and I have just always made all my own leather items...another benefit is that you can fashion the exact design you envision, vs shopping around for one that looks as you imagine it should.
All you really need is some quality 9 oz+ or higher leather, a set of mallet operated punches, some large sheets of stiff parchment, and dental floss, artificial sinew, and/or rawhide cord...if you intend to have a fringed scabbard, you can save on holes and threading by cutting the fringes long, wetting them to expand the leather, and tying them together tightly to stitch up the top and bottom sides, snipping the top ones off at the knot... (as the leather dries, it shrinks back, and makes the knots incredibly solid) you then only have to stitch any side compartments, straps, or buckles you wish to attach...
