woven through the slits 30 32 34 and 36 as described above the tip end of the instrument lies within the pocket 16 defined by sheet 14 and support member 12 for jointed medical instruments such as scissors 38 the handles thereof can be spread to consequently spread the blades of the instrument to retain the medical instrument in the blade separated condition the flap 18 is folded between the handles of scissors 38 as shown in fig2 flap 18 is then sequentially inserted through the slit 30 and the slit 32 of the upper retaining strap 22 in this configuration the instrument protector 10 rigidly holds a medical instrument such as the scissors 38 and is ready for insertion into a sterilizable bag such as of the type disclosed in u s pat no 3 604 616 after sterilization when the medical instrument is to be used the instrument protector 10 with the medical instrument retained thereon is removed from the envelope release of the tab 18 from the upper retaining strap 22 frees the medical instrument so it can be removed from the instrument protector and used for its intended purpose in an alternate preferred embodiment of the instrument protector shown in fig4 and generally by the referenced character 40 it can be appreciated that there is no need for the flap 18 shown in fig1 and fig2 in all other respects the instrument protector 10 and the instrument protector 40 are substantially similar the alternate preferred embodiment is however better suited when the medical instrument is not jointed and is instead a monadic instrument of the scalpel or.