"Small" New Project, and some thoughts

[Greg]

Last night I labored for hours upon hours, stitching an incredible length of leather together for a wet-formed scabbard for this highly prized blade of mine...




April fool!


Okay, so it's a whopping 1.75 inches long. Don't judge...let me s'plain.

It occurred to me the other day that in pretty much EVERY medieval fantasy and similar book I've ever read, the lead character(s) find themselves captured and bound, with seemingly no means of escape. Then, one of two of the following happens: some other character shows up and bails them out, or one of the captives produces a tiny knife seemingly out of nowhere that was hidden the whole time which their captors seemed to miss during their search of the victims.

Now, who on earch carries a blade small enough to elude a search by captors?

Well, I thought about it, and it stands to reason that a small enough blade might be carried for this specific purpose by a ranger, expecting that, in their rather dangerous line of work, being that they're unliked by most and pursued by many, there's a fair chance that a ranger could be caught and bound at the wrists more than once in their career.

So I took this, one of the two tiny (and seemingly useless) companion knives that came with my half-deceased Nepalese kukri of some years ago, polished a razor's edge on it, and stitched up a quick wet-formed scabbard for it. I drilled a tiny hole in the cocobolo handle and knotted a hemp tie on the end so it'd be easier to find in the dark, and there you go. Easy to conceal, and quick to hand.

Thoughts?

[Arbellason]

Looks good know I know what to do with those little things that I seem to lose

[Manveruon]

I love it! The concept is brilliantly crafty, haha!

[Elleth]

sweet!

that's very nicely done!


so... is it going to live tucked in a bracer or the like.... or is that a secret?

[Greg]

Well, my first inclination was to say "If I told you, I'd have to kill you..."

But then I absolutely KNEW that, were I to say that, Pete would come in here and say "You know, it takes a minimum of six to eight hours for food to pass through the body...you might need it before then..."

Tucked in a bracer, though that would certainly hold it well, I believe would be too obvious a location, and it wouldn't hold up under a cursory search. Knives seem to be stowed there in hollywood a bit too much. The Emperor in Gladiator stowed a knife there, Stephen, the wild Irishman in Braveheart stowed one there...I think orcs would check there (or perhaps even take the bracers off of me, and toss them in a ditch. Precautions, precautions, precautions.)

So, for the sake of argument, I'll relent. I'm in the process of hand-stitching a linen hood and mantle with a more fitted hood to keep my head warm at night, etc. I'm going to stow the knife in a short liripipe. That way, sitting back to a tree or something with my hands bound, I can rest my hands behind my head as though reclining, and over the course of an hour or more, can work my way into the hood, retrieving the knife seemingly without incident.

I say this under the assumption that we're all on the same side, and none of you ever intends to take me captive. If you try, you'll regret it.

[caedmon]

In scottish reenactment circles there was a rumor that small knives like this should somehow be carried around the armpit.

[Mirimaran]

I like that! Great job! I think that is your hair is long enough you would be able to hide it in a braid.

Ken

[Greg]

That would be possible, though my hair will never get there *chuckle*.

[Daerir]

This is a really good idea... But what if you're chained.

[Greg]

Never met a 12-century lock that couldn't be picked with a <1/4" wide knife.

[Daerir]

Never met a 12-century lock that couldn't be picked with a <1/4" wide knife.

A very true point lol. No pun intended

[Ringulf]

The concept is a very good one and I like this little knife.
I have seen many small medallion or belt buckle knives that could do the same thing by "hiding" the knife in plane site (like a Klingon disrupter) Or a single small blade slit into a boot heel.
Of course there is only one good place to hide a little knife from all but the most determined search, but it makes it much more uncomfortable on a long march!

[deadextra]

I would go for the boot too, you might go out without a hood on a hot day but you would never leave without your boots. Also, the soft fabric of a hood is easily searched and the extra weight might draw attention to the hiding place.

On locks, I've looked into those a little bit before and they are generally pretty clever, I haven't seen any that could be defeated with just a knife. These two are viking age keys, normal ward keys were around for ages too.
http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/736x/ ... 112e7a.jpg
http://media-cache-cd0.pinimg.com/736x/ ... 997df0.jpg

[Daerir]

Perhaps you could stitch a pocket on the inside of a shirt or on the side of your socks for the hidden knife.

[Greg]

Boot's a good possibility. Duly noted.

Stitching a hidden pocket, perhaps up in the armpit, as Caedmon suggested, would be very doable...but I'd be concerned about one's ability to retrieve it easily while under supervision. Reaching inside a long, period shirt which would most likely be belted at the waist might be a job only doable by someone who can cram themselves into a 2' square box on some dumb TV show...