Does anyone know the history and usage of by-knives and awls, and their inclusion into scabbards? I've seen this now on more than a few katzbalgers, and some later era scabbbards, and I think its a great idea. I'm about to buy Albions "The Knight" and since I dont have the money for the insanely expensive custom scabbard (sorry Albion, if I had that much cash just lying around, I'd buy another sword, or a new rifle) I thought I'd give scabbard making a go.

As long as I'm gonna make my own scabbard, I thought "Hey why not incorperate some dinnerware?" It looks cool
(says I), makes some practical sense (just in case I get attacked by a rogue feast, or some fresh fruit) and has some historical precedent.

What I dont know is how far back these items have been included on scabbards, and by whom. Any Ideas?

Secondly, where does one procure the utensils for a reasonable cost? I realize this is relative, as some of us wouldn't blink at a $500 byknife, but then some of us like the movie Grease. Nuff said. Most of of the knives I've seen look JUST LIKE a run of the mill wooden handled kitchen knife, but A&A wants $48 for theirs. I dont get it. Should I just grab a wooden handled knife and call it medieval? Really the design seems pretty unchanged. Does anyone know of a set that match my sword? I would spend the money if I could find the right set.

Thirdly, and lastly, has anyone ever made a scabbard to include utility pouches? any advice? any caveats? I'm very curious about this.

Items like by-knives and awls weren't a feature of scabbards used with swords like the Knight. This is a sword from the high middle-ages and these ancillary tools really don't surface until the late middle-ages, c. 15th century. So if you want to include them in your Knights scabbard I'd say go ahead and do what feels good since they won't be accurate anyway.

I personally love these features and would like to have them for a couple of swords in my collection.

Here is a couple of pics of the XVIIIa I got from Manning Imperial:

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I don't know of any pics of an original on-line, but...

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I know it's not an original, but it's a pretty accurate-looking repro (by Deepeeka).

The Connolly book is excellent, I believe some pics may also be found in the Osprey/Men-At-Arms series book Rome's Enemies 4: Spanish Armies by Martinez.

Thanks! I do seem to remember seeing these in Connolly's book. I'll have to give that another look.