Gaucho knives and cuchillos criollos of South America

[kamagong]

kamagong , by the way, you definitely need a traditional gaucho-style sheath for that cuchillo de campo!

I agree, but I have no idea where to source one here in the U.S.

 

[kamagong]

The cuchilla and cuchillo de campo were delivered this afternoon.

They're supposed to both be Mann & Federlein knives, but neither blade is marked.



Additional thoughts to follow.

 

[Trubetzkoy]

The cuchilla and cuchillo de campo were delivered this afternoon.

They're supposed to both be Mann & Federlein knives, but neither blade is marked.

View attachment 2867966

Additional thoughts to follow.

Very handsome. Any idea about the number painted onto the blade? Also, is the bolster brass, or nickel silver?

 

[kamagong]

No idea as to the meaning of the markings on the blade, 22312/8. I wonder if this knife was a saleman's sample, with the 22312 referring to the model number, and the 8 indicating the size of the blade in inches.

The bolster is nickel silver.

 

[screened porch]

That gaucho knife life book has an article written by a British adventurer in 1925, which says, "Actually the knife is the favorite weapon in Argentina: an ordinary long knife, carried in the belt, with which the men eat, skin their meat, and kill each other."
Even moderate fanciness may have been more rare than we think.

 

[kamagong]

Even moderate fanciness may have been more rare than we think.

You may be on to something there. The Bokers and the Herders and their like grab our attention, but I'm sure many gauchos carried more simple knives.

The cuchilla and cuchillo de campo are certainly modest designs. Basic construction with not much steel used. The blades on my examples are 2 mm and 2.5 mm thick respectively. Not nearly as strong as the blades on my Simbra and Arbolito.



I'm perplexed as to why the factory put a swedge on the cuchilla. Why bother with such thin stock?

 

[Trubetzkoy]

No idea as to the meaning of the markings on the blade, 22312/8. I wonder if this knife was a saleman's sample, with the 22312 referring to the model number, and the 8 indicating the size of the blade in inches.

That actually seems pretty plausible. That would explain the lack of stamp, too.

That gaucho knife life book has an article written by a British adventurer in 1925, which says, "Actually the knife is the favorite weapon in Argentina: an ordinary long knife, carried in the belt, with which the men eat, skin their meat, and kill each other."
Even moderate fanciness may have been more rare than we think.

For sure, regular butcher and chef knives were and still are common in South America -- especially rural areas -- as general-use tools. Some of them have specifically South American stamps, too. Here's a Guyot cuchilla imported by E. Montagnac from Buenos Aires, sold a few years ago by a fella called Jair Caetano on Facebook:

I wouldn't say fancy knives were rare at all though, given how many old pieces one sees floating around. It's just that the fancier knives were not really for the regular gaucho, but for more aristocratic, or even middle-class, types.

I'm perplexed as to why the factory put a swedge on the cuchilla. Why bother with such thin stock?

I think it was common with butchering-types of knives, especially if done on only one side of the blade. I've seen it on several old butcher and chef knives I've owned, American, British, etc., all with rather thin blades.

 

[kamagong]

I think it was common with butchering-types of knives, especially if done on only one side of the blade. I've seen it on several old butcher and chef knives I've owned, American, British, etc., all with rather thin blades.

Hit it right on the nose. The cuchilla is only swedged on one side.

 

[oldmanwilly]

That gaucho knife life book has an article written by a British adventurer in 1925, which says, "Actually the knife is the favorite weapon in Argentina: an ordinary long knife, carried in the belt, with which the men eat, skin their meat, and kill each other."
Even moderate fanciness may have been more rare than we think.

You may be on to something there. The Bokers and the Herders and their like grab our attention, but I'm sure many gauchos carried more simple knives.

The cuchilla and cuchillo de campo are certainly modest designs. Basic construction with not much steel used. The blades on my examples are 2 mm and 2.5 mm thick respectively. Not nearly as strong as the blades on my Simbra and Arbolito.

View attachment 2868277

I'm perplexed as to why the factory put a swedge on the cuchilla. Why bother with such thin stock?

That actually seems pretty plausible. That would explain the lack of stamp, too.


For sure, regular butcher and chef knives were and still are common in South America -- especially rural areas -- as general-use tools. Some of them have specifically South American stamps, too. Here's a Guyot cuchilla imported by E. Montagnac from Buenos Aires, sold a few years ago by a fella called Jair Caetano on Facebook:

I wouldn't say fancy knives were rare at all though, given how many old pieces one sees floating around. It's just that the fancier knives were not really for the regular gaucho, but for more aristocratic, or even middle-class, types.


I think it was common with butchering-types of knives, especially if done on only one side of the blade. I've seen it on several old butcher and chef knives I've owned, American, British, etc., all with rather thin blades.

I can't help but notice some parallels from this discussion that relate to the historical cowboys in the US. We may tend to romanticize them and think that everyone carried a Colt revolver and a Bowie knife, but in reality most of them were dirt poor and probably had nothing more than a reata and a Russell-Green River butcher knife (or similar). Heck, the original Bowie knife was, by most accounts, little more than a large butcher knife that we might now refer to as a breaking knife or scimeter. The fancy Bowies from Sheffield were reserved for the dudes who could afford not to use them too much. Even now, it seems that most working cowboys use some flavor of Case trapper or cheap modern folder that is easily accessible at a hardware or feed store. Then as now: if it is cheap, available, and functional then that's what gets used.