Hand-Forged Dirk, Fluted Pommel

Dirk is a word that covers several unrelated things, which is worth knowing before you buy one. The Highland dirk — the biodag — is single-edged, usually around 12 inches of blade, and has NO GUARD at all; its signature is a thick carved grip, often in basketweave, running straight into the blade. The naval or midshipman's dirk is a different object: double-edged, 12 to 18 inches, and carrying a guard. And in general usage a dirk is simply any long dagger.

This one is 17 inches of double-edged blade on a guarded hilt with a fluted pommel cap, so it sits with the naval pattern rather than the Highland one. It is not a Scottish dirk and we would rather say so than let the word do work it should not. If a Highland dirk is what you are after, it is a genuinely different piece and we will forge one.

Somewhere on the line, and the answer depends on who you ask. At 17 inches of blade and 24 inches overall this is longer than most things called daggers and shorter than most things called swords — it is roughly the length of a Greek xiphos blade, on a dagger's hilt.

In practice it handles as a large dagger: a 7 inch grip is a single hand, and the balance sits close to the guard. What it does not have is a sword's cutting geometry. The blade tapers in one long line from shoulder to point with very little belly, which is a thrusting profile. It is a point on a handle, and it is honest to say that rather than imply it will cut like a short sword.

840 grams for the dagger, 1,080 with the scabbard. A double-edged blade of this length and section historically ran somewhere around 500 to 800 grams, so this sits at the top of that range rather than above it — about 5 per cent over at the generous end and 68 per cent at the lean end.

That is a better figure than several pieces in our range and it is worth saying where it is true. Per inch of blade it works out at 49 grams, which is well below the 55 to 75 we put into heavy kukris. If you want it lighter still, thinner stock with more distal taper is free on request, and on a blade that is almost all taper already it makes a noticeable difference to how quick the point feels.

The standard build carries a 17 inch blade and a 7 inch hilt, 24 inches overall. That is a default rather than a fixed specification — everything we make is forged after the order, so the dimensions are yours to set.

Seventeen inches is at the long end for anything called a dirk. Twelve to fourteen is more typical, considerably easier to own in most jurisdictions, and it is what we would build if you want something recognisably of the type rather than a statement piece. The scabbard is made to whatever length you choose.

A steel collar around the base of the blade with two short quillons sweeping down toward the point. It is a genuine guard rather than a decorative collar: it stands across the plane of the blade, so it puts steel between your hand and the edge, which is the one thing a guard exists to do.

On a blade that is almost entirely point, that matters more than usual. A thrusting blade stops suddenly when it meets something hard, and a hand carrying 840 grams behind it does not. If you want more than the short quillons give you — a full cross, a side ring, or a knuckle bow — any of those can be forged at no extra cost.

A timber grip flaring toward the butt, a fluted steel pommel cap, and the steel guard collar at the blade. The metal is forged and hand-finished rather than cast.

Grip material and colour are both selectable at no extra cost — horn, bone, micarta and leather over timber are all available. If you want something closer to the Highland pattern, a thick grip carved in basketweave is a custom build and we will quote it; it is a good deal of hand work and it changes the character of the piece entirely.

Yes, both edges sharpened and the point finished, ready to use, unless you tell us otherwise. On a blade that tapers this far the point is the part that matters and it is worked most carefully.

Unsharpened builds are free for display or for an awkward import, though please read the note in the shipping section before assuming that solves an import problem. A stage combat build — rebated edge, rounded tip — is also available at the same price and is worth considering on a blade this long and this pointed.

5160 high-carbon spring steel, which we use across the whole range. The blade is forged to shape, quenched, and then tempered back by hand as a separate operation afterwards. Those two steps are distinct and the second is what matters: quenching alone leaves a blade hard and brittle, and tempering trades a little hardness for the toughness a long acute point needs.

On a 17 inch blade tapering to a needle the tip is the vulnerable part, and a properly tempered blade flexes where an untempered one snaps. 5160 is not stainless, rusts if left damp, and takes and keeps an edge far better than any stainless we could sensibly forge. We do not make pattern-welded or laminated blades at all, by choice.

Close to the guard, which is right for a thrusting blade. The long even taper means there is very little mass out toward the point, so the dagger sits in the hand rather than hanging from it, and the point can be placed accurately.

We do not publish a single point-of-balance figure, because hand-forged work varies and a number an inch out is worse than none. Ask before dispatch and we will measure the actual piece we are sending you, from the guard, and send you the figure.

A black leather scabbard with a raised rib moulded down its length, a laced panel over the throat set through brass eyelets, a brass chape at the tip, and a belt fitting. It is built to this blade rather than to a pattern.

The rib is not decoration: the scabbard is formed over the blade while the leather is wet, so the ridge follows the shape of the steel inside and stiffens the whole thing along its length. That is what stops a scabbard of this length going soft and folding. Colour, lacing, chape and carry arrangement are all yours to specify.

No. The naval dirk pattern is genuine and the proportions are broadly in keeping with it, but the guard form, the fluted pommel and the length are ours rather than copied from a documented piece.

If you want something closer to a museum example — a Highland dirk with a carved grip and no guard, a naval dirk at period length with the right furniture, a matched knife and fork set in the Scottish manner — those are different pieces of work and we will quote them against your reference. They are also, honestly, more interesting things to make.

Nothing is held in stock. Every blade is forged after the order arrives, which is why the dimensions, the stock thickness, the grip and the guard are all free to change — there is no standard version already made. Standard builds dispatch in 2 to 3 business days; genuinely custom work runs 4 to 6 weeks depending on the queue.

It ships sheathed and braced in a rigid carton, by DHL or FedEx with tracking, typically 7 to 14 business days from Kathmandu. Import duty and local taxes are the buyer's responsibility. Note that a double-edged symmetrical blade is restricted in many jurisdictions where a single-edged knife of the same size is not, frequently with no length threshold, and at 17 inches this is the long end of that problem — please check before ordering.