Benchmade Leuku?

Quiet said:
Bushcraft is absolutely a fad. People were camping out in the woods, and carving spoons and bowls, and setting up figure 4 traps for hundreds of years before the term "bushcrafting" and the idea that you need a special Mors Kochanski-approved shaped knife to do it with, came about.
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the term is a fad but not the actual thing
 
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Arathol said:
Yeah, but normally 58-60 is where the steel manufacturer suggests is best for a knife. 62 might be a bit much....


Expensive? No, the Benchmade is more expensive than most decent factory made Finnish knives.
A handmade puuko would be no more expensive than any other handmade knife.
Outdated materials? What does that mean? 3V isn't exactly a new steel, and there are better steels if you want a long lasting edge. The handle materials used by Finnish makers are just as good as any other maker, sometimes better, and stacked birch bark is better than any modern non-slip handles if done properly.
What good is a "Lifesharp warranty" (whatever that is) if you are actually using the knife for what it was intended to do? If you are camping in Alaska what do you do, send it in for sharpening while you use a more useful knife that you can actually sharpen yourself with an Norton stone? What advantage is that, except for those who never actually use the knife for anything except cutting veggies in the kitchen? If you can't sharpen your own knife, what does that say about your "bushcraft skills"....
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Brand loyalty is silly. If you need a knife you can depend on, you don't buy it because you like the name, you buy it because it does what its supposed to do without issues.
Most traditional puukkot and leukut have tangs that extent all the way through the handle. Not full slabs but not just a blade stuck into a handle either. I have a stag handled Randall Model 1 that doesn't have a full tang. Lots of Webster Marbles knives had stick tangs. Didn't bother anyone for decades and it doesn't bother me....
Not enough research.....yup.....
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people are not always smart. that's all ill say...
 
I'm maybe on thin ice here, and also a little OT.. But I believe leuku knives are what we here in Norway call samekniver(samer is the indigenous people in the north of Norway, Sweden and Finland)

I have a Norwegian Strømeng samekniv(samiknife) with a 8" blade wich is the standard and most traditional length. Strømeng has produced samekniver for over 200 years in the north of Norway and they are still running strong.

As a kind of experiment I have driven this blade through hell and back, mostly to check how the rat tail tang would hold up. Before I did so I actually contacted Strømeng Bladesmiths to check if it was ok to use the knife for heavy batoning. The reply was "Of course you can!!". So I did and boy is this blade a tough one. I have smacked this blade with a heavy baton with all the force I can muster into super hard stumps of wood. And it didn't do a thing to this blade. Held up just perfect despite having a bladestock of only 3 mm.

I think it is forbidden to link to Strømengs homepage on this forum for some "strategic" reason :rolleyes: but if you are interested in a real traditional leuku I would suggest checking out the blades at Knivsmed Strømeng. There are also several ytube vids on how incredible tough they are(only having a 3mm bladestock), I don't recomend batoning this heavy with it but this is an example:




This is my 8":

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Nice video. I have a 9-inch version, plus two of the Special Forces style with 8-inch blades. One is the fixed guard current version, and an older one where the guard folds up into a cut out in the handle. This allows you to use the traditional type sheath, but once you draw the leuku, the guard pivots down. John
 
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John

I have one of the fixed guard leuku, but have never seen one of the folding guard style. Can you post a pic or two of that one?
Thanks, Rich
 
Rich S said:
John

I have one of the fixed guard leuku, but have never seen one of the folding guard style. Can you post a pic or two of that one?
Thanks, Rich
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LOL derailed thread, but I have seen some pictures in the past of these but cannot remember how they looked or operated, so I'd also love a picture of this!
 
Well, from the looks of it, one of the big advantages of this take on the leuku is the santoprene handle. I was sceptical at first, but once I recieved my Benchmade 'Puukko' I was swiftly convinced. It may not look like much, but damn, does it feel good to use.

I do think the knife has been kept rather small for a leuku, which I consider a missed opportunity. It could have set itself apart from other bushcraft knives. I have a bigger Leuku model by autine (still not 8 inch) and it excels by being a big knife that is also very good at doing the stuff smaller knives are good for. By making the knife smaller than a traditional Leuku, Benchmade loses that advantage and the uniqueness of the product. Now it has to compete with a whole bunch of other bushcrafting knives in the same size range.

As an aside: I don't consider the Benchmade "Puukko" and "Leuku" to be a 'real' Puukko and Leuku. More like a Puukko- and Leuku inspired knife. They are undoubtedly very good knives in their own right, and I can wholeheartedly recommend the Benchmade "Puukko", but if you want the real thing, I suggest you look elsewhere.

Having said that, because the Benchmade "Puukko" was such a good knife, I think I'll give their "Leuku" a chance too.
 
Maxrez74 said:
the term is a fad but not the actual thing
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That's true, however, the difference is that "bushcraft" AKA playing at building stuff with wood while in the woods can be accomplished with any knife, really. People or companies talking about needing specific knives or how knives with a specific blade shape or grind are somehow the "best" for "bushcraft" are marketing majors who are attempting to sell you something.
 
Quiet said:
That's true, however, the difference is that "bushcraft" AKA playing at building stuff with wood while in the woods can be accomplished with any knife, really. People or companies talking about needing specific knives or how knives with a specific blade shape or grind are somehow the "best" for "bushcraft" are marketing majors who are attempting to sell you something.
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its just that certain blade shapes, grinds, handle shapes/materials, and tang construction are associated with bushcraft or are a great tool for the job.
you're not gonna take a fully serrated tanto with .25" thick spine to do wood carving
 
Maxrez74 said:
its just that certain blade shapes, grinds, handle shapes/materials, and tang construction are associated with bushcraft or are a great tool for the job.
you're not gonna take a fully serrated tanto with .25" thick spine to do wood carving
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Oh, I'm not arguing that. My point is that it's come to a point where if you don't have those few certain shapes and features, people get locked into the idea that that knife wouldn't work because some famous bushcrafter survivalist doesn't recommend it.

Remember, people were camping and doing just fine in the woods hundreds of years before anyone had seen a saber or scandi grind puuko shaped knife. It's not like those types of knives arrived, and suddenly people were able to build notched log shelters or do other fun wood crafts that they hadn't been able to do before. People were doing that stuff with small knives cut down from old kitchen knives many, many, many years ago. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that as is typical for the gear community, people forget that the tool doesn't really matter all that much, having skills and experience will far outweigh any tool.

But see, that's the problem for a lot of folks. You can't buy skills and experience on Amazon or from an Instagram maker. (shrug)
 
Quiet said:
Oh, I'm not arguing that. My point is that it's come to a point where if you don't have those few certain shapes and features, people get locked into the idea that that knife wouldn't work because some famous bushcrafter survivalist doesn't recommend it.

Remember, people were camping and doing just fine in the woods hundreds of years before anyone had seen a saber or scandi grind puuko shaped knife. It's not like those types of knives arrived, and suddenly people were able to build notched log shelters or do other fun wood crafts that they hadn't been able to do before. People were doing that stuff with small knives cut down from old kitchen knives many, many, many years ago. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that as is typical for the gear community, people forget that the tool doesn't really matter all that much, having skills and experience will far outweigh any tool.

But see, that's the problem for a lot of folks. You can't buy skills and experience on Amazon or from an Instagram maker. (shrug)
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its all about innovation and of course people survived before. it just becomes marginally easier with better tools.
 
Maxrez74 said:
its all about innovation and of course people survived before. it just becomes marginally easier with better tools.
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At the end of the day, the shape of the knife will ultimately be secondary. You put someone who knows what they're doing in the woods, they're not going to be using a standard drop point or clip point knife and think "Man, wish I'd had a scandi grind knife." That's my only issue with companies who market bushcraft knives as "the best" for that application. It's like kitchen knives. There are a full range of sizes and types of knife any well-stocked kitchen has...and then the chef uses the Chef's knife for everything since it's the most versatile. LOL
 
I haven’t got one yet, but I wouldn’t mind giving one a try. It looks to me like it would make a great hunting knife. I gave their Puukko a try and have no complaints about it.
 
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