Sgian Dubhs, what is appropriate?

[Layne]

No question that such a small item draws much attention. My wife and I slip away to New Orleans for the weekend about once a month. We routinely stop in to shop at Antiques de Provence, and the owners (still) follow me through the store, LOL. Though we only live 50 miles away, I have been asked by one of the owners (repeatedly), "I bet you have trouble with that at the airport". My wife has suggested that maybe its best that I just learn a Scottish accent and play along.

[tripleblessed]

No question that such a small item draws much attention. ...and the owners (still) follow me through the store, LOL.

Haven't had that problem....with my hair and beard, I get followed even on the rare occasions I'm not kilted.

On the issue of what to wear, I'm firmly in the camp of wearing ONLY a functional blade. Always. Whether or not
one is wearing a sgian, one should be firmly cognizant of one's space for reasons of personal safety, and that handles
the worry of someone grabbing it. Since I was six, I have RARELY been without at least one knife on me. Too many
uses; so many times it has saved the day (not in martial terms) to cut tape, open a package, get me back in the
house if I've left the keys in other sporran/p@#*s. Where I grew up, boys were not grown until they could be trusted
to SAFELY handle a knife, including paring/cleaning of fingernails. And control tempers; that is, by eight or nine.

As far as the bottle openers, in many areas, the handle indicates being armed. I've always been told, humorously,
of course, don't bring a knife to a gun fight (be prepared), and I add, seriously, don't walk into a possibly dangerous
area with a bottle opener. Much better to have nothing more than confidant carriage and good awareness.

[Tobus]

No question that such a small item draws much attention.

Does it? I've never, ever had any attention paid to my sgian dubh by the public. Never a question about it, not even a glance at it (that I could sense, at least). It's almost disappointing, as I actually wish someone would ask about it so I could show them the nice Damascus blade and talk about it.

Maybe it's just a regional thing, as there are a lot of men who walk around here with knife sheaths on their belts. Nobody seems to notice or care.

[Geoff Withnell]

I suspect that regional difference may be significant in the amount of interest shown. When I am out and about in the very metropolitan, very chic Washington DC area, where almost no one wears a belt knife, I get lots of questions. "Oh, is your sock knife real?" "Can I see it?" etc. Out in Western Maryland/Pennsylvania, much more rural, farming and hunting area, the only comment I remember getting, is when I wore a different sgian the second time I went to the same restaurant on one trip. The owner collects knives, and seeing I had more than one with me, correctly assumed I did also, and struck up a conversation. Otherwise it seems to be, "So he's wearing a knife. Isn't everybody?"

Does it? I've never, ever had any attention paid to my sgian dubh by the public. Never a question about it, not even a glance at it (that I could sense, at least). It's almost disappointing, as I actually wish someone would ask about it so I could show them the nice Damascus blade and talk about it.

Maybe it's just a regional thing, as there are a lot of men who walk around here with knife sheaths on their belts. Nobody seems to notice or care.

[Tasty Rabbit]

IMHO if your sgian cost more that $50 it's an evening/fancy sgian dubh

[Tobus]

IMHO if your sgian cost more that $50 it's an evening/fancy sgian dubh

Price has nothing to do with it!

My daywear sgian dubh is a stag antler handle version with a Damascus blade, and rides in a very simple leather sheath. There is nothing 'fancy' about it that could possibly be considered appropriate for evening wear, yet it cost well over twice the number you quoted.

[IsaacW]

Price has nothing to do with it!

My daywear sgian dubh is a stag antler handle version with a Damascus blade, and rides in a very simple leather sheath. There is nothing 'fancy' about it that could possibly be considered appropriate for evening wear, yet it cost well over twice the number you quoted.

Indeed... a handmade/forged sgian dubh, especially of pattern welded or damascus will cost quite a lot. This price has more to do with craftsmanship, materials, and overall quality and less to do about how "fancy" it is.

Tobus, that is a fine looking sgian!! I am seriously toying with the idea of forging up a simple but very usable knife... something between a typical sgian and a gralloch that I could wear on the rare occasions when I am out and about, needing such.

[creagdhubh]

I always wear a stag horn (coronet style) sgian dubh with Highland day attire. Mine was made by the ever so talented, Jim Young at Comrie Crafts. The shed antler comes from deer in Perthshire.

[AFS1970]

I have two sgians, both of the cheap plastic handled variety. One has a stone (glass) on the pommel the other is metal. I generally wear the stone as evening wear and the metal as day wear. I have yet to buy one of better quality.

Last year when planning for a cruise, I knew I would be wearing my kilt on formal night and that the cruise line had a fairly strict weapons policy. So I bought a bottle opener with an antler handle. While I had no call to use it, as I was not drinking anything bottled that wasn't opened for me, it did satisfy the no knife rule. As it is the best quality handle of the three, I tend to think of it as a good addition for evening wear, even though the antler seems to be most often used as day wear.

As for drawing attention, I rarely get any directed specifically at the knife. Although I did have a funny experience a few years ago at a Tartan Day function. I was there with a group of Celtic music fans, which included folks from all over and there was this one girl who was new to the group. So she was around me when I met up with a group of the rabble at the event and she noticed a sgian dubh in someone's hose. She turned to me and said in a surprised way "look, he has a knife in his sock" to which I and several others spontaneously put our feet up on the edge of a few chairs in front of us and said, "so do the rest of us". Oddly enough she never came back to an event with the music group, but I don't think it was the rabble that did it.

[A Robertson]

A sgian dubh is a knife - 'black knife' - its only purpose was for killing someone. It does not matter what it looks like, Its purpose was to kill. There is no such thing as a 'dress' sgian dubh. if you want to kill someone, you do not possess a variety of knives to kill according to occasion.