All About Pocket Knives

Hi SK;
Thought I would toss in a few from Finland.
wb

Thanks Mossdancer. Those are interesting looking hunting knives. I like the last knife in the 2nd photo and the sheath is a little unusual. Looks like it covers both the blade and the handle. Is it a custom made knife? s-k

Hi SK
No, they are all production. Most Finnish knives are covered with only a bit of handle sticking out. It is somewhat as the American Indians used to do.
Thanks for looking. By the way good taste. Most expensive of the lot, they retail new here for around 175.
wb

Hi TKC;
I would bet they are all within sixty years. No I do not collect them, There is just a very large contingent of Scandanavians here and there are quite a few of these knives about. If you would like any let me know I have
10-15 of them.
wb

Here's my favorite finn knives. The cream colored handle horsehead knife blade is only 1&1/2"long.These are all miniature knives.

Those are really neat.
wb

wb and knife-nut those are some fine finns

Very nice knives, my first exposure to Finn style knives..I love the craftmanship..

Thanks for sharing..

Sunburst

Nice, here's my Marttiini Rapalla.

Luis

Hey;
When I can locate it I will post a photo of one of the old sheaths, They had shredded ends and were hung with the knife over the childrens bedroom door to keep the evil spirits out.
wb

They say that the Puukko knife of Finland has not changed for about a thousand years, it was perfect for thier needs. Typically they have a 3-5 inch high carbon steel blade, though I see some stainless ones on the market now, usually Sandvik. The handle is almost always Finnish Curly Birch if made in Finland, many times with a piece of Reindeer antler down near the gaurd or ferrule, some knives have both a guard and ferrule which are typically brass. Dark brown handles are often Birch that has been heat treated or is Mazur birch. The sheath is usually made of Reindeer leather. The Lapplanders of Finland herded reindeer like we herd cattle or sheep, and yes, they did use them as sled animals (land of Christmas). My grandfather was born and raised there until he was about 12 years old. Then the rest of the family immigrated here a year later, just before WWI. They all went through Ellis Island, I found their records on the Ellis Island website.

Hyvää Joulua! Merry Christmas! UH, No, I don't speak the language ::blah::
Yep, I'm a Finn!

Interesting bit of info there on the Puukko knife. This one came in a lot of knives with a Schrade Walden bone handled knife that I won. I read somewhere that the Finnish all carry these at a very young age, both boys and girls. It seems to be a very well made little knife.

Upstream:
Nice Knife, I dont know how to say it. They make good utilitarian knives.
I certainly appreciate the old ones more that the newer. I guess my major attraction is you could lay a finnish knife in the middle of a pile of twenty five knives and go straight to it. Yours has an especially nice sheath.
W.B.

Pronounced paa-co, puu is the Finnish word for wood. (like taco, but with a "P")
It was tradition to give both boys and girls a Puukko until about 1971 when it became illegal to carry a weapon in public places. They are still used as utilitarian knives in the kitchen and in hunting. Military men usually bring their own Puukko to their garrisons.
Getting a good Puukko as a gift or present is considered a great honor in Finland.
I went to the following site to hear how it was spoken, have your speakers on.

http://dictionary.algebra.com/say.wav?p ... e&q=aa.wav and listen to the pronunciation.

Girls knives are generally shorter than boys. In the 1980's some knife makers started to "rediscover" the old Indian (India) method of making wootz steel. The process has been lost and found several times in 2000+ years in many countries. Many factory knives (Fiskars) now make Puukkos with plastic handles.

I really like the horsehead knives, must be the Scandinavian genes.
Not all of them are small. Saw one, a Kauhava, which was about 23 cm. It was an old beauty with bright red handle. Another one was 27 cm, rather large. Unfortunately I dont´t have any myself, yet. So I don´t collect them but I very well could think about purchase one, at least.

This old thread needs re-vitalizing ! Here are 2 just arrived Puukkos from Finland.
The small knife is 4 1/2" OAL, blade is 2 1/4". It might look like a tourist item but it is not. This design & size has been made unchanged for hundreds of years. They are used for light cutting around the house, for example in a sewing kit to rip out seams. This one is unused and hair popping sharp.
The horsehead knife is 8 3/4" OAL which is on the larger size for the 'home market'. Production knife, i don't know how old, the design has not changed in over 50 ? years. Probably post WW II. Also shaving sharp and feels 'awesome' in hand. I believe 'production' in Finland still involves hands on work.
There are a few different styles of Puukkos made in Finland. If you have never owned one you are missing one of the knife world's best user knives. They sharpen up to a razor and hold it well; and minimalist in hand, no guard, so hold it properly with focus and attention.
kj