• The Wait Is Over. From this thread, orders for the 2023 BladeForums Traditional Knife are open & here's your handy order button.
    OPEN TO ALL MEMBERS WITH GOLD OR HIGHER PAID SUBSCRIPTIONS OR have 25+ posts in the Traditional Forum Preorder price is $160 shipped CONUS, price increase on 9/25 11:59PM when ordering opens to anyone on the forums
    User Name

Sissipuukko M.95 midterm update

G

Griffon

Joined
Mar 25, 1999
Messages
514
This knife has held up well during actual use the last six months. It's held the edge well, re-sharpened easily and in spite of not being stainless it doesn't rust very easily. I haven't actually used it in water nor near salt water, but it rains a lot here, so it's wet in the woods. I haven't treated it in any special way except drying it after coming home and storing it dry and warm and it shows no signs of rust.

<IMG ALIGN=RIGHT SRC="http://www.canit.se/%7Egriffon/knives/m95/spm95_point.jpg">The only weak point on it is the blade coating, which has worn away a little in some places, showing the ribbed undersurface. Along most of the edge, the wear is negligable. (Perhaps because there I've just used it for "normal" cutting?)

My <A HREF="http://www.canit.se/%7Egriffon/knives/m95/sissipuukko_m95.html">initial impressions, and more photos</A>.

------------------
Urban Fredriksson
www.canit.se/%7Egriffon/

"Smooth and serrated blades cut in two entirely different fashions."
- The Teeth of the Tyrannosaurs, Scientific American, Sep 1999


 
Thanks! I wish more people would do longer-term updates on their initial reviews. I should start doing that myself.

 
I'm glad this topic was here, I don't have to start yet another one...

Did you guys see the Tactical Knives review of this knife? I happen to have bought one some months back as I like the shape. Other knives like it have worked well for me as camp knives in the past in situations where I don't do a lot of chopping (or have a chopping instrument or saw), and do a lot of food preparation.

My personal impression is that I like the knife's balance and handling characteristics. It is also very sharp. The Tac. K. article also makes a good point about its sheath lock being really silent! On the whole I like it as it is a much better cutting instrument with a narrow blade than is (say) the Cold Steel SRK which I've also tried as a narrow blade camp knife, but which just doesn't cut very well.

But three things really bother me about the M.95...

1. No Lanyard hole! No camp/survival knife should be with out a lanyard hole!

2. No steel butt for pounding. A camp/survial knife should be able to pound with its pommel. The article says the tang comes within 1/8 inch of the end of the handle. It would not have changed the balance much to have brought it out another 3/8 to make a small 1/4 piece that could be used to pound stuff. You could also put a lanyard hole in it!

3. The price (mine was $140 or so) is ridiculous for this knife especially without the lanyard hole and steel butt piece. This would be a good knife at $60 or even $75, but not more than that (IMHO of course).
 
Here in Finland "Sissipuukko" costs about $60. But it is the same with US-made knives here, their prices are at least doubled when sold here compared to the prices in the USA. All those customs taxes etc., plus more distribution channel members who need to get paid for their work.

If you want to buy one cheaper you can of course mail order from the country of origin.

Ossi
 
Matthew, I don't own the Sissipuukko, but from my friends puukko I remeber that it has a marked spot on the handle where you can drill the lanyard hole if you want to. (Right Tommi? Maybe Griffon knows about this too?) About pounding with it, what would you generally pound with it? Have you tried it for that? I mean if you need to pound nails then it's not good (get a hammer
wink.gif
), but if you are crushing bones or something cool (?) like that, then give it a try. I don't know if it's going to work.
Ossi already told you about the price... for once it's this way around
smile.gif


Hugo.
 
Yes, there's a spot where you can drill the hole if you want it. I got the impression it's done that way as many customers don't want the hole anyway.

------------------
Urban Fredriksson
www.canit.se/%7Egriffon/

"Smooth and serrated blades cut in two entirely different fashions."
- The Teeth of the Tyrannosaurs, Scientific American, Sep 1999


 
Sorry that you do not like sissipuukko. I think that it is one of my best puukkos/knives. Having handled for instance Fällkniven A1 before buying m-95 I think that this is about the same quality in general but m-95 has alot better handle ergonomics and sheat. M-95 is not of fancy material like A1 (VG-10) but hand forged carbonsteel blade works as fine as VG-10. Of course carbon steel as material is cheaper.

There is that cut-out that marks the spot where the hole in tang is. You have to drill the hole if you want it.

Some information about puukko:
There are not any genuine Finnish puukkos around with laynardhole. Finnish people (main market for this puukko) do not think that laynardhole is part of puukko (me included) and therefore the hole is only marked.

About the prices of this puukko: I must repeat Ossis words. m-95 can be bought here with 370 - 430 FIM, thats about 70$. But when I want for instance a Benchmade axis the price is +250$. (Fällkniven that I mentioned costs 995 FIM (170$)).

We all would be happier if the world trade was customs free.

 
Thanks for all the responses. Yes, I understand about the price. Yes I too wish that all world trade were free, but achieving that will take a world government, and most of the knife lovers I know are opposed to that (there is this automatic assumption that it must be evil), but that is another story...

Since I don't have any X-ray equipment, I can't tell if that incomplete hole in the handle (the one that can be drilled to make a lanyard hole) actually goes through the tang or goes through nothing but rubber. From its position below center and near the end of the handle I can't tell. If there is a tang hole there than I will drill it, and that would make an acceptable (for field use) if not very aesthetic (for collecting) lanyard hole.

Now why wouldn't anyone not want a lanyard hole in a survival knife?

As for pounding, nails are sometimes the objective, though that is more common around my small property where I could have a hammer, but just don't happen to have brought one outside with me when I see the nail. I have used an exposed steel tang to crush or split rocks to make sling ammunition, or hydroscopic powders (if I have the right rock) for drying. They are also useful for cracking nuts when the knife itself isn't heavy enough to do this with the flat of the blade.
 
I bought mine directly from the maker and he was very clear that you won't have to drill through metal if you drill out the hole. (I saw an unfinished knife, but I didn't think to take a photo of it...)

He is very well aware of the benefits of a lanyard and even demonstrated (without an actual lanyard) how it's useful, for example, to let have a secure grip on the knife with only two fingers and the thumb in order to get better chopping performance.

------------------
Urban Fredriksson
www.canit.se/%7Egriffon/

"Smooth and serrated blades cut in two entirely different fashions."
- The Teeth of the Tyrannosaurs, Scientific American, Sep 1999


 
Hello... There is another good reason. A properly rigged lanyard (short, the hand slipped into it with the loop between the thumb and rest of the hand) will stop your hand from sliding up onto the blade if you come to a sudden stop while thrusting with slipery hands. This is especially important when the knife has no guard. The finger cutout on the M.95 is not adequate to stop a sliding hand by any means, and having no ricasso (a feature in many ways) makes this problem even more acute!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top