The Cheap eBay Sgian Duhb

[jmercier]

Just my personal prefrence, but I cant stand cheap sgian dubhs (one of the reasons that I make my own) If i'm going to carry a blade, I want to be able to use it, and I want it to be of the same quality craftsmanship and material as the rest of my outfit. If I'm wearing 50$ kilt hose, no way I'm putting a 3$ sgian dubh in the top of them, it's just out of place... sort of like wearing an armani suit but with a plain white tshirt instead of a button down.

[Nerts]

That's pretty much what the one I just got from Granville Island looks like! Complete with the backwards blade, only I paid $18 for it. Hey, it looks good and will open letters like a hot nife through butter!

E.

As mentioned in this thread I decided to find out what a $2.99 sgian duhb looks like.

The eBay sgian dubh arrived yesterday (seller: Sussen). This picture from the seller is the most representative of its actual appearance:



This one shows the blade, but the trim is really much more shiny (gaudy), like in the top photo:



The knife is made in China. The fit of the plastic sheath is very poor (too tight), and the plastic handle feels like it would snap off if you put any pressure on it. But what do you expect for $2.99 plus $4.53 shipping?

You may be surprised, but I actually would recommend this sgian duhb for someone who wants something to put in their sock without having to worry too much about it. Personally, I prefer ones with real wooden handles, but I saw an $82 plastic-handled one at the store the other day that looked pretty similar to this eBay cheapy. Now I am willing to believe that the $82 one was better constructed, and probably not made in China, but given that neither were designed to serve any purpose other then decorative, I have a hard time believing that the $82 knife was almost 30 times better.

Best regards,

Jake

[MacFett]

Here you go. They're down to $19.99, now.

http://budk.com/product.asp_Q_pn_E_17+BK1093

Thanks for that info, but they're down to $16 and change right now.

My only nitpick with this knife is that the thistle is on the wrong side of the knife. You wear the knife in your right sock, with the badge facing outwards, so when you draw it the blade should be toward your fingers, not toward your thumb. But since you likely wouldn't ever have to use the sgian dubh anyway, this isn't an issue!

Really? This is perfect for me then. I am a fiercly proud lefty and have just gotten used to my sgian duhb having the blade pointing upwards when drawn (yes I have drawn it with intent to use once many years ago.) I'll have to check this out.