Ladderspire Hand Forged Damascus Dagger Knife with Bone Wood and Micarta Handle & Leather Sheath | Hunting and Collector Gift | RK-1048-1

A dagger is the test piece of a forge. Every other knife has somewhere to hide: a single edged blade can carry a slightly uneven grind on the spine side and nobody will ever notice. A dagger has two edges that have to meet at a point dead on the centreline, two sets of bevels that have to mirror each other along the whole length, and a cross section that has to stay symmetrical while the steel moves under the hammer. If a smith can grind a clean dagger, everything else in the shop is straightforward.

The Ladderspire is that shape in ladder pattern Damascus, forge welded from 1095 and 15N20 and hardened to 58 to 60 HRC. The blade is 4.5 inches, the knife is 8.75 inches overall on a 4.25 inch handle in bone, wood and micarta, and it weighs 0.68 lb, which is 0.31 kg. It is a working dagger rather than a drawer piece, and the edges arrive ready to cut.

It is forged and finished in the Czech Republic, and ships with a leather sheath and protective packaging.

Specifications

What makes a dagger a dagger

Two edges and symmetry. A dagger tapers evenly from the guard to the point in both plan and profile, which puts the mass close to the hand and makes the tip reach further for a given weight of steel. Historically that geometry was about penetration: a blade that narrows steadily in both directions loses less energy pushing material aside than one that has to force a wide flat through. The classic European quillon dagger and the Norse and Anglo Saxon short blades that preceded it all share it.

The cross section is where the craft is. Ground flat on both sides you get a lens shape that is thin and slices well but has a fragile tip. Ground with a central ridge you get a diamond section that is much stiffer through the point at the cost of a slightly thicker edge. Getting that ridge to run dead straight down the centre of a hand forged blade, on both sides, is difficult work and it is what you are looking at when you sight down the flat of a well made dagger. It is worth being honest about the downside of the shape as well: two edges mean there is no safe spine to put a thumb on, so a dagger is a poor choice for whittling, food prep or any job where you would normally drive the blade with the other hand. It is a collector, display and thrusting shape first. Profiles are compared in blade shapes explained.

Why Damascus and not stainless

This is real pattern welded steel rather than an etched print. Layers of 1095 high carbon and 15N20 nickel alloy are forge welded into one billet, folded, and drawn out. The ladder pattern is then made deliberately: parallel grooves are cut across the flats of the billet at regular spacing and the billet is forged flat again, which pulls the deeper layers up to the surface in even rungs. Etching darkens the 1095 and leaves the nickel bearing 15N20 bright, and the rungs appear as a ladder running the length of the blade. Raindrop Damascus is the same trick with drilled dimples instead of grooves.

Against stainless the case is straightforward. This steel takes a finer edge, holds it longer, and sharpens back faster, which matters on a symmetrical blade where you are maintaining two edges rather than one. In return it is high carbon underneath and will spot if it is stored wet. The full argument is in Damascus versus stainless and the pairing of those two steels is explained in 1095 and 15N20.

The bone, wood and micarta handle

Three materials, three different jobs, and three different care requirements. The bone is hard, warm to the touch and takes a deep polish, and it is what gives the grip its colour. The wood carries the weight, so the knife balances at the hand rather than out at the point. The micarta is the practical part: layers of fabric set in resin and compressed, which produces a material that is dense, completely stable in humidity and grippier when it is wet than when it is dry.

In practice that means the only part of this handle asking anything of you is the wood. A light coat of oil once or twice a year keeps the grain from drying out and keeps the fit tight around the pins, and the method is in wooden handle care. The bone wants nothing more than an occasional wipe and protection from sustained heat. The micarta wants nothing at all and will not swell, shrink or flake, which is why it turns up on knives that live outdoors.

Engraving, runes and your own design

Use the rune converter on this page to turn a name, a date or a short phrase into Elder Futhark and we will cut it into the steel or the handle. If you would rather have a Viking pattern than a rune line, choose your own design in the engraving option above the add to cart button and tell us whether it goes on the blade or the handle. Where a piece already carries an engraved design, your chosen engraving replaces it rather than sitting alongside it. On a dagger the wide flat behind the ricasso is the obvious surface, and a rune line reads well down the centre of a symmetrical blade. Cutting is done in the same workshop that forged it. See the engraving page.

Care and sharpening

Wipe it dry, oil it lightly, and store it out of the sheath for long periods so trapped moisture cannot work on the steel. Leather is tanned with acids and holds damp, which is fine for carrying and poor for storing. The whole routine is in steel care, and looking after the sheath itself is covered in leather sheath care.

Sharpening a dagger is twice the work of sharpening an ordinary knife, because you have two edges and they need to be brought down evenly or the point will drift off centre over the years. Set your angle, raise a burr along the full length of one bevel, match it exactly on the other side, then repeat on the second edge. Take the point itself carefully, since it is the thinnest part of the blade and the easiest to overheat or round off. Method in sharpening with a whetstone.

Made in the Czech Republic

The work behind this piece happens in a Czech Republic workshop that has kept to the old methods. Steel is forged and heat treated by hand, the grind is taken down by eye rather than by machine, and the handle, fittings and sheath are cut and finished one at a time. Because of that, every piece carries small marks of the hand that made it.

Ransack Viking is a United States company. We import direct, check each piece when it reaches us, and ship from our Memphis, Tennessee warehouse. Engraving is added here in the United States after arrival, so the piece you receive is finished to your order.

A note on handmade variation

This dagger is hand forged, not machine made and not bulk produced, so the piece that arrives will not be a pixel for pixel copy of the photograph. The ladder rungs are cut and forged by hand, so their spacing and how sharply they show varies from blade to blade. The bone and the wood are natural materials taken from different sources, so the colour and grain of the handle shift every time. The dimensions, the steel, the hardness and the build are the same on every one. The character is not, and that is what separates a forged piece from a moulded one.

Frequently asked questions

Are both edges sharpened?

Yes. A dagger with one live edge is not a dagger. Both bevels are ground and stoned to the same standard, which is why the grind on a piece like this takes longer than on a single edged knife of the same size.

Why is a dagger harder to forge than an ordinary knife?

Because there is nowhere to hide an error. The two edges have to mirror each other, the point has to land on the centreline, and the central ridge has to run straight down both faces. Any drift shows immediately when you sight down the blade.

Can I use it as a general purpose knife?

It will cut, but it is not the right tool for it. With no unsharpened spine you cannot put a thumb or a palm on the back of the blade, which rules out most carving and food work. Buy it as a collector and display piece, or as a thrusting blade.

What exactly is micarta?

Layers of fabric, usually linen or canvas, saturated in resin and compressed under heat. It is completely stable in damp and heat, it grips better wet than dry, and unlike wood it needs no maintenance of any kind.

Will the ladder pattern on mine match the photograph?

It will be a ladder pattern from the same forge, but the rungs are cut by hand into each billet, so their spacing and contrast will be slightly different on your blade.

Is a double edged knife legal to own?

Owning one is legal across the United States, but several states and cities restrict carrying a double edged fixed blade in public more tightly than a single edged one, and import rules vary by country. Check your local law before carrying it.

What is in the box

• One Ladderspire ladder pattern Damascus dagger knife
• Leather sheath
• Protective packaging for storage or gifting
• Forged and finished in the Czech Republic

Explore the range

Compare it against Dagger Knives, Viking Seax, Hunting Knives and Viking Knives. The reasoning behind the steel and the leather is in the guides.