Naval Dirk?

M ELEY · 16th July 2025, 08:11 AM

Very nice piece! To my knowledge, no naval dirks had leather-bound grips. The leather-washer types seemed to have started popping up around the last quarter of the 19th century up until around the '30's. From the patina on this one, it's easily from the older period. I'd stick with it being a side knife/fighting dirk (not a naval one, though). The guard is of the type used on both naval and fighting knife types. Due to its size, we can rule out a 'boot knife' or gambler's dirk.

16th July 2025, 08:11 AM	#7
M ELEY Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: NC, U.S.A. Posts: 2,192	Very nice piece! To my knowledge, no naval dirks had leather-bound grips. The leather-washer types seemed to have started popping up around the last quarter of the 19th century up until around the '30's. From the patina on this one, it's easily from the older period. I'd stick with it being a side knife/fighting dirk (not a naval one, though). The guard is of the type used on both naval and fighting knife types. Due to its size, we can rule out a 'boot knife' or gambler's dirk.