Gaucho knives and cuchillos criollos of South America

[CelloDan]

Beautiful knife, love the lines and choice of materials. And cudos for using the knife as it was intended.

Gracias
I LOVE it ! It fits my hand like a glove
My Grohmann is another super comfortable knife to hold and use too.
Of course, there is the sentimental value as well. I am happy the whole package came together so well in this knife ... and I LOVE using it too

Boney fished has turned me off since I was a little kid. I guess I've never been hungry enough (thank you).

A gaucho's gotta do what he is gotta do

In the famous "Martin Fierro" poem about the gaucho, when describing the hard life they lived it says
"Todo bicho que camina va a parar al asador" ( every creature that walks ends up in the grill)
Granted, fish don't "walk" per say but it still applies

Happy to help! Coincidentally, just now I was wrapping one of these for a friend:

Very nice !

Great pics Dan, you're going to start growing gills soon my friend! I am not always familiar with all the species of fish shown here, but I always loved catching perch, and think they make good eating

Gracias Jack
Yes, Perch is delicious

I don't know if it's the lighting, but your verijero appears to have noticeably darkened in the time you've had it.

Hey Christian, I thought I had noticed it too a few days ago and I did checked on pics when it first came to compare.
It is a little darker but mainly if I must confess ... what's the word ... dirty ?, grimey ? Very matte, satin looking.
I have been using it a lot and a the patina was not only on the carbon steel

Cocobolo does that in a more pronounced way.

Sooo ... I gave my beloved Verijero some TLC

This evening ( even before I took a shower myself to take all the patina off my body from my adventure ) I used my wood polishing system I use for my wood turnings/bowls and gave it some well deserved pampering

My Verijero shines
It was later in the evening so lights was not great

Indoors

I also clean the blade and oil it
I will NEVER flitz it as the patina tells the story of our adventures together
I few passes on the sharpmaker and it was screaming sharp again

 

[CelloDan]

Profiles in the life of a "water" gaucho

So there was no wind today for this gaucho to sail in the vast watery pampas so off fishing he went with his beloved Verijero on the last day of his solo adventure

After fishing it was time for breakfast with whatever was left in the saddle

And after that it was time to put Verijero to work

Never again will l use the the fillet knife for those hard cuts behind the head. It just dulls them so fast and then they are not that good at what they are meant to do ... mainly fillet since they are fillet knives after all.

Verijero made all those "head" cuts with incredible ease and stayed sharp throughout

Look RayseM ! "Boneless fillets"

Perch "butterflies"

Still shaving after all that hard work

 

[RayseM]

 

[John A. Larsen]

CelloDan, Is your boat big enough to sleep two people in it? John

 

[CelloDan]

CelloDan, Is your boat big enough to sleep two people in it? John

Hi John, yes it is ... barely but it is
My wife and I have gone on several multi day sails of up to 4 days with no problem. We even brought along our little dog a few times

I love that I can trailer it everywhere and set it up solo if I have too.
It's great for gunkholing as they call it which is what I really love to do.

It's a Siren 17.
Here is a little video of us last year

And a recent photo

 

[CelloDan]

Hey folks, have I mentioned before how much I love my Verijero?

Things I like about it:

Well balanced.
Very comfortable in the hand, good ergonomics, no hot spots.
Beautiful lines
When holding it you are automatically aware of where the tip is even without looking at it.

The half moon cutout or notch, typical of criollo knives, is a great feature

It not only acts a comfortable finger guard but it also, in combination with the shape of the handle causes the knife to literally "stick" to your hand, always keeping its cutting position ( see video below )
You are able to relax your grip in between cuts and the knife does not move.
I am so used to the feeling of the knife being "glued" to my hand that I find some of my fix blades lacking now.

https://imgur.com/7FNmzw5

I am eager to find out and welcome other folks honest experiences and reviews with this type of knives

 

[RayseM]

You are using it so regularly that it is becoming 2nd nature to you. We knife knuts rarely give one knife that much of a chance.
Shows how the one right knife can set you free from some desires.

 

[John A. Larsen]

Hi John, yes it is ... barely but it is
My wife and I have gone on several multi day sails of up to 4 days with no problem. We even brought along our little dog a few times

I love that I can trailer it everywhere and set it up solo if I have too.
It's great for gunkholing as they call it which is what I really love to do.

It's a Siren 17.
Here is a little video of us last year

And a recent photo

Thanks, nice looking sailboat and video. John

 

[Jack Black]

It's great for gunkholing as they call it which is what I really love to do.

Cool term Dan, I love to learn a new word!

Hey folks, have I mentioned before how much I love my Verijero?

Things I like about it:

Well balanced.
Very comfortable in the hand, good ergonomics, no hot spots.
Beautiful lines
When holding it you are automatically aware of where the tip is even without looking at it.

The half moon cutout or notch, typical of criollo knives, is a great feature

It not only acts a comfortable finger guard but it also, in combination with the shape of the handle causes the knife to literally "stick" to your hand, always keeping its cutting position ( see video below )
You are able to relax your grip in between cuts and the knife does not move.
I am so used to the feeling of the knife being "glued" to my hand that I find some of my fix blades lacking now.

https://imgur.com/7FNmzw5

I am eager to find out and welcome other folks honest experiences and reviews with this type of knives

Another thing about your knife Dan is that, if you needed to use it in the dark, you would know which way the edge was, and at the very least, in which direction, the point was, and hopefully, after getting to know it, as you have, in an emergency, you would be able to use it with a reasonable degree of safety

 

[kamagong]

My cuchillo criollo has started its journey north!

 

[cbach8tw]

Mine too. On the road again, just can’t wait, it’s in the road again.

 

[CelloDan]

You are using it so regularly that it is becoming 2nd nature to you. We knife knuts rarely give one knife that much of a chance.
Shows how the one right knife can set you free from some desires.

and the more I use it the more I like it
Also true about how finding the "one right knife" can feel liberating

Thanks, nice looking sailboat and video. John

Thank you John
Wow, I just noticed that you joined BF in 2001

Another thing about your knife Dan is that, if you needed to use it in the dark, you would know which way the edge was, and at the very least, in which direction, the point was, and hopefully, after getting to know it, as you have, in an emergency, you would be able to use it with a reasonable degree of safety

True Jack . I can see that careful thought went into the design of it.
I find myself, over and over, taking it out of its sheath and putting it back in just to hold it, just as some of us like to fidget with folders

My cuchillo criollo has started its journey north!

Yeah !

Mine too. On the road again, just can’t wait, it’s in the road again.

Yeah again !

----

Today I cooked half of the catch that my trusty Verijero helped to clean

Diana had brought to my attention a couple of times that I was not bringing any fish home from my "adventures"
She likes the way I prepare it so this time I was happy to bring home LOTS of it

I prepared some with "pea crumbs" and the rest with good old panko.

The pea crumbs took a lot longer to brown however they absorbed less oil and came out more crunchy. This was great HOWEVER the pea flavour in the final product was just a tad too strong and interfered with the taste of the fish.
Diana did not mind the pea crumbs at all but it was a for me.
We have several family members who are gluten intolerant and I myself try to stay away from flour as part of my diet.

Tomorrow though I shall cook the rest of the fish with good old panko ONLY ( I think I'll just throw the pea crumbs inside the dog food bag and see if he notices anything )

As far as perch vs bass they both turned out very good
Perch, of course, is known as a great eating fish ... bass is not as "popular" however a gaucho is not concerned about those things

The skin left on the Perch enhanced its flavour even more. Perch score was 9.5 out of 10 !
The bass, well seasoned and fried in small pieces was almost just a good really ... an 8 out of 10
Diana liked both the same I think
edit: I also used avocado oil to fry it and I did liked that

 

[RayseM]

Looks easy. You might just persuade me to try eating some of YOUR fresh water fish. Don't tell Elaine.
You do know not to leave other carbon blades - stored - in their leather sheaths without some sort of oil or wax to protect - right?

 

[screened porch]

Since my heavily waxed W49 Western Authentic Bowie got pitted by a shred of leather inside its sheath, I won't store a carbon blade in a leather sheath without a liner or a wrap.

 

[kamagong]

You do know not to leave other carbon blades - stored - in their leather sheaths without some sort of oil or wax to protect - right?

Good advice in general. But CelloDan has been using that verijero like it was his only knife, as a gaucho would. He's not really storing it in the sheath, more like keeping it there temporarily between uses.

 

[RayseM]

Good advice in general. But CelloDan has been using that verijero like it was his only knife, as a gaucho would. He's not really storing it in the sheath, more like keeping it there temporarily between uses.

I was thinking of the other knives that are no longer in rotation. One in particular comes to mind.

 

[CelloDan]

I was thinking of the other knives that are no longer in rotation. One in particular comes to mind.

A most treasured knife mi amigo !

Time for a formal introduction between these two

Once upon a time two gauchos braved the indomitable northern wilderness armed with nothing but their puukkos

Food was scarce however the rugged wilderness was no match for their resourcefulness

 

[RayseM]

A most wonderful treasure of a memory my Brother. Nice to see the CD puukko again.
I'm sure it does not begrudge you quality time with your home country mate.

NOW - make sure you care for that blade while in storage.

 

[Trubetzkoy]

Some more Victorian goodness from the internet -- both by Mazeppa:

 

[MAIKEL07]

Hace poco encontré en internet este interesante chiquitín y decidí comprarlo, ya que aún me picaba el cuchillo criollo y al fin y al cabo era bastante barato:

Parece ser un verijero de fabricación alemana . El mango es de nácar con monturas de alpaca. La vaina parece ser de alpaca niquelada. La hoja ha visto días mejores y tiene la punta rota, pero eso debería ser fácil de arreglar con la lijadora de banda. La vaina también necesitará algo de trabajo.

Aunque uno siempre debe comprar el cuchillo, no la historia , según el vendedor, este cuchillo fue traído de Alemania después de la Segunda Guerra Mundial como recuerdo de la guerra. Eso sugeriría que se fabricó a principios del siglo XX para exportarlo a América del Sur, pero no se envió antes de la guerra, o tal vez a alguien en Alemania le gustó y decidió quedárselo.

Publicaré más fotos después de trabajar un poco en él.

Editar: parece que la vaina es de níquel, no plateada

Dear, if you are interested to sell it please contact with me. Congratulations, nice knife!