Realistically, for the time period, there is a distinct difference between a dagger and knife. A knife is a short blade, usually less than 6" long and without a significant point. A dagger was often 9" to 12" in length andsharper on the tip. Everyone and their dog carries a knife as it was a tool with minimal combat usage. You could kill with it, but there were few places that it could be used effectively. A dagger was too long to use for eating, shaving wood or other uses. (BTW, a knife would of been used as a shaving tool if no actual straight razer type impliments were avalable.)<br/><br/>So, when you see those short sheathes that everyone carried, those were knives. When you saw something actually attached to a belt that hung low, that was a dagger.