National knives?

[martinsoelberg]

Hey my name is Martin and this is my first post here.
i have a small knife collection which i inherited from my granddad but i've been wanting to expand it
so my first question is, does there exist national knives? sort of like national dishes,
maybe in the sense like the khukuri would be the national knife on Nepal and where can you find a list of these if they exist?
Thanks!

 

[sogflash]

I'm no expert, but I'd consider the Finnish puukko as one of Finland's national knives.

A sami/leuku knife also belongs in that part of the world.

Picture from wikipedia.

 

[Scurvy092]

There are no national knives but certainly knives associated with certain regions. Spyderco has an ethnic series dedicated to many of them.

 

[Franciscomv]

In Argentina we've got several different traditional knife patterns, which are modified European knives in some cases. Here's a link to an article in English by a very knowledgeable Argentine collector and author (he's published five wonderful books, and he's a very nice guy): http://www.vikingsword.com/ethsword/facon/criollo.html

 

[St3ff3n]

I have have a feeling about every norwegian have one of these: http://samekniv.no/english/knife_models/
Or at least one in each family

 

[not2sharp]

...where can you find a list of these if they exist?
Thanks!

I would begin with Stone's Glossary of Arms and Armor:

It is a classic study on arms from around the globe.

n2s

 

[TheBombDiggity]

Balisongs are often associated with the Philippines (Filippines?). Dunno if that counts. Full size bowies are also associated with Texas which was an independent republic at one point.

 

[A.L.]

Some regions in Finland have traditional dresses/clothing where puukko is part of the attire.

 

[R.c.s]

The only ones I can think of that are national knives . are the dirk & sgian dubh of the Scottish highlanders and worn with the kilt .as for knives that are associated with country's .the Fairbairn & Sykes for the UK .the stiletto & switch blade from Italy .the sak speaks for it's self lol .and when I think of the US .I think of the Bowie knife + USMC KA-BAR and buck/119 . I hope this helps with your search .and welcome to BF .

 

[Charlie_K]

The bowie knife is highly associated with America.

 

[Poez]

I'm no expert, but I'd consider the Finnish puukko as one of Finland's national knives.

A sami/leuku knife also belongs in that part of the world.

Picture from wikipedia.

I guess that would be Leuku, not puukko, but a good example anyway!
Of course there are plenty of distinctive ethnic knives: Persian Kard or Karud, Uzbek Pchack or Bichak, Arab Pesh-Kabz, Swedish and Norwegian knives, French Laguiole knives, Ulu, Kris, Navaja: too many to list!

 

[katanas]

As Poez says, there are many. Douk douk- North Africa/(Tiki-Polynesia), opinel-France, Higonokami-Japan, Mercator K55-Germany, Svord peasant-originally Bavaria now New Zealand, Opkapi-South Africa, and many more. And, yes, that is a Leuku.

 

[C_Becker]

Southern Germany - Jagdnicker
Switzerland - Swiss Army knife (who whould've thought )

 

[not2sharp]

India: Katar
Afghanistan: Khyber Knife
Turkey: Yataghan
Russia: Quama knife
Spain: Navaja


n2s

 

[sogflash]

Poez, I didn't make it clear enough in my post, but the picture wasn't supposed to be a puukko, but a sami/leuku.

I should have posted pictures of both.