T
tmanifold
Guest
In the Letters section of the october 1999 issue of Guns and weapons for law enforcement there appeared a letter entitled Scottish Knife Tradition That explained the traditional use of a skean dhu in combat.
I will hit the hilights and then explain the reference to tactical folders.
"(the author of the article the writer was refencing) was less than impressed by the examples of skean dhus he found in scotland. That is easy to understand. Indeed, the skean dhu has deteriorated in to an article of gents jewelry....
Furthermore, people who are not experienced knife fighters always prefer a long blade and a very sharp edge. They are less than impressed with the tiny 4 inch blade of the traditional skean Dhu. "
The author goes on to say he will not defend the modern skean dhu. Then he gives some of the common excuses highlanders will make for the modern Skean Dhu. He then get to the important part.
"I have never killed a man with my Skean dhu, but my grandfather did in world war one and his father, gradfather and all previous forebears killed men with their skean dhus..... My grandfather passed on the essential knife lore along with my first skean dhu when I was twelve."
He goes on to describe a "proper" Skean dhu. Basically make sure the hilt is bulky enough to fill your hand. Make sure it is of good steel. And curiously to blunt the factory edge a bit because "A sharp edge is inclined to stick in the wound and the hilt on a skean dhu is to short to extract it easily...". Then he get on to how to use it.
"On using the skean dhu for what it was designed, you stab- you never slash. You use no finesse. You attack feriously and stab repeatedly till the foe lies dead on the ground. With this weapon, the back handed downstoke into the shoulders and neck, sttacking the subclavian arteries, carotid and jugular is most effective. After that, the back handed sidestroke in to the ribs can wreak havoc on the foe's heart and lungs. The forehand upstroke in to the belly is used as a last resort because the skean dhu is neither a slicing nor a ripping weapon but purely a stabbing one. The bearhug and simultaneous stab in the kidneys can be effective if your anatomy. These are quick kills.
However, many kills have been made by indiscrimante stabbing because the lance head shape and short, immensly strong blade of the skean dhu will force apart ribs with the greatest of ease, provided the stab is delived with sufficent force."
Whoa long post. I will finish it off in a second post a little later with How to carry it, how to attack with it. Then I will draw the parallel with tactical folders.
Man my hands hurt
Tony
I will hit the hilights and then explain the reference to tactical folders.
"(the author of the article the writer was refencing) was less than impressed by the examples of skean dhus he found in scotland. That is easy to understand. Indeed, the skean dhu has deteriorated in to an article of gents jewelry....
Furthermore, people who are not experienced knife fighters always prefer a long blade and a very sharp edge. They are less than impressed with the tiny 4 inch blade of the traditional skean Dhu. "
The author goes on to say he will not defend the modern skean dhu. Then he gives some of the common excuses highlanders will make for the modern Skean Dhu. He then get to the important part.
"I have never killed a man with my Skean dhu, but my grandfather did in world war one and his father, gradfather and all previous forebears killed men with their skean dhus..... My grandfather passed on the essential knife lore along with my first skean dhu when I was twelve."
He goes on to describe a "proper" Skean dhu. Basically make sure the hilt is bulky enough to fill your hand. Make sure it is of good steel. And curiously to blunt the factory edge a bit because "A sharp edge is inclined to stick in the wound and the hilt on a skean dhu is to short to extract it easily...". Then he get on to how to use it.
"On using the skean dhu for what it was designed, you stab- you never slash. You use no finesse. You attack feriously and stab repeatedly till the foe lies dead on the ground. With this weapon, the back handed downstoke into the shoulders and neck, sttacking the subclavian arteries, carotid and jugular is most effective. After that, the back handed sidestroke in to the ribs can wreak havoc on the foe's heart and lungs. The forehand upstroke in to the belly is used as a last resort because the skean dhu is neither a slicing nor a ripping weapon but purely a stabbing one. The bearhug and simultaneous stab in the kidneys can be effective if your anatomy. These are quick kills.
However, many kills have been made by indiscrimante stabbing because the lance head shape and short, immensly strong blade of the skean dhu will force apart ribs with the greatest of ease, provided the stab is delived with sufficent force."
Whoa long post. I will finish it off in a second post a little later with How to carry it, how to attack with it. Then I will draw the parallel with tactical folders.
Man my hands hurt
Tony
