Skookum Bush Tool

Congratulations! Glad it finally came in, and glad you're happy with it. The Skookum's not for me, but there's certain rules that I try to follow: I don't criticise another mans hunting dog, or how he chooses to spend his money.
 
If you ever need to stab anything with your Puukko styled knives, you're risking some nasty cuts on your hand...
 
Smiling said:
If you ever need to stab anything with your Puukko styled knives, you're risking some nasty cuts on your hand...
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Not if you do it right.

If you absolutely NEED to stab something while you're holding the knife in a 'hammer' grip, fold your pinky behind the handle/butt.

If you can use an 'ice pick' grip, fold your thumb over the butt.

However the best method, place the point on the thing you need to stab, hold the knife in one hand to steady it, and use the palm/heel of your hand to push on the butt.

I mean, puukos, seaxs, and various other guardless knives have been used for thousands of years, if it was so bad people would have stopped using them long ago.
 
NapalmCheese said:
Not if you do it right.

If you absolutely NEED to stab something while you're holding the knife in a 'hammer' grip, fold your pinky behind the handle/butt.

If you can use an 'ice pick' grip, fold your thumb over the butt.

However the best method, place the point on the thing you need to stab, hold the knife in one hand to steady it, and use the palm/heel of your hand to push on the butt.

I mean, puukos, seaxs, and various other guardless knives have been used for thousands of years, if it was so bad people would have stopped using them long ago.
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I'm aware that it isn't that bad.

But still, the first method could break your finger if you hit something hard, second method is more secure, but if your finger slips...

I guess that everything has it's purpose, and knives without guard just aren't intended for stabbing...
 
Smiling said:
I'm aware that it isn't that bad.

But still, the first method could break your finger if you hit something hard, second method is more secure, but if your finger slips...

I guess that everything has it's purpose, and knives without guard just aren't intended for stabbing...
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This knife was designed for wilderness living, not combat. Can you stab with it sure, is it a great idea, not so much. Kinda like using a Rambo knife to make trigger traps, it will work, but not so good.

As you said, every knife has its purpose.
 
Smiling said:
I'm aware that it isn't that bad.

But still, the first method could break your finger if you hit something hard, second method is more secure, but if your finger slips...

I guess that everything has it's purpose, and knives without guard just aren't intended for stabbing...
Click to expand...

I don't trust myself to use a knife with no guard or groove at all to offer some resistance to my hand if I push forward a bit too hard while poking, prying or crafting something, and among the few handles I made or adapted, filing and sanding a nice finger groove to fit my hand has always been about the first thing I did. There are a lot of uses for a knife that involve pushing forward, apart from combat. The latter probably comes last on my list. ;-)
 
schwep said:
I don't trust myself to use a knife with no guard or groove at all to offer some resistance to my hand if I push forward a bit too hard while poking, prying or crafting something, and among the few handles I made or adapted, filing and sanding a nice finger groove to fit my hand has always been about the first thing I did. There are a lot of uses for a knife that involve pushing forward, apart from combat. The latter probably comes last on my list. ;-)
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Well, to me no guard is a dealbreaker when it comes to buying a knife.

When I was looking for fixed blade EDC option I was offered loads of Scandi knives like Puukko on any website I was looking at, because I'd put blade lenght as filter (70-120mm).
And first thing coming to my mind would always be: "This has no guard? Why's there so many knives with no guard???"
Second thing would be: "What's up with the handle design? It's so round and impossible to conceal..."

Don't get me wrong, these knives are beautiful, and have their own purpose, but they're just not right choice for me...
 
If it's a wooden handle and you feel it is too round, you could sand it to a thinner shape, I suppose.
Finding a fixed blade that is easy to conceal does not seem easy. The only one I have in my small collection is a Terävä mini puukko bare tang. That one is of course very flat, and the flat leather sheath you can buy along with it is clearly designed to put on a length of cord and carry it around the neck. It also slides into many pockets unnoticeable. I like it a lot and use it every day to cut my bread and cheese with (I could do that perfectly well with my Laguiole, but some French bread and cheese is so sturdy that a fixed blade actually comes in handy compared to a slipjoint). Most owners put on their home-made handles scales, but no handle or wrapping means it is extremely easy to clean, and if you need to do some emergency splitting you can hit the tang as well as the blade spine. Also comes in the mini skrama variety (with a sheep's foot profile, more like a utility cutter). The grind is not a modern scandi 'down to zero', it is a high sabre with a secondary bevel, steepening towards the tip for strength. The way puukkos are supposed to be. 80CrV2 steel, 3 mm thick, very tough.
41856325495_8959285837_z.jpg
 
schwep said:
If it's a wooden handle and you feel it is too round, you could sand it to a thinner shape, I suppose.
Finding a fixed blade that is easy to conceal does not seem easy. The only one I have in my small collection is a Terävä mini puukko bare tang. That one is of course very flat, and the flat leather sheath you can buy along with it is clearly designed to put on a length of cord and carry it around the neck. It also slides into many pockets unnoticeable. I like it a lot and use it every day to cut my bread and cheese with (I could do that perfectly well with my Laguiole, but some French bread and cheese is so sturdy that a fixed blade actually comes in handy compared to a slipjoint). Most owners put on their home-made handles scales, but no handle or wrapping means it is extremely easy to clean, and if you need to do some emergency splitting you can hit the tang as well as the blade spine. Also comes in the mini skrama variety (with a sheep's foot profile, more like a utility cutter). The grind is not a modern scandi 'down to zero', it is a high sabre with a secondary bevel, steepening towards the tip for strength. The way puukkos are supposed to be. 80CrV2 steel, 3 mm thick, very tough.
41856325495_8959285837_z.jpg
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Well, this is a good option. But I already bought EDC knife and I'm happy with it.

I went with Cold Steel Drop Forged Hunter in 52100 high carbon.
Entire knife is forged out of single chunk of steel, blade is 5mm thick and extremley tough. Handle is thicker than the blade, but still very thin. It's just right size not to be uncomfortable and to offer a good grip, yet not to be too wide.
And yes, there is a guard, so my fingers are safe.

Also, as beautiful as puukko knives are, I just couldn't force myself to sand their handle.
Puukko knives are what they are I guess. Good to cut strings, food or branches in the wild and good for carving.

Would I want one for EDC?
- No.
Would I want one as survival knife?
- No.
Would I want one for combat if I ever wanted/needed a combat knife?
- Definitley no.
 
Seems like an ideal survival / bush craft knife - it's a tool that was well thought out - looks like every part has a function & no waste
That's why we need more than one knife

use it for EDC - Not really
self defense - not really
Wilderness Application - Absolutely
 
As for the lack of guard, it is of no concern to me.
Unless I was to hand it over to one of my kids.

I have never considered a guard as essential to a knife. More often than not, the guard is in the way of cutting tasks.

As for self defence; that is the last application I consider, when buying a knife.
 
Smiling said:
Well, this is a good option. But I already bought EDC knife and I'm happy with it.

I went with Cold Steel Drop Forged Hunter in 52100 high carbon.
Entire knife is forged out of single chunk of steel, blade is 5mm thick and extremley tough. Handle is thicker than the blade, but still very thin. It's just right size not to be uncomfortable and to offer a good grip, yet not to be too wide.
And yes, there is a guard, so my fingers are safe.

Also, as beautiful as puukko knives are, I just couldn't force myself to sand their handle.
Puukko knives are what they are I guess. Good to cut strings, food or branches in the wild and good for carving.

Would I want one for EDC?
- No.
Would I want one as survival knife?
- No.
Would I want one for combat if I ever wanted/needed a combat knife?
- Definitley no.
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I have read that puukkos cut a lot of Russian throats during the Winter War.
 
Well true, those are good bushcraft knives.

But for EDC it's a "no", and even bigger "NO" for self defense.

For survival tho... it's OK as long as you have another bigger blade with you. Since you might need to defend yourself in survival situation too...

So it's a good bushcraft knife.
 
Smiling said:
Well true, those are good bushcraft knives.

But for EDC it's a "no", and even bigger "NO" for self defense.

For survival tho... it's OK as long as you have another bigger blade with you. Since you might need to defend yourself in survival situation too...

So it's a good bushcraft knife.
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We get it. It's not a combat knife. Not every knife is designed to be. So move on to another thread.
 
Congrats on your SBT. I was always bummed that I didn't get one of them, when I could've, way back in the very beginning.

Tangental question.... Who makes the vest that Mors is wearing in the video? I want one!
 
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