Protecting Kilt Hose from Sgian Dubh Damage.

[OC Richard]

About jabbing your leg, the sgian I showed has the typical traditional sheath where the mounts have points, but those points are just on the front of the sheath. The backside of the mounts, the ones in contact with your leg, go straight across without points.

So your leg is safe from getting jabbed, but as I said those points (one going up, one going down) seem special-made to catch in the yarn of your hose, both putting the sgian in your sock and pulling it out.

It does make one wonder why those pointy mounts are so very common in old sginean.

Anyhow a plain leather sheath is what does it for me- there's nothing to catch in the sock.

BTW other features seen in many traditional sginean that pose dangers for socks are the nail-heads and the little badges. Some regiments wear their sginean high in the sock so that the entire handle is exposed. Others put the sgian halfway down in the sock, so that the tips of St Andrew's cross and the various nail-heads can snag your hose.