Quote Originally Posted by davidlpope View Post
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.





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).
I am aware and not questioning its use in Highland dress, and for that matter I've not jammed anyone with mine...save maybe a sandwich.

What I was questioning was the line of logic (as I read it) that stated the dirk and sword were designed for killing people/defense of ones person, but that the sgian was somehow other. I highly doubt that the sgian came about when someone looked at his hose and decided they needed an extra bit of decoration.

The sgian is a utilitarian design, and I use it as such. But if what is being stated is that one of those utilities was not defense, I'm not sure I can buy that.

Yes, by the 1800's Scotland was pacified, at least there was no organized armed movement, and in America at the same time, the Revolutionary War was over, but does the end of armed national conflict mean that violence ceased in both areas? Did criminals cease their activities in Scotland, did rape robbery and murder disappear? Would someone faced with such not use the sgian they had in their stocking top in the same way as a dirk or sword? That is one of the inherent utilities of any blade, defense.

Sorry to offend, but it piqued the odd logic/quandary/human nature portion of my brain. I probably thought too much about it.