An interesting discussion ensued about Gaucho and other Argentinian knives. Santiago and I had a PM exchange, and we decided that I'd send him one of my marlin spikes and he would send me a Gaucho knife.
Well the exchange finally took place. I ended up sending two knives and he did as well. Here is the PM Santiago sent me after receiving my knives; it also describes the knives he sent me:
The attached photo shows the knives he sent me (the one on top is the Ju-Ca). He also sent along a a picture with his son.hi Dennis, apologize about not anwser your messages but I was out of my city a long time. Last week received your beatufull knives, you sent me 2 ! Thank you. This morning sent you a box with 2 knives, the Ju-Ca and the La Movediza.
The mark Ju-Ca came from the first letter of the founders names (Juan - John in english and Carlos -Charles) this factory stars to produce in the middle of 50´s decade.
Tha mark La Movediza reference to an tourist site in Tandil. Tandil is the place where the main factorys begin the history of knifemaking in Argentina.
From wikipedia "he name of the city comes from the Mapuche words tan ("falling"), and lil ("rock"). It is probably a reference to the Piedra Movediza ("Moving Stone"), a large boulder which stood seemingly miraculously balanced on the edge of a rocky foothill.[5] In order to demonstrate the slight movements of the boulder, it was common practice to place bottles or some other things under its base to watch them shatter.[citation needed] The "Moving Stone" toppled on February 29, 1912, and split into two pieces at the bottom of the hill."
Both knives are small, blade length around 10cm, handle and sheath are silvernickel, in spanish alpaca.
Hope you like this knives and use it, are sharped....
Best wishes, your argentine friend
Santiago
Another great example of the ability to make friends through this hobby.
Dennis