I can just imagine a video 700 years in the future: "today we're talking about truck nuts"

So, it's a knob-ended bollock dagger that's been peened. How many double entendres can you fit onto one weapon?

has anyone done the 'never mind the bollocks, here's the seax pistols' joke yet?

11:08 "a very pronounced knob end which prevents the hand sliding off" I can relate to that😀 Great video, thank you for your work.

Beautiful work. I've heard older bollock daggers hang a little lower.

I actually have a theory as to a practical reason why the divot separating the two bollocks is there. It makes it easier to thumb the blade as you would if you were using the dagger in your left hand for parrying. And it does so without really compromising its ability to be used as a stabbing weapon in an icepick grip.

Just bought a dirk from you. I've had it for less than an hour, but it seems to be pretty well made. Thanks for making these available for people without a lot of money to spend.

5:01 you could say "The French in particular used to go in balls deep for really fancy handles on Bollock daggers."

English guy getting stabbed to death: "Ah, bollocks." Blacksmith standing nearby: "say thats a great idea"

I used to think these were fugly and loved the style of the rondel and quillion dagger. But doing some wood working in my time, and such, I have grown to appreciate the style of the grip and the simple nature of these weapons, from their early "bollack" incarnation to the more well known dirk. Truly a weapon for the regular dude, but with enough variety and potential class to cover all the bases. Thanks for sharing this. These don't get enough appreciation by historical weapons folks esp. as most HEMA or historical fighting emphasis is on rondel dagger. If I was around in the middle ages these would be daggers I'd be pleased to own!

You should make more videos like this, just talking about the items you sell. This made me decide to finally get the Mary Rose dagger I had been thinking about getting for a while.

"Hearts were just a nice motif for a knife, which you will use to stab somebody to death with" Tod 1/30/19

I have this book which you probably helped write but I wanted to show it to you. It’s called “A Glossary of the Construction, Decoration, and Use of Arms and Armor in all Countries and in all Times.” Every time I read through it I hear your voice narrating. I love your work. Thank you for what you do for our community.

Alternate title: "Tod Talks Bollocks"

I'm a blade smith and I have that same design of sweatshirt. The ol " HELP I'M ON FIRE" Angle grinders are really bad about that

What a load of........ Nicely collated information 👍

Good to see a working man. Excellent daggers and all your products are likewise the same. Great learning the history of them. My girlfriend got me a seax from you on Christmas from KOA, excellent craftsmanship and historical. I really like it a lot, thank you so much.

Ah, your very best grinding jumper Tod?

This was an exquisite video Tod, thanks for producing it for us. (I would also like to thank you for providing Kult of Athena with your business, especially since you have provided them with a few eating knives for purchase.)

I've got a Scottish Dirk from this Gentleman and it's just fantastic, fits my hand to a tee.

Tod , We are soooo exited. The wife and I realized we can buy you wares. Thank you sooo very much for all you do.

Enjoyable video on a subject that I knew zero about. You kept a straight face rather well, so thumbs up there too.

Educated, well informed and a good sense of humour. Another excellent video 👍

During times of wealth and economic growth, blades tend to get longer and fancier. During times of economical crisis, blades tend to get shorter and simpler. At least, that's whats often said, idk if it is true though. Might be bollocks.

Just a thought, have you ever noticed that a hart's leg bone looks like your first handle, maybe they started off with bone handles and over time evolved into wooden handles.

Great work, Todd. Really love your attention to details. Hope to see more videos like that from you.

Nice explanation, I enjoy hearing someone explain the changes to an object so we can see how we have changed their use.

That is the most outstanding sweatshirt I've ever seen. Good job job keeping it out of the waste stream.

Reads title...."Bollock dagger? Why?" Sees video. "Oh. Got it."

Just discovered your channel and I'm seriously impressed! Checked the store and I've fallen in love with so much! Money is tight but I've made do with ordering a bottle opener for now :-) can't wait to order something more special!

Another note for why they don't have crossguards and have just enough to keep the hand from slipping onto the blade. These weren't meant for crossing swords, there was no worry about an opponent's blade slipping down the blade and cutting the wielder's fingers. That opponent was likely closer to a victim than an opponent. And for regular work, a crossguard isn't needed either.

I've got one of your Scian blades in the cart. Thanks for the share!!

Blaksmith: *forging bollock daggers* heheheh... hehehehe-hahahahahahah!

Absolutely loved this Tod. I do a lot of living history education and would love to be able to add this to my curriculum, with your permission of course. I suppose it would cost a rather hefty sum to have this collection of daggers from your website? Anyhow, I learned a few things on this video and, being Scottish, it would be fantastic to be able to relate the evolution of the Scottish dirk to others. Greatly admire your videos mate. Keep em coming 😀

I have a couple of Tod's daggers and I really do need more.

An old knives tale. (Fascinating history!)

Awesome video. Always had an eye for bollock daggers and this was interesting to see the evolution.

Tod you're amazing. I love seeing your recreations of historical pieces

The best title on KZfaq. I was laughing before I even clicked on it.

Never heard of this style of dagger.. thanks for the info! Well out together video. Can’t wait to tell everyone about the bullocks I’ve just learned of

I'm gonna reanact a medievel peasant just to swear and carry a bollockdagger all day long.

Never has the word ‘bollocks’ been said so many times on KZfaq. Glorious!

I absolutely love this video. To see the evolution of a weapon from its primitive origins to it's stylised final form is fascinating. Thank you and keep up the great work.

Ordered a dirk tonight. I really, really like your blades! I could easily see me collecting a bunch of the knives you make.

I'd love to know more about the history of the stiletto I bought from you. Was quite surprised how blunt the tip was. I expected a needle tip.

I thought my 2018 Christmas was somewhat lacking. Now, I've realised why. By the end of this year, I want to buy one of these fantastic daggers to carve the family turkey.

Thank you very much for the education.

So I found your channel on my feed and I will say I am impressed with your knowledge and collection of weapons consider me s new subscriber.

the people who called them bollock daggers probably weren't scholars and historians or nobility so it wouldn't be preserved in text. just a guess

As soon as I am working again I intend to buy one of your daggers. Great vid.

That same thing happens with blackjacks/saps (not even those are the same thing, but they get called the same thing). "Life preserver" was a common term- could be a weight on something somewhat flexible, could be a handle with a chunk of wood attached by a string, etc...

Your'e an excellent craftsman Tod, I really enjoy your content, its channels like yours that make you tube just about tolerable for me these days..

Very interesting! I've never seen a flat side knife before!

Todd I saw your Italian ( thank you for representing) stiletto style dagger featured in a movie recently. Your are the best.

Great history with lots of cool information. I like seeing the evolution of weapons chronologically and so side by side. The next time someone tries to tell me Freud wasn't right, I'll tell them about these daggers lol

Excellent tracing of the lineage of the bollock to the dirk. It was a piece designed to do a bit of work. Thank you for this video.

great presentation Tod, well done. much appreciated, thank you

Rewatching. I just wanted to say thanks for what you do. Used one of your knives to prepare supper tonight, and just for hell of it used one of the daggers to cut the vegetables. It was overkill but why have a nice dagger if you aren't gonna use it? I hope someday I can afford one of the nicer pieces but am VERY happy with my bollock dagger, thank you for sharing your knowledge with us and for producing these wonderful blades. In a world of throw away mass produced stuff it is nice to have a few good well made tools!

This was fun and fascinating at the same time. I think my favourite dagger would actually be the first one, though with a smaller grip that's less flared. I'm female with smaller than average hands. I'd certainly use it for a working knife, and I'd certainly be on the peasant end of the scale. So my question is, would women have used these daggers too, as a work tool, or would it have been a men's tool? thinking about the "bollock" aspect of it, would such decoration have caused it to be a frowned upon thing for women to use them? The query of did women use them applies to the entire range you have in the video. Thanks for the information!

I think the best sort of comparison for why medieval people referred to daggers, or swords, as just "a dagger" or "a sword" and not by what type it was, is the same thing as how in modern times we're more than likely going to say "a handgun" or "a rifle" instead of what type/brand of handgun or rifle it is

regarding grip on dirk Tod, most dirks were held underhand, especially in charges. The dudgeon is a favourite of mine due to the fact that half of my heritage is from Southern Scottish, Irish farmer folk, been a bone of contention for centuries, Reivers I think they were called, bloody savages with sharp pointy things in the dead of night, look good on my Dagger wall.

Thank you for a fun and informative video. The daggers are gorgeous.

Interesting! I wonder if that's where we get the phrase "to give someone a bollocking" from. For folks outside of the UK, it means to give someone a severe reprimand, by way of getting really shouty and in their face.

Look Tod I've watched your stuff for ages now and you've made some fantastic stuff in the past but I really gotta let you know something.... that hoodie needs replacing mate.

Another cracking Mini-doc . love your honesty as well . :)

"Can thou sharpen mine bollock dagger?" "All of it?" "Just the tip"

Very informative video! May I suggest that during editing, put just a touch of stabilization on the beauty shot at the end of all the knives laid out? It doesn’t have to be that much, just something to smooth it out slightly to make it look more professional.

Very intersting topic! I find these daggers look a bit like bronze age swords, mostly because of the wooden handles that are one piece with the "crossguard".

I have just received delivery of the 14-15th c. studded handle bollock dagger- or as I call it, The Knobblyboy 1350. It arrived promptly in good packaging. I was looking for an all-round knife for camping, something I can cut firewood, build a bivvy and cook with. This knife does all of these thing, and it takes a mean edge but, by God's wounds was I wrong to buy it! Oh, it's beautiful, it's well made, the scabbard is lovely and the whole thing just gives off an aura of quality- this thing is an heirloom- but it's not suitable for my purposes. It's too big and I reckon should a pig even find this at the bottom of a big rucksack, he'll taze you to death on the spot. It looks, frankly, like a pure weapon and, like, I know Tod told me on his website that the whole thing was 13 inches long but I didn't really believe it was going to be this BIG! It's a real humdinger and I am so pleased to have it but as far as I can see it has no practical purpose. I absolutely do not regret buying this though. It's just massively exceeded my expectations!

This is terribly fascinating. I love the plain English ones.

Remember that people were smaller of stature during that time frame. Smaller grips make sense for a period piece.

Fascinating evolution! Thank you for sharing your skills and knowledge :D

Hi Tod! Just a quick piece of feedback: If you discuss weapons in such detail, it would be good if you could have close-ups of them in the video. It just makes it much easier to see the details you're talking about. Could understand everything fine, but it would make it easier nevertheless. Great content as always! :-)

Mr Freud smiles in his grave. "All oblong objects, especially rising, firm objects, tuch as trees and lamps, tools of competition and combat such as lances, daggers, swords, pistols, are stand-ins for the male genital..." "Genius!"

Great video, very informative. Seems like the Seax sort of evolved into having a flat on it for better edge alignment and things proceeded from there.

Chaucer and 2 knives, does that make a pair of bollox? ...A nice bit of bling to show off at the alehouse - amazing, I am always getting my bollox out at the pub! :)

I like to think that the hearts are there to remind you where to aim 😜

I have the Tod Cutler Dudgeon. it is a very good, very interesting piece

Just as a thought on the Mary Rose handles being cut from a plank. There's more building going on (housing and ships) so planking would have being produced in appreciable amounts. That means lots of off cuts presumably and it's a shame to waste material that's got little other use.

great video! Will you do a video on roundel daggers in the future?

According to the dates you are giving us for the longer or shorter blades it roughly works out to before or after major battles where a lot of armour was needed shorter blades were used,after the battles lots of scrap available so longer blades were cheaper to make.

Everytime Tod says, nob-end I cant help but giggle like a schoolgirl XD

Very nice knob end

Is there not a very simple explanation for the Mary Rose daggers being longer? The Mary Rose was a war ship. It's consistent with these daggers being primarily weapons by that time, and the pronounced "knob end" on the handle, as you so elegantly put it, gives me the same impression.

So basically it's a "ball dagger" in American English lol. I remember my dad telling me about the Scottish during English occupation they would hide their daggers on their inner thighs because " No Englishman wanted to search down there".

Perhaps the groove up the middle of the guard was used as a place to put the thumb, similar to the weird ricasso on later dudgeon daggers?

Just ordered one of these from an American company that sells them for you. Look forward to getting it.

Thank you, that was very concise and easy to follow. I have bookmarked your website just in case someone gives me extra money.

So these were the useful equivalent of a seax to an earlier period? A simple weapon/tool that everyone carried?

nice workmanship

Thank you, that was fascinating.

Very educational 👍 thank you for posting .

So who was the saucy little nobleman who made it socially acceptable for the upper crust to don the humble bollock dagger? I bet he thought it would go great with his 8 inch cod piece.

It's funny to think how a sword was a weapon, whereas a dagger is a tool, and everyone carries daggers for daily use, but a dagger is essentially a miniature sword. Imagine if nowadays it was normal for everyone to carry around a small caliber utility derringer, ya know, for daily tasks, like opening cans and changing the channel on the tv like that episode of the Simpsons where Homer buys a gun

Bollock Dagger: a whole new meaning to hilting it to the balls.

fun fact, in victorian era they called them kidney daggers because some designs by that time looked more like a kidney AND they didn't want to say bollocks because it was victoria england and everyone was prudish, apparently, amongst certain members of high society i see this being a thing, but i can't imagine most the common folk would have given a waft of the bollocks at what the upper class thought

gutter humor never grows old.

So 700 years from now we will still see the novelty bollocks hanging from the tow ball of hover-pickups. Dystopian or what.

I heard someware that the work Bollucks was an Olde English word or slang for rubbish or discarded items much like the word Trash is used today. Makes sense as these are made of discarded offcuts.

About the one from the Mary Rose - maybe the change in the handle is due to them being manufactured in large quantities? Wouldn't it be faster to cut them like this instead of turning them?