I'd love to help Nathan, but I tend to borrow most of my sources from libraries which complicates access and I currently have very limited computer access (this rules out my scanner). I can picture a few in my head but can't source them. There is at least one woodcut floating around myArmoury of a Landeschnecht with a scabbarded messer suspended from a complex knot. As to Bill Grandy's post I thought he was suggesting that the pictorial norm for messers was for them to be worn w/out scabbards. I have yet to see such a representation and would be grateful if you or anyone else would post some.

Now I'm going to have to search for more because, as I mentioned, this is of interest to me.

Here are the woodcuts to which I was referring:

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To my eyes those mostly appear to be in scabbards. The bottom pic(which happens to be the one I was referring to in my previous post) particularly appears to have a seam or ridge that would not be appropriate to a bare blade of its type. This and on the leftmost messer in the top pic look like pockets for by-knives.

A butter knife sharp blade I can see it being a bare blade but with a sharper, scary sharp, blade I don't see it.

I would tend towards the lines on the " blade " being a scabbard.

I don't know enough about Messers, but assuming a flat ground blade from the top of the blade to the edge without bevel lines ( Sabre ground. ) is the normal standard any lines running in the centre of the blade should be a line on the drawing referring to a scabbard.

I find it difficult to imagine sliding a bare blade back into that knot without the point snagging between the cords or retying such a knot anytime the blade was removed. The angles of suspension of all of these also suggest scabbard to me but thats harder to justify.