"A kilt? You pansy!"

[Nighthawk]

I agree, I keep me sgain nice and sharp, some of those fst food meals are gett'n tough to chew.

Purple hose and pools of mustard??? I don wan to kno!!!!!

I have a pair of purple Lewis Rich kilt hose that I like to wear with my saffron kilt and my Albannach tartan kilt. Where the mustard came from... Well, that's Ted for you.

[Old Hippie]

I got this style because the blade is thick and strong. I fully intend to use it to gut fish. So it needed an edge.

My reading about the portable armoury we call a Highlander is a little out of date perhaps, but as I recall the sgian dubh was essentially the equivalent of what many of us would call a "side knife." Side knives typically have short, sturdy blades and a profile that is more-or-less useful for a variety of daily tasks from cleaning one's fingernails to sharpening a pencil to cutting cord or perhaps opening the post.

The general profile I remember from my reading is a single-edged blade of spear-point silhouette, with an edge of either flat ground or convex ground. One source I recall mentioned that convex ground (like an axe blade) was preferred so that the knife would not stick in an opponent's ribs or breastbone if used as a last-ditch defence.

I have the impression from museum displays and such that the dirk and its accoutrements were much more often used for such things, considering the number of dirks with additional sheath space for small eating knives and forks.

So much for what we infer from depictions of traditional usage. Certainly I've seen sgians dubh in a variety of styles, and in the modern era we have the freedom to define and use such things in alternative ways. A nice short blade is useful for a lot of things from general cutting to cleaning the catch.

I don't find it odd to use it for that -- I think it'd be odder if someone showed up carrying the full panoply of lethal steel we hear in tradition: sgian, dirk, three dags, basket-hilt broadsword, claymore, Lochaber axe, and spiked targe.

[McFarkus]

My sgian came with a razor sharp edge. Of course, the blade is damascus steel forged from a used Harley-Davidson chain.

[Bugbear]

I just about fell over laughing when I read that!

And Ted... You are one strange fellow- which is why we like you.

So- onto the knife- I do know that a lot of people see them as nothing but another style of cufflink (figuratively), but I got this style because the blade is thick and strong. I fully intend to use it to gut fish. So it needed an edge.

Thank you, Nighthawk, I am honored.

[Mr. bone]

My sgian came with a razor sharp edge. Of course, the blade is damascus steel forged from a used Harley-Davidson chain.

...that is nothing short of bitchin' cool!

[Tribal]

On the other hand, it may be good to have one "decorative" knife. I go to Britain from time to time and I'm pretty sure they'd take a very dim view of a sharpened sgian dubh; the same goes for some areas of the U.S. as well.

Besides, a Kershaw Ken Onion Leek clipped IWB is very nice if you actually need to cut something (other than, inevitably in my case, my leg or my hose trying to re-sheath the sgian!).

[Bugbear]

I have a pair of purple Lewis Rich kilt hose that I like to wear with my saffron kilt and my Albannach tartan kilt. Where the mustard came from... Well, that's Ted for you.

It should do fine for gutting fish, Hawk. From what I've read, they were originally skinning knives. I don't know how well it will do for scaling fish though.

[Bigkahuna]

"Purple hose runnin thru my brain. Saffron kilt, don't seem the same. Actin Scottish and I don't know why. Scuse me while I smack this guy....." Jimmy must be turnin over in his grave!!

[Nighthawk]

"Purple hose runnin thru my brain. Saffron kilt, don't seem the same. Actin Scottish and I don't know why. Scuse me while I smack this guy....." Jimmy must be turnin over in his grave!!

Or Rabby O'Dillon.

[Nighthawk]

It should do fine for gutting fish, Hawk. From what I've read, they were originally skinning knives. I don't know how well it will do for scaling fish though.

I've found that the filework on the back side does a good job. Besides, the way I roast m trout, you don't have to worry about scaling them. The skin comes off on the tin foil.