15-inch long puukko???

[RokJok]

Okay, puukko are just for cutting, not chopping. I understand the handiness of the 3"-5" blade ones as woodcraft tools. But I was wondering what you'd cut with a 10"+ blade puukko.

Given the Lapp diet of mostly reindeer, would this thing be used like the roast slicing knives that chefs use? The one I saw was for sale here: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=475&item=2151568057

 

[TLM]

From the looks of the sheath I would say that this example is not a serious thing, handle shape is far from known useful shapes, propably a tourist attraction.

The lapps traditionally carry two knives, one is a large "leuku", that can have more than 10" blades (a chopper among other uses), the smaller knife often is 4" bladed (used for all other tasks).

TLM

 

[longbow]

On the Kellam site are Leuku's that are some 2' in length. For Xmas I rec. a 4" Puuko with a matching 7" Leuku. These are from www.ragweedforge.com. In reading the info on the site and email talk with Ragnar he stated that the Laps will often use the Leuku to build temporary shelters and the Puuko to sever the spine of reindeer they are going to butcher. They use both in the butchering process. As for the knife you show that thing is gorgeous and appears to be much heavier than my Leuku. I was surprised when I hefted the Leuku as it is very lite in the hand but it is a very robust knife. It is definetly made for cutting and the like due to the thickness of the blade. It is also convex ground to a razors edge. I have used it for the heck of it to split some 18" logs for the fireplace using a baton for extra oomph. Worked fine with no apparent ill effects on it. The Puuko on the other hand is definetly not a chopper but a pure cutter.

On the Kellam site they as mentioned had Leuku's up to and maybe a bit more than 2' in length. They mentioned that these could be used to build a more permanent fixed shelter as in a cabin! Anyways if I had my druthers and knew in advance that I had to make a long protracted stay in the wilderness a reality for whatever reason a good 24" axe and a good med. sized fixed blade would be with me. keep'em sharp

 

[TLM]

Iisakki Järvenpää (company nowadays?) is one of the better known puukko smiths here, quality is reputably good. Tastes differ but if you want a high end finnish knife Roselli is propably best, atleast best known. He makes among others wootz and UHC-steel knives, the latter being a VERY good working knife.

TLM

 

[longbow]

TLM that is the compay that made my Puuko and Leuko. Jarveanpaa that is. I have had to resharpen the Puuko to a 20deg bevel on my diamond hones as I just couldn't get the edge correct using the more traditional method of using the full grind for a guide. Not only was I scratching the snot out of the bevel but the actual edge grind varied from one side to the other enough so that it was just to difficult to do. It is now razor sharp and seems to stay that way. Keep'em sharp