The knife is a reproduction of a "Ringgriffmesser" (ring gripped knife) from the Manching Oppidum (or Hillfort) in Bavaria. This hillfort was occupied from roughly 450BCE - 100CE.

[This image is hosted on oakandacorn.com]

Hehe, honestly I don't know how big it is. When I work on reproductions I typically throw exact measurements out the window (unless they are noted in the archaeological report) and simply reproduce the style and overall proportions. This was the case here. The report gave some suggestions about the typical uses of the ring gripped knives were (pretty much a common everyday all purpose knife) so I extrapolated from that what a typical size might be.

One of Comyn's knives is made from 5160 spring steel, the other is mild steel that has been "Super Quenched". SQ is such a rapid and harsh quench that it will toughen/harden mild steel even though that is not possible with other quenchants.

Later this week I hope to have a blow by blow description (pardon the pun) and photos of how these knives are made.

Cormac McInnean
Ollamh Gobae (Mastersmith)
Ancient Celtic Clans

Gobae's knife pictured above is 11-1/8 inches in length.