Our Story

I’ve always enjoyed knives, craft, natural materials and traditional processes. When I lost my plastic sgian dubh with its fake stone, I vowed never to wear plastic again.

I replaced it with a small knife made from a truck spring that I bought on the banks of the River Nile in Uganda – and nursed a dream of a retirement project making my own ‘real sgian dubh‘.

Ten years later while working in the Himalayas I came across the remarkable knife makers of Nepal and the idea for the Real Sgian Dubh Co. was born.

These days I’m based in Scotland and work full time for The Woodland Trust to protect restore and create native woodlands for the benefit of people and planet. That keeps me busy so please be patient if I’m slow to reply to your query.

Alastair Seaman
– Founder –

My business philosophy is that in its own small way, what we do should make the world a better place:

  • we make something beautiful that will bring enjoyment to our customers and their succeeding generations.
  • we pay our craftsmen significantly above the market price for their labour and we pay them in advance or very promptly.
  • £5 from the sale price of each knife goes to support health and development work in Nepal.