Has carrying a sgian dubh ever caused anyone problems?

[Archangel]

Knife laws are specific to your area. Find that out. Here, in Canada, I'm okay, never been hassled. It's sort of expected with a kilt. Visible knives are generally legal at the officer's discretion. (It's a tool until it becomes a weapon, who knows when that happens.)

Following the Hansard account of the debate in the UK, I had the impression the sgian dubh was, perhaps unofficially exempt. David Dalglish says different, I won't argue with him. He lives there.

The US has strange weapons laws and they vary from state to state. (I mean that in a nice foreign way.) Check with a local pipe band to see what experience gets away with before asking the police (who are the ones that really matter, besides your mom).

[Raptor]

never wear a sgian unless I'm wearing flashes. Full casual you have virtually no chance of claiming "national dress" When "dressed" I weigh it against where I'm going. I have only been asked to "put it in your wife's handbag" once. IMO, that made it a concealed weapon & thus MORE legally questionable, but ultimately it was the establishment's rules. I stated my concerns, complied with the directions ameniably, both sides happy.

[Dirk Skene]

I have only had 1 problem. I was at the Memphis Italian fest a few weeks ago. Police & deputies everywhere. I even knew a few & stopped to talk. I was not even thinking about my sgian. One of the board members for the event came up to me & said he was going to have to confiscate it. I let him know he was as goofey as he looked. "I'll put it in my car." I said "No I have to take it." he replyed. "That'll be $50.00 bucks, pal." He let me put it in the car.

He could get no help from the police or deputies because it was a "legal carry" length & it is not sharpened. It was just that he did not want the sgian in his park.

Later one police officer said that the fellow could get privite security to remove me, but I was breaking no city law.

[arrogcow]

A few years ago, I was at the grand opening of the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati, in full regalia. The govenor was in attendance. As he came in , I was near the door. His security detail noted the Sgian (I caught him looking) and then completely dismissed it.

A few months later at another black tie affair, I had security come and start to ask me to remove it, when another gentleman (Andrew Jergins of the Jergins lotion family) came in kilted as well. There was no way security was going to tell a major donor to lose his, so I was let slide as well.

On a daily basis, I don't wear one, but 90% of the time I do have a Gerber multi tool on my belt (for work, but it's usually there unless I deliberately take it off), and I have never had any problems with it either.

Adam

[Clockwork John]

Carrying a knife, whether it's a sgian dubh or not, really isn't a problem if you're smart about it. Know the law, and follow it. Don't carry where it's not permitted, and don't carry where there might be metal detectors. Trust me, it's easier to leave it in the car, or at home, than to deal with the hassle of explaining why you're carrying a knife... for some reason, "because it's legal" is not an acceptable answer in most situations.

I've been carrying a knife daily for almost a decade, and I've rarely had problems. I've been questioned and harrassed on many occasions, but I've only had one knife confiscated... and that was at Buckingham Pallace... let me just say that I LOVE amnesty boxes...

Like I already said, know the law and follow it, it makes life easier. I don't know about your area, but where I'm from, a 10 inch KaBar on your belt is a tool, but a 3 1/2 inch knife concealed in your pocket is a weapon, go figure...

With all that said, I have NEVER been hassled or even questioned carrying a sgian while kilted.

[Perldog007]

I used to be a Special Police Officer in Washington D.C. for the uninitiated that means "Glorified Security Guard" with theoretically frightening powers. In D.C. at that time the law proscribed the carrying of any dirk, switchblade, straight razor, bowie knife, stilletto or a KNIFE with a blade in excess of three inches. Concealment was not a factor to the best of my recollection.

In New Jersey when I was blessed to walk among them, it was a "Dangerous Knife" that would get you on the wrong side of the lads and lasses in blue. Mine own son (a church-going teen on his way to the USMC) had to enlist all over again because of a cub scout pen knife in his pocket and a young officer apparently suffering from a cialis overdose.

During Costume Balls at Union Station ( I was the night shift head hooo-haaa there) we sometimes had blokes with real swords walking around, and some with civil war cap and ball revolvers. MPDC (the cops) seemed to cut some slack on these "moral holidays".

Pipe bands always wore sgians, never a hassle. A lone gent in a kilt may have been hassled IMO . I would not go wandering around the Capitol City with dirk, basket hilt broadsword, or sgian unless it was on stage in character or some such.

Here in Central Delaware I won't carry one, or I will follow Jamie's example. Our laws prohibit the concealment of any knife like object other than an ordinary folding knife with a blade not exceeding three inches. Concealed seems to be a moving target, juris prudence wise, and I don't care to spin that particular bottle.

Cool to own, but like some other objects we won't discuss here, best left at home under lock and key most of the time.

my .02 USD

best of luck in your kilting,

Doug

[GlassMan]

I wear mine frequently (except in really hot weather when I'll be outside a lot because the leather can cause irritation under the sock for some reason) and the worst problem I've had was when a decorative thistle on the handle ripped a hole in my sock.

Seriously, I make sure not to wear it at sensitive locations such as an airport or government building. It's just as easy to slip it out of my sock and into the glove box in the car before I go in.

Even when I'm at a big public event (such as Pride in June) no one makes a big deal about it. And that's in DC which has some of the most draconian weapons laws in the US.

However, I guess people don't feel threatened when a guy in a wheelchair rolls up with a sgian dubh in his sock.

[Perldog007]

However, I guess people don't feel threatened when a guy in a wheelchair rolls up with a sgian dubh in his sock.

Quite right, most people....

A vicious band of pickpockets in D.C. circa 1990 were all wheelchair bound. They eventually started snatching people, throwing them on the ground and taking their goods with a stealth factor near zero.

A lone individual in a chair , kilted or not, with a visible weapon may have garnered some attention anywhere those guys were known.

But at an event with a whole rack o' folk in highland dress, much less likely to draw any attention. Still for me, I would eschew the blade and go with the bottle opener or other "sgian don't" in a whole bunch of places.

Philosophically, that runs against my grain. But the point of wearing the kilt for me is to make me happy, not to slay any dragons. When we read about the posters in other parts of the US that wear one frequently with no hassle, makes us rethink our GPS coordinates...........

[Kid Cossack]

Quite right, most people....

A vicious band of pickpockets in D.C. circa 1990 were all wheelchair bound. They eventually started snatching people, throwing them on the ground and taking their goods with a stealth factor near zero.

A lone individual in a chair , kilted or not, with a visible weapon may have garnered some attention anywhere those guys were known.

But at an event with a whole rack o' folk in highland dress, much less likely to draw any attention. Still for me, I would eschew the blade and go with the bottle opener or other "sgian don't" in a whole bunch of places.

Philosophically, that runs against my grain. But the point of wearing the kilt for me is to make me happy, not to slay any dragons. When we read about the posters in other parts of the US that wear one frequently with no hassle, makes us rethink our GPS coordinates...........

"Because we're free, yo."

Texas is one of the states that is death on knives. Most cops still understand the tool/weapon distinction, but by the strict letter of the law . . .

[Rab Gordon]

I've not heard of any problems but have know people being asked to leave their Sgian Dubh with the door man when going into a bar and I wouldn't go anywhere near an airport with so much as a blunt spurtle these days
Depending upon where and when I'm going I'll wear either a Sgian Dubh or a 'Sgian Brew', favouring the later if in the evening or if drink will be flowing.
I do know of a piper being busted while busting on the streets of London for wearing his Dirk but the case was immediately dismissed by the judge.

Rab