Leukus anyone?

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diablero

Joined
Oct 10, 2003
Messages
174
I've been eyeing the Finnish Leuku knives at Ragweed Forge for a while. Do any of you have or use them for camping and such? Do they hold up to batoning? I'm missing a larger knife/chopper. Sold my Anaconda and RAT-7, can't bring myself to use my Beck WSK now that it's a collector's item. I'd love to read your feedback.

Diablero
 
I have a friend who regularly uses one to chop down 12 thick hickory and oaks. He also batons it when needed. It's an amazing knife. He also has a Busse Battle Mistress, but thinks its easier to take more swings with the lighter knife. That's right-- as a chopper, he prefers the Leukus to the Battle Mistress!

I can do okay with almost any knife with a Spyderco sharpmaker. A few strokes with a Leukus, though, turned the knife into a lazer beam. I've never experienced a knife that sharp. For the price, I really should get one myself.

Scott
 
The big leuku was developed as a chopper by the Lapps. What it can do really depends on the steel and the way it was made. The Lapps used to -and still do- carry two knives, leuku for chopping and and a small thin puukko for other daily chores.

TLM
 
I've heard that the Roselli models are much better quality than anything else available.

I don't see them on Ragweed's site, but Roselli also makes leukus with shorter blade lengths than the 8" model that Ragweed carries.

I've also bought from Ragweed and would give him first shot at my business.
 
Kellam also carries Finnish knives, including a 5" Roselli leuku.

I have the Ragweed Forge Iisakki Järvenpää Puukko and Leuku in a double sheath. Only used them in the kitchen. Heavy convex edge on both. Extremely sharp.

When it comes to arguments about whether it's better to carry a big knife or a small knife, this combination has the answer: both. :)
 
he combos are very popular I liked them so much I started carrying thre line my self but even before them I tended to collect them. The are a veryhigh quality knife and are well presented along with being very functional. In that line one of my highest sellers is the 1244 the one made of all birch bark handle.
 
diablero said:
Do they hold up to batoning?
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Yes, it is *really* inefficient though and time consuming compared to small axe or something like a Camp Tramp. Leuko's are more like butcher knives than axes, they don't chop very well at all. They simply don't have the weight or the heft to generate power on the swing.

-Cliff
 
Cliff:
Leuko's are more like butcher knives than axes, they don't chop very well at all. They simply don't have the weight or the heft to generate power on the swing.
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"You are absolutely correct but..." not quite, the design was/is used for small diameter birch and twigs, there is not much else there to chop at, in more wooden country axes were used, whenever one wanted to carry the weight. For hundreds of years it was enough though without the more expensive axe. Then there are many sizes, the largest ones (old) I have seen were small machetes, the smallest had a blade of about 20 cm. At present you see the basic shape used on all sizes.

TLM
 
What got me solidly hooked was the Kellam Puukko. So much more character than Moras. The sharpest knife out of the box that I had ever seen. So I tried the Kellam Tracker (5 and 5/8" blade) for a medium size knife - loved it too. Then Ragnar's offerings from Stromeng (7" plain carbon steel one) and also got the 8" black blade finger guard version. These nordic knives just amaze me. I have my big choppers for big chopping jobs and wouldn't go without my hatchets and axes either. But most of my outdoor (and indoor) cutting chores can be handled with those 4 knives.
 
I have a Roselli Leuku. I like it much more than some of the other Nordic Leuku's that I have handled. Feels built for very hard use. I wasn't nuts over the sheath. It's basically an almost untreated leather in a kind of sickening pinkish color. I hit it with several coats of linseed oil and Ren Wax and it looks better and seems to be more ready for moisture and wear than before. I plan to use it as a heavy camp knife this summer.
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I got all excited when I saw Cliff's name in a post.......then I saw that this thread is 9 years old!!! :)

B
 
I got bit by the Leuku bug a couple months ago. So, of course, I had to make one :)

With everything, I have to take my own twist on stuff, and a lot of times I will make a knife to fulfill a very specific "hole" in my woods use needs......if that makes any sense.

Here is what was rattling around in my brain when I made mine.

For a "crafting" knife, I carry a very thin, very thin edged, scandi ground knife. Carving and making stuff, it is great.

In winter, I really need something much heavier for putting up a lot of wood, and that it beyond knife territory. I generally use a large to full size axe for that.

In the "in between" I find I generally process a lot of wood by hand. Breaking them between trees, shaving up tinder with my small knife etc. Still, I want something a little in between even though it is not usually my thing (bigger knives). So, I decided to make a Leuku.

I love the blade shape. The other thing a scandi/scandi-vex style grind does on a knife of this sorts is to leave maximum amount of steel in the blade. This makes it forward heavy, makes it into a prying tank, and of course makes it split/baton very well.

Since that was the main intention for this knife (and not to do the carving that my small knife does), I made it out of 3/16" O1, just to make it more tank like :)

Here is what I ended up with.

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Of course, I had to take my own bit of twist on the handle.

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I would love to see others "Leuku in use" pictures. I can never get enough of this style knife.

Brian
 
I have a Helle Lappland that was a gift, and to be honest, I haven't had it out in the woods yet....

Stay sharp,
desmobob
 
I have had the helle lapplander for a few years now desmobob and its a great knife.

Light trail clearing and kitchen work mostly, I knock the heads/tails off my salmon and cut steaks with it.

They really are an outdoorsmans butcher/do all knife
 
Brad "the butcher";12083467 said:
I have had the helle lapplander for a few years now desmobob and its a great knife.

Light trail clearing and kitchen work mostly, I knock the heads/tails off my salmon and cut steaks with it.

They really are an outdoorsmans butcher/do all knife
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I guess my particular outdoor style never has me needing that type of knife. But in the kitchen.... I guess I'll take it out of the outdoor knife drawer and move it to the kitchen knife drawer!

Stay sharp,
desmobob
 
I love leykus. Wish i still had mine
 
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