New Fokos

T

Terry Guinn

Joined
Oct 9, 2002
Messages
202
I have always wanted to make some fokos after reading about them in a Knives Annual several years ago. I finally gathered up materials and took the time to make a few.
They are really neat, much handier than a walking stick...:)
A-2 steel with heat treat oxidide finish.
shaft is canvas phonolic (micata) 36" long, 1" diameter. Very stong, with very little flex.
Thanks for looking!

fokos%201.JPG


fokos%202.JPG


fokos%203.JPG


fokos%205.JPG
 
Badass looking hawks!

Love that hammer poled one.
 
Thanks for all the nice complements :)




Bushman5 said:
whoa very cool!

where did you find micarta like that?
Click to expand...

I found several sources on Google...........all expensive
I decided on US plastic.....then at checkout I found $50 shipping for 5 rods...
But what the heck...I wanted to make some Fokos....:D
 
This is the old thread, but these blades are just fantastic! I wonder if they could still be made?
 
Nice looking walking cane axes.

Historically the fokos had more slender head, and the ones with spikes had usually more blunted points and were not sharpened on the lower side.

The spike or hammer part opposite of the axe/hatchet blade, called the ‘fok’ (hence the name ‘fokos) was designed to penetrate armor and the long handle allowed for relatively light heads.
It was originally a weapon used by light cavalry and not a walking stick. It was a fast weapon used to strike and hook and was extensively used by the 9th and 10th century Magyars, as well as later in the 13th century by the Cumans who fled the Mongols and settled in Hungary.

By the 18th century it became a weapon used by both the Hungarian cavalry and foot soldiers of the ‘kuruc’ fighters, the Hungarian insurgents fighting against the Austrian Hapsburg occupation.
It became the weapon of choice of the 18th-19th century peregrine students, outlaws and rural wardens. By the mid 19th century the head was frequently made of cast brass rather than steel.

In the 18th-19th century the slip-fitted (“tomahawk style”) head was designed to be slipped on and off easily, thus allowing it to be concealed quickly, leaving the owner with an inconspicuous looking walking stick only. Thus the only sharpened edge was that of the narrow hatchet blade.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top