Making Daggers
A dagger is, more or less, a knife used for combat. They have been in use since the dawn of stone weapons and are still in use even
to this day. Unlike a knife a dagger is bladed on both sides increasing its efficiency for stabbing. Because the premise of the dagger is so simple,
nearly every culture in the world has developed a form of dagger. It exists as a small thrusting weapon capable of easily piercing the human body.
Because the dagger is so basic it is very widely used. Most soldiers would keep a dagger with them as a secondary weapon should their primary weapon
be destroyed or lost in combat. The dagger is also easy to carry and conceal making it an optimal weapon for olden day assassins and thieves. It can
also perform plenty of household chores much like a knife.
There are three main styles of daggers. The dagger, dirk, and parrying dagger. The dagger is the most common. It is a small blade, usually 4 to 10
inches, with a small crossbar style guard. It's used for stabbing and occasional parrying. A dirk is a smaller blade often 4 to 6 inches, with no
guard. The dirk is strictly a stabbing weapon. A parrying dagger (called a "main gauche" which is French for "left hand") has a larger blade, usually 10
to 14 inches, because it is used primarily as a parrying weapon. Parrying daggers usually have large guards that covered the hand to prevent injury.
Often times parrying daggers would have hidden blade trappers for a sneaky defense.
Daggers are just as easy to make as any sword and have the benefit of requiring less material. The instructions are the same so view the
swords page for construction information.
More coming soon...
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