[RobT]

Rick,
Given that mine is a tourist blade (although if someone was coming after me with it, I would be a bit concerned), how were the real ones held? You mention the "ice pick" grip as an option to keep the hand from sliding forward. Certainly that would work but wouldn't that type of grip also make a slashing attack all but impossible? Wouldn't the fighter then be forced to either choose between a slash or thrust grip at the time of engagement or switch between the two grips during the action? Thus would not the fighter be faced with the Hobson's choice of limiting his offensive capabilities at the onset of the fight or, in the midst of combat, losing the grip on his weapon? I tend to think a prudent fighter would be loath to do either. Actually, I doubt that switching grip is at all a viable option because, unless the grip was switched during the actual prosecution of an attack (only likely in martial arts films), the change in grip would telegraph the wielder's intent to his opponent. However, if the real knives had a blade that was wider at the base of the blade than the hilt (in say the manner of a choora, pesh kabz or Khyber knife), the hand would then be prevented by the base of the blade from sliding forward. This was how the two T-rib machairi that I saw were constructed and I wonder if this is the salient feature that can be used to distinguish tourist from real.
Sincerely,
RobT