Hey all

I've always enjoyed surfing the web looking at kilt accessories, especially sgian dubh and Scottish dirks. One thing I noticed is the ENORMOUS price and quality difference which is noticed especially on E-bay.
One one hand you have a very nice sgian dubh priced around $30-$50 and up, handmade with excellent workmanship with a nice wood or horn handle usually with ornamentation such as carving, inlayed with a stone and silver etc......something you can easily regard as a well made piece of artwork

........on the other hand you have these HIDEOUS pieces of JUNK sold on E-bay for as little as 99 cents made out of plastic and metal of incredibly poor quality in a factory probably in Taiwan or China by people who know little to nothing about what a sgian dubh is or what it should look like.

I understand that a sgian dubh is an accessory worn more for tradition than anything else, most of them are never sharpened or used for anything utilitarian.

I know there are more than a few members on this forum who are like me and regard the sgian dubh in much the same way the highlanders did in the old days: A useful tool which is handy whenever you need it.

My question is: What is with the huge gap in the sgian dubh quality out there? I can't seem to find any sgian dubh which can be classified as more plain and utilitarian than ornamental without making it myself, which of course I am going to do just that with the blades I buy from Atlanta cutlery :-)

Has anyone noticed the absence of this kind of sgian dubh? If so can anybody shed some light on why there doesn't seem to be a market for them?

Iain