Roselli Puukko Question

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foxdoublegunner

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Aug 20, 2010
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Fellow members,
I am considering the purchase of a Roselli puukko,either the carpenter or the hunter, for use during long hikes and camping. I have noticed some changes over the years. The hunter looks pretty beefy and a bit better finished than the carpenter but it looks like it may be more knife than necessary for my needs. Does anyone know when they went from rat tail tang to hidden tang design and from the more traditional sheath with moose head insignia to the more current design signed H Roselli on the front? I have even seen one sheath which is of the newer design but with twisted leather thong for a belt hangar. Are the older variants better made than the new ones? The ones I am looking at are all regular high carbon steel.
Thanks,
Foxdoublegunner
 
I have both the Carpenter and Hunter in regular steel and in UHC. I prefer the Carpenter. It is a good, general all around puukko. I've done multi-week, long haul backpacking with my puukko and a Victorinox Deluxe Tinker. Both were all I ever needed. Most all puukko are now made with hidden tangs, but they go about 3/4 of the length of the handle so I wouldn't worry about it (mine has a hidden tang). I'm not a big fan of Roselli sheaths; while functional they style just doesn't do it for me. I purchased a regular puukko sheath online and converter it to a drop swinger, removing the twist tie hanger with no difficulty. Roselli makes good knives.Personally I prefer the regular carbon blades, the UHC blades are a b*tch to sharpen IMHO.
Rich
 
Rich,
Thank you. I tend to like the older models-the sheath design and the idea of the rattail tang appeal to me a bit more but they don't seem to be as even finished as some of the new stock that I have seen. I don't mind "rustic" but "sloppy" does catch my attention even though I intend to use the blade (but not abuse it). I haven't had the chnace to see any Roselli's in th flesh so I am relying on current owner opinions. Have you noticed either an increase or decrease in quality over the years?

Foxdoublegunner
 
I've not really followed trends with Roselli. I got mine about 8 years ago. First got the Carpenter in regular steel, then found a Hunter in UHC on the auction site for peanuts. Found I didn't really like the shape or weight of the Hunter for backpacking. Did get a Carpenter in UHC, but as I said it was a problem to sharpen without diamond hones. I replaced the sheath on my regular Carpenter and used it a lot backpacking. One of my favorite puukko. I did craft several puukko myself using Lauri PT blades which I find just as good IMHO and a lot easier to sharpen with about the same edge holding as the Roselli UHC. Certainly didn't want to have to carry a diamond hone backpacking. Just from following Finnish blades on several boards and dealers, I suspect Roselli has kept his quality up. Do wish he'd change his sheath design to a dangler style.
Rich
 
Rich,
Yes, I share your feeling about the new style sheaths. They don't look particularly well made and i don't like the belt attachment. The older sheaths look to be made of a thicker leather, they are riveted as well as stitched and the design is more traditional to include the manner of attaching to the belt. What throws me off is the uneveness of the grind on the carpenter that I have seen for sale. The hunter version appears to have received a bit more attention in the grind as well as selection of the curly birth handle but I like the style of the carpenter more. They look to be of the same general vintage since they both include the old style sheath and have rattail tangs. The other hunter that I have seen come up for sale had acceptable grind lines and decent handle but the sheath was the newer variety and the previous owner looks to have cut off the integral belt loop and replaced it for a more traditional twisted thong hanger. It ended up selling for a decent price though.

Foxdoublegunner
 
I have both, in the standard Krupp W9 steel. Puukos traditionally do not have a full tang, but the blades are epoxied into place and unlikely to ever work loose. The erapukko (hunting knife) has a stick tang welded onto the blade tang, which extends couple of inches into the handle -- probably a cost saving practice but very secure as the birch handle lends a lot of strength, too. Shouldn't be a problem with either. As you note, the sheathes are cheap -- I used mine as a pattern to make new ones (danglers) out of heavier leather. Kept the plastic inserts as those are great.
 
Frederick89,
Thank you for the tip on the Yp puukko brand. They look real nice while still falling into what I would consider as working blades. Nice attention to detail such as grind lines without getting fancy. I will have to see if the budget will go that high-with shipping they are about 30-40 dollars more than the used Roselli that I have been tracking. Also the Yps are not in stock.

Foxdoublegunner
 
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