If I am wearing hose up and flashed, the sgian dubh is almost always present. I worked November 4th as the Warden in the election. I wore my kilt and Argyle with the sgian dubh for the whole day 4 A.M. to 11:00 P.M. that it took to operate the election in my precinct. One of the responsibilities of the Warden is to check off the absentee ballots based on an outer envelope, open the envelope and place the inner enveloped ballot in a pile. Then removing the identifiable envelopes to the return bin. Then I open the ballot envelopes and place each ballot through the optical scanner into the ballot box. This process is done in front of the police officer assigned to the poll as the witness that the privacy of the ballot has been honoured. The officer assigned for this election was new to our precinct, and was surprised when I brought out my Scottish letter opener (Sgian Dubh) to process the envelopes. He asked if it was a my custom to be armed. I said that it is my custom to be armed with adequate cutlery for the dining table, such as peeling fruit and the occasional need to open a letter. He told me later that he had been curious from the beginning of the day what was sticking out of my hose, but did not feel the need to ask. He was rather pleased to get a little education about Highland attire, and some of the Scot customs.
Here in Massachusetts the Sgian Dubh's blade is short enough to carry without much problem except to a school. I have had no problem with it anywhere here.