A tale of time, a Grail knife, and a lucky find...
Many years ago, in a time which seems a lifetime ago, me and my dad would always peruse the mail order catalogs, looking at whatever tools and knives caught our interest at that time. We would discuss what we liked about them and what we thought made them worthwhile to consider owning them...I remember a certain knife that we both thought was a very worthy consideration. It was the Tapio Wirkkalu Puukko knife made by Hackman, and sold through the Brookstone tool catalog back in the day, perhaps mid seventies or so...well neither of us ever wound up purchasing one of those knives, but always in the back of my mind, I kind of had a lust to own one.
Fast forward many years and I had posted in a thread about said knives that these were a Grail knife to me, and a member of the forum, who had been a member for quite a few years but with very few posts, contacted me, and had one that he offered, it was a gift/ trade kind of situation, and I finally had my Grail knife, it was the smaller of the two Puukko knives made in this style by Hackman. I was a happy camper, it was everything I had dreamed it would be, and I was satisfied to have such a fine blade in my hand to use and admire...
Fast forward a few more years, and one day I was sitting at a laundromat, washing an oversize comforter and had a few minutes to spare. I wandered around the little strip mall I was sitting at and went in a couple of the shops, the last being a pawn and gun store. Just looking around and wondering if there would be any treasure hiding in there, I couldn't believe my eyes! Under the glass of a tiered display, there sat a Tapio Wirkkala large Puukko knife! My heart was pounding as I looked at it under the glass, and I talked for a few minutes with the owner before taking my leave of the shop. My parting words to him were, I might be back for that knife.
I was in the midst of packing for a dive trip in Roatan Honduras, and I couldn't afford to be spending any cash on hand for anything frivolous, like a knife purchase...In the back of my mind I was thinking, if there are any funds left over after the trip, I would see if it was still there, and if so would snag it. Well, after being home for a little over a week after the trip, I decided to go back, and there it still sat, so I made an offer, and we reached an accord! I now have both sizes of an elusive knife, that has haunted my wishes for many years now. Both of them got a ride on a Japanese water stone tonight, and both are scary sharp.
The smaller one's sheath has lost its belt loop, so that one will get some pocket time now and again, and the larger one will probably see use as a chicken quartering knife and other tough cut food uses. Today was a very happy knife day day for me, just wanted to share...
