"It's all in the details"

Historically, scabbards have been known to cost as much or more than the sword. While it may not appear so, there is a tremendous amount of labor that goes into a scabbard when done historically accurate, and especially when following a design. It's all in the details from chape to throat. If you want to look at it from a collector's standpoint, the sword is the picture, and the scabbard is the frame. You can hang a picture on the wall and it still looks decent, but when you add a frame, the picture comes alive and they compliment each other. The better looking the frame is, the better looking they both look. The same thing applies to the sword & scabbard. It's a complimentary package of aesthetics & function.

Even though a collector may not ever use the scabbard, it is still a very complimentary part of the sword that completes the 'picture' persay. I consider myself an artist, or artisan, and most of my customers are purchasing very functional art. The metal chapes are handmade for each order to the design specification of the customer. The leather I use is the highest quality. Why do I use the highest quality leather? It looks better, for one reason. It also tools better, dyes better and lasts longer. People often say about modern goods "they just don't make it like they use to anymore". Well I do, from chape to throat, inside & out, when it comes to scabbards.

Leather patterns and decorations are an essential part of our work, and is a signature feature to a DBK scabbard. Historically, leather patterns and decorations were hand-tooled in with various tools and blades. Every detail is hand applied from curves to corners and long straight lines. There were no lasers to burn in a 'coat-of-arms' or other such imagery. Sure, they made stamps for repetitive imagery, but the hand-tooled and one-of-a-kind designs are much, much more desired making the look far more valuable and collectible. Not to mention, one-of-a-kind.

"But really, what is the difference, and why pay more?" you say? Well, the differences can't necessarily be demonstrated through pictures alone. But the fit & functionality are more precise in a DBK scabbard. The sliding action of the blade going in and out are accounted for. The angle at which the scabbard will hang at your side is going to be different for each and every blade, then taken into consideration, and adjusted as such to a preferential angle. Essentially, I picture myself a scabbard maker from ancient history, and I'm building a scabbard per request of that customer from those ancients times. I need to build it to the specifications of someone who will depend on it, admire it's quality, and be back for more. I try to use the methods and tools a historical scabbard maker would use, so that the whole point of collecting 'history' remains consistent with a scabbard build made in much the same way. From handmade chapes, fit of the blade, shape of the wood core, sliding action of draw, historical buckles & belt tips, hand-tooled designs, leather coloring, leather finishing, and I could go on and on. You get what you pay for in a DBK.