Malanika (Daniel Knives) Puuko review.

DeadboxHero

DeadboxHero

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Mar 22, 2014
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This is the 1911 of knives. Timeless design meets pure performance in the hands of an expert. A real bushcraft Ferrari.




Expert?

No I'm not an expert,
What I mean is this is not a beginners knife.

There is no guard.
And it's not designed for abuse.

But in capable hands it makes up for its lack of power and with its nimble, razor sharp blade and unrestricted hand positions with its neutral guard free handle.

Puuko knives don't seem to gather as large an audience here in the USA, where the focus is on unbreakable knives.


But there are knives at the other end of the spectrum that might convert some with there impressive cutting performance.

Daniel didn't invent the Tommi style Puuko but he has made the perfect combination of the big three, steel, heat treatment, and geometry.

It's the execution that really makes Daniel's knives so good.

Both beautiful and functioning




As beautiful as this knife is, this is no safe queen.

I have much to say about this breathtaking blade.

I look forward to sharing.
 
I'd be interested to know the geometry of this knife, specifically the thickness behind the edge and also behind the primary along with the width of the primary grind.

I own a Jarvenpaa Aito. I like that Daniel's knife has a higher grind more akin to our American blades :thumbup:

P1010419.JPG
 
chiral.grolim said:
I'd be interested to know the geometry of this knife, specifically the thickness behind the edge and also behind the primary along with the width of the primary grind.

I own a Jarvenpaa Aito. I like that Daniel's knife has a higher grind more akin to our American blades :thumbup:

P1010419.JPG
Click to expand...

I'm ashamed to say I don't know what the thickness is behind the edge.

Using micrometers is not my style. I'm really just a caveman at heart.

What I can tell you is its thick enough for use without damage from carving, light batoning and other cutting. Yet thin enough to be an perform very well.

As far as the high grind goes,
The design is not Native to Daniel but of Finnish Origin dating back to 400years https://nordiskaknivar.wordpress.com/2012/09/22/tommi-puukko/

Its Daniel's excution that makes these knives great
 
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The Handle



The most stunning feature of this Puuko is the beautiful stacked Birch Bark. It's layered properly without the any of the dark spots connected which could cause weak spots.

Birch Bark is my favorite handle material.

It's one of the few handle materials that's perfect for the eyes and the hand.

Its has a very slight give to it almost like a very warm Cork.

Its soft and seems to stick to the hand with a firm grip.


It's also naturally water resistant due to the oils in the Bark.

Some makers are known to glue the handle with the naturally by heating the handle in a oven and learning the birch oil adhere the layers.

Daniel uses a more modern approch with epoxy.


The only down side to the birch Bark is that it is somewhat delicate in the sense that it can be deformed and dented with sharp pressure like a finger nail.

Again this is just an observation. It doesn't affect the duration of the knife with appropriate use.


The Handle shape and length is fantastic
I wear a large to xtra large size gloves

With this handle I get a comfortable, powerful grip in any position.
From chest lever grips to notching with thumbs on the spine.
This is an incredibly comfortable handle.


It feels like an old worn baseball mitt, very nice

It has a subtle palm swell with a very slight narrowing at the bottom where the fingers wrap around.


There's some sporting on the tang. Nothing a little Flitz or brasso can't handle.

Boiled linseed oil would also be great sealing the handle.
 
Batoning

This knife is capable of very light batoning on straight grain, knot free soft wood. It has a full RAT tail tang.

My experience is that this knifes greatest strength the rhomboid geometry does not wedge and split the wood as well as thicker scandi grinds.


Yet using this knife strengths, wooden wedges can be carved to split wood.

I'll show this capability in the field at a later time.



Carving feathers for tinder is a dream.

One can really see how everything about this knife, the handle, the steel, heat treatment, and geometry come together like a finely tuned race car when carving wood.


The most fascinating thing about this knife is the out of the box performance. It's been the sharpest knife out of the box.

All of my knives.
Mora, Fallkniven, Swamp RAT, Benchmade.
Needed some attention wherether it was a light stroping or reprofiling.

Out of the box, this knife was tree toping hair on my leg.
Good enough for me. :)


Even using the tip of the blade I was able to carve awesome feathers.



The belly produces the best feathers on knives. This knife especially. It's a treat.
 
That's one good looking knife you have there, and your right it looks like a fine sportscar just sitting there in your pic just waiting to perform. I wouldn't mind having one, Congrats and Thanks for the review. :thumbup:
 
Thank bruh.

It's definitely a sportscar.



I've used this knife alot for carving both on and off camera.

To my amazment the edge is still performing without the need to strop it.

It still pops hairs.


There is no damage to the edge.

This is astounding performance.

By comparison,

Moras are great for the cost but the edge deformation from light use is obvious.
Im often asked by friends why would anyone buy a $200 knife for bushcraft when a $15-$50 Mora will do the same job.

This is true, but there is a performance difference. My O1 premium Mora would be duller with very visable damage from the same amount of work in this review.

Of course I could just sharpen the knife and deal with it but, when pushing the envelope in wilderness living, its nice to have a knife that performs to the same level.

The further and longer one goes into the wilderness the more time sensitive tasks become to avoid being overcome by the elements, the wet, the cold, the dark and fatigue.

Like I said, this is an experts knife.
The Mora already has the "everyman's" knife market cornered.

I hope not to ruffle any feathers with my assertions.on Moras.

Ultimately the user is what determines the performance of tools.



Moving on it was time to ignite my fine tender with a Swedish Army Ferro Rod.

However the spine could not provide enough sparks.


Daniel's has made sure not to leave any sharp edges on his work besides the one to cut with just like any good knife maker should haha.

I could put my own 90° edge on the spine.
But its not a big deal for me.

Some may argue that the 90 spine is also important for make extremely fine fuzzy sticks for tinder.

But this knife is so sharp, I care not.


Besides, The New 2.0 Swedish Army Rod has the most badass striker anyways.

Two hard stikes and boom! Fire. I'm actually a pyromaniac at heart.

Firecrafting is one of my favorite bushcrafting disciplines.

This knife is definitely in my top three.

I highly recommend Daniel's work to others.

I have much more to share later.

This knife has left a great impression on me and I'm feeling very passionate about sharing every possible detail to express why these puukos are such a great experience.


I'll share more another time.

Thanks
 
Looks good indeed. Try yourself some more challenging wood working and you'll probably love it even more.
 
Haha right?

I have an endless supply of Douglas for pine.

However I have some small pieces of oak I need to carve down for knife handles
 
Behold! The power of "Flitz" metal polish haha!


The brass is flat gold and the tang has rust.

Gone

Simply beautiful

Flitz for metal, obenaufs for soft goods


Immaculate fit of brass to blade.

"Under the hood" the secret to how the knife cuts so well..



Ready to go
 
I'm awaiting one just like this. Thank you for making it harder to wait. I've been after a Puukko like this for some time now. I have other custom knives, but this one, will be for using. Beautiful, simple, effective review.
 
^ yea it would work.
I think when a knife guy makes a knife it really helps understanding when someone makes a great knife. The laborious details. Tedious and repeative grinding and sanding and fitting.

Daniel is quite the craftsmen.






The sheath.

One of my favorite parts about this Puuko is it comes with a traditional finnish style "tuppi" sheath with the shaped wood insert and the back sewn construction.

Out of the box, Daniel impregnated the seems and welt with bees wax.


I use Obenaufs leather preserve on my wildland fire boots and sheaths.

Smells great, all natural and has bees wax too.


The wood insert is bad ass. When sheath the knife it makes a dull click noise.

This not a fast draw knife. It takes two hands to draw and sheath.

However, the retention is bombproof.

I wouldn't give it to a careless friend to draw and sheath though.

It would be very easy for a oblivious individual to cut the sheath.

Again, this is a knife for an experienced individual.
 
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I have a couple of Danijel's knives, but would still like to get one with a birch bark handle and around 3.5" blade.
 
DeadboxHero said:
^ yea it would work.
I think when a knife guy makes a knife it really helps understanding when someone makes a great knife. The laborious details. Tedious and repeative grinding and sanding and fitting.

Daniel is quite the craftsmen.






The sheath.

One of my favorite parts about this Puuko is it comes with a traditional finnish style "tuppi" sheath with the shaped wood insert and the back sewn construction.

Out of the box, Daniel impregnated the seems and welt with bees wax.


I use Obenaufs leather preserve on my wildland fire boots and sheaths.

Smells great, all natural and has bees wax too.


The wood insert is bad ass. When sheath the knife it makes a dull click noise.

This not a fast draw knife. It takes two hands to draw and sheath.

However, the retention is bombproof.

I wouldn't give it to a careless friend to draw and sheath though.

It would be very easy for a oblivious individual to cut the sheath.

Again, this is a knife for an experienced individual.
Click to expand...
The part about careless friends is totally true. Happened to me once. On a lower end knife, but still.
 
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