I recently acquired a couple of new items and wanted to share reviews of both.

The first is a custom sgian dubh, which was made by Adriaan Gerber of Maine (http://www.adriaangerberknives.com/). I stumbled across his website one day and was struck by the elegant simplicity of his designs. I emailed him to inquire about the cost of a sgian similar to the 9 CM sgian he had pictured on his site, and was informed that it would be $95, and the sheath would be an additional $25. I was amazed at the price, considering that Adriaan does everything by hand, using no electrical devices when producing his knives.

The knife in the photo that intrigued me had a cocobolo handle and brass bolsters. I asked for african blackwood and nickel silver and was told that that would be no problem. I posted a small deposit (20%) to cover the cost of materials, and he began work on my sgian within a few days. He sent me periodic updates and photos of progress (which can be seen in this thread: http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/n...x.html?t=54233)

About a month after my initial contact with Adriaan, I received the finished product, and it is a beauty. Very simple, clean lines. I'd asked that the bolsters be left matte to contrast the highly polished 5160 steel blade. The overall length of the sgian is 7.25" with a 3.5" blade. Unlike many sgians, the tang of this blade runs the length of the handle and is peened at the butt of the knife, which makes it a bit sturdier.

Needless to say, I'm very happy with this sgian. I thought I'd share this information with my fellow X-markers who might be in search of a sgian. I figure if you can have a handmade, custom, workable sgian for the price of less than many of the purely decorative knives available, several folks might be interested.

Adriaan was a pleasure to deal with, and I couldn't be happier with the sgian. If you should end up contacting him, please tell him I referred you. One of these days I'm going to check back with him (perhaps when I order a dirk! ) and see if this review generated any business for him. HA!

Pictures follow (incidentally, the first photo on his website is of my sgian...):

Sgian and sheath:



Butt of sgian:



Size relative to hand:



My second recent acquisition was an 8-yard 16 oz. Marton Mills Jura range machine made kilt in Smith ancient colors from TartanWeb.

I'd priced this kilt with Bob Chalmers (aka "Bobilishious") before he got out of the kilt business. Bob referred me to a colleague, John Paul MacDougall of TartanWeb, with whom I dealt.

I ordered the kilt in late August and was given an estimated delivery date of early October. About the middle of October, I began to get a bit anxious that I hadn't yet received the kilt, nor had I heard anything from J.P. After a bit of difficulty in contacting him (problems with the firms spam filter dumping emails...), I was informed that my kilt had been completed, but was having to be remade because the kiltmaker had pleated the kilt to the sett, rather than the stripe as I'd requested. TartanWeb said they would send the kilt via Fedex to get it to me in time for an upcoming highland games, as they typically ship via Parcelforce. I told J.P. that if they chose to send it via Fedex, that they'd be liable for any resulting customs. Shortly thereafter, I received the kilt via Fedex and have yet to see any customs invoice (it's been three weeks now...).

The kilt is very well made and heavy. The sett for the tartan is large, so I wasn't sure they'd even be able to pleat it to the stripe, but they did. The resulting pleats are 4.5" deep.

Despite a couple of minor setbacks in communications, I'm very happy with the kilt and the service that TartanWeb provided and will definitely be purchasing from them again. I don't know of anyplace else where you can get a kilt of this quality for a price tag of $289 delivered.

Pictures follow: