Wearing a basket hilt.?.

[davidlpope]

Exactly what would the "tradition" of a small knife tucked away in a sock be, but to jam it in someone if the need arose?

Well, I've never "jammed" someone with my sgian dubh, but I have used mine to cut "zip-ties", string, loosen knots in rope, cut apples, cheese, etc.- basically anything one would use a knife for in everyday situations.

I know some talk about it's use as a skinning/utilitarian knife, but then why carry it to gatherings, dinners, etc, where there was very little skinning of animals?

It's become an accepted part of Traditional Highland Civilian Dress and is an additional item of decoration.

Modern Basket-Hilted Broadswords, though, have a specific meaning- they are part of a uniform and identify those who have achieved a particular rank in a Scottish/Highland Regiment or hold a comparable rank in a pseudo-military context (i.e. Drum Major in a Pipe Band while wearing his band uniform).