Sgian Achlais (Scottish armpit dagger)

W

Wolfeye

Joined
Apr 26, 2015
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Hey, everyone. Just was thinking about something & wasn't able to find specific information, maybe someone here will know how this works. I was reading about the sgian dubh NOT being what people carried in their sleeves in Scotland. The sgian dubh seems to have been a skinning knife, but the sgian achlais was put in the upper sleeve of the jacket. I get how someone would do that, but how would someone draw it?

The armpit keeps getting in the way & the only ways that I see that someone can draw it is to either raise their arm up over their head or to take it out of the jacket when the jacket isn't on them. Neither of these seem to be too handy- the first one is very obvious & leaves your torso open, the second one needs for the jacket to be off & that might not be the case when there's an issue. Been hunting after this for a while, but I can't get anything past the general idea of carrying it & THAT it would work- not how.
 
You might find this interesting. It's one of many sites where you can find information on the Scottish knives / weapons.

http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f263/sgian-weapon-fighting-61355/

I wouldn't adopt this way of conceal-carrying a knife that size (but hey, I'm not a Scot...). I would carry it handle down in the inside of the front left side of the jacket. Handle down on a shoulder rig is also a solution, of course.
 
Sheesh that link was a walk into a weird world. The only posters worth taking notice of are Dale Saego and Rab Gordon(The maker of very nice sgian dubh)I'm with Rab (and have a number of his knives) the sgian dubh was, and is not a weapon.
As to the method of carrying a sgian achlais, well not only are you not a Scot, you aren't wearing a kilt and encumbered about with all the kit that goes with it. There are extant shirts with a long thin pocket fitted in the armpit area, this feature is believed to be to recieve the sheathed knife. However there are very few knives that can be conclusively identified as the elusive sgian achlais.
 
Thanks Pmel ! Rab Gordon indeed makes beautiful knives. And while the Sgian Dubh originally was a utility/skinning/EDC knife it seems the Sgian Achlais with a comfortably longer blade would have been a serious side weapon (apart from being a perfect butcher...).
 
AH! I get it- the handle would protrude out slightly & probably be hidden by the plaid (from it not "printing" too much).
 
I now know how to draw the armpit dagger! I figured it out a while ago & thought I posted it here, but I was looking up how to spell "sgian achlais" & saw that I didn't- sorry about that. Here it is: You need a coat or jacket where the seam isn't right up against the armpit, that way you can draw the knife diagonally upward or sideways (so the flat of the blade drags across the sheath). Tried it with a paring knife wrapped in a napkin & folding it at the end, if any of you want to give it a try.
 
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