[Lin Robinson]

I have a question. Does any member of the forum have photos of a Scottish Dirk by Vince Evans which was distressed during manufacture? I met Vince and Grace at the Atlanta Blade Show this past weekend and ordered a dirk from him. He said he sometimes distresses his dirks, at customer request, and I asked him to do that for me. However, I have since gotten cold feet - not about the dirk because I really want one!!! - but now I cannot decide about the distressing. I am sure to distress it some myself once it is in my hands but wonder what it looks like when Vince does it. He gave me a brief description but a picture is worth a thousand words, of course. While at the show I bought a copy of a book published by Blade magazine which has an article by Vince and Grace about making a dirk. I already have their CD ROM and this is a very helpful companion piece. Vince and Grace are really nice people for those who have not met them, and I thoroughly enjoyed our visit.

I also saw the folks at Hanwei who told me they have received a container of items which will be available soon. I also got to see a photo of the new factory, which is very nice.

[Nathan Robinson]

Photos of a distressed dirk are available on Vince's website.

[Lin Robinson]

Thank you Nathan. I should have realized it would be on his web site. Actually, I had seen those photos before and just forgot where and when.

I realize that what I do is strictly a personal decision but, since you own some of Vince's work, I value your opinion. Would you prefer a distressed dirk or one which is obviously new? I am really torn about this. I like the distressed look but just don't know if I will be completely satisfied with it.

Thanks very much for any insight you may want to offer.

[Nathan Robinson]

I don't care for the distressed look as much as the "in the new" appearance. You could always distress it yourself should you want.

[Scott Woodruff]

I second that. My weapons get that "used" look quickly enough, and if you antique/distress it yourself then you have complete control over the finished product and no-one to blame but yourself if you don't like it . On the other hand, it seems that Vince does as good a job distressing as he does at everything else and does not over-do it. What sort of distressing do you desire and to what degree? Do you mostly just want that "polished from use" look on an otherwise undamaged weapon or do you want the "battle-damaged" look with nicks in the blade or guard/hilt or ground-out nicks and reground point. Or maybe the "left unattended in a wattle-and-daub hut for a few years" look?

[Jean Thibodeau]

I don't mind " distressing " medium priced production swords in some cases to make them look campaign worn but well cared for as they would have looked during their using life in period, but I would rather have the new pristine look from a top maker.

Also, if campaign worn I think it would lose too much of it's resale value when the distressing was not done by the maker and it's a DIY job of distressing.

[J. Hargis]