[Pamela Muir]

I’ve searched on myArmoury without much luck for something called a “push dagger.” I found these images in a book I bought yesterday, 100 Legendary Knives by Gérard Pacella. It was only $7 and has some beautiful pictures. Unfortunately, the text reads like a sales catalog and so I have my doubts about some of the information. I came across these knives in a section called “Knives of the Wild West”. According to the text, these are called push daggers and originated in San Francisco. The description says

[Terry Crain]

Hi Pamela,

I don't know about the San Fran origin story, but I the pictures you have posted are definately samples of what are I've always commonly known as push daggers. That being said, I would say that through the ages and in various cultures differant forms of push daggers probably existed. For example, the Indian Katar is a form of push dagger (origninally attributed as a Hindu weapon I seem to recall, but over time seems to have spread generically in popularity throughout India) often with an armour piercing thicked point. They have been around for centuries. I own one from the late 18th early 19th C. with the thickened point.

Sorry can't post a picture, but they are easy to find.

I suspect that, like many variations on weapons forms, you will find examples from diverse cultures and time-frames. Maybe the San Fran story relates to a period of renewed popularity of the modern form of these knives.

Cheers,

Terry

[Richard Fay]

Hello all!

Pamela,
This doesn't have a lot of information regarding the push dagger, but there is a simple line drawing of one in The Diagram Group's Weapons: An International Encyclopedia from 5000BC to 2000 AD. The drawing looks like a simplified version of what you showed. Here's the caption:

[Pamela Muir]

Hi Terry and Richard, Thank you both for your help. I've been doing a little web surfing trying to find more info and there does seem to be some support that this was a typical San Francisco gambler's method of defense.

This is what I found for the first image below:

[Pamela Muir]

I saw this piece yesterday at the Baltimore Antique Arms show. My favorite part, though it's really hard to tell from my photo, is the gold playing cards on the reverse side of the handle.

I've done a tad more research on these pieces, and apparently they were popular with riverboat gamblers as well.

[Murk Lyndon]

[Tod Glenn]

There's certainly a lot of references to this knife originating in the San Francisco are in the mid 19th century, most accounts being apocryphal. But there certainly are a large number of example that date from the gold rush times and found in California. The knife style seemed to had disappeared from makers catalogues by the early 20th century until revived by Lynn Thomson's Cold Steel as one of their earlier knives AFAIK CS is still the only major commercial knife maker that offers a push dagger. In many jurisdictions it is classified as a stiletto or dagger and it is hard to argue that the push dagger is useful as a utility knife. It is really a dedicated fighting weapon, although there are skinning knives that are inspired by the push dagger.

The main advantages of the push dagger are its concealability, the ease of drawing and the difficulty of disarming one using a push dagger. Rather than demanding any specialized knife techniques, it is a more lethal adjunct to the punch. The ability to deliver a powerful thrust makes it an effective close in weapon.