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Whatchcallit Finnish Walking Stick

J

John Andrews

Joined
Jan 24, 2003
Messages
2,767
I hope one of you guys can answer this.In Finland and nearby countries folks walked and used a walking stick that had a small tomahawk-like head on it.The travelers used them for mundane chores and on occasions for warding off critters.I lost the info on this item after I drew out some patterns and got the steel ready to start working.Got the pattern, just don't know the name of the item.Thanks for any info!
 
I know the answer to this (I think) only because I saw a sweet pair of 'em at www.szaboinc.com yesterday. On there, they're called the "Fighting Fokosh". In the menu on the left of that site, click "Edged" and scroll down until you find them (try to not drool too much looking at all the other awesome stuff on there). :) Hope this helps.
 
Szabo's site is down, but IIRC, the Fighting Fokosh is like a tomohawk on one end and some kind of knife on the other end so they can be gripped either way. If this is what they are, then I don't think they are what J Andrews is looking for since they are way too short to be a walking stick. Like I said though, the site was down, so I don't know if I'm describing the fighting fokosh.

Mike
 
The ones shown on that site (which is loading fine for me, anyway) are a straight staff with a tomahawk-esque head. No knife at the bottom. They are a little short to be used as walking sticks (and they come in pairs, from that site). But they're certainly close to what he described.

I guess a longer one would just be a Large Fighting Fokosh :D
 
Originally posted by KnifeySpoony
straight staff with a tomahawk-esque head. No knife at the bottom.
Click to expand...

These are the ones I was trying to describe, but my memory was off about the knife at the bottom. I just remembered that you could use them as a stick with the knife looking hatchet part at the bottom, or you could grip the other end and have the blade at the far end. I still thought they were too small for what was originally described, and couldn't be used as a walking stick.

Mike
 
Thanks,guys! I knew some of you would know,and I really appreciate the responses.We do a lot of mushroom hunting here in SE Iowa, so these sticks should be real handy.I'm gonna make a couple and see how the work.It's kinda off the beaten path for a knifemaker, but I've made some other weird stuff before.
 
Why do you need a hatchet to flip over a cow patty??:confused: Oh.... you mean you aren't hunting those kind of shrooms?:D
 
I suppose I COULD, Medic,but I would save those 'roons for my mother-in-law."Here,Rosie!Have some mushrooms I got especially for you. They are kinda flat and brown,hadda use my fokos to get them!"
 
Could you be asking about an alpenstock (alpenstokk)? This is more or less a sturdy walking stick/staff with an iron shod tip and a small ice axe+hatchet head (sort of like a wee mini-pulaski). I believe they were sort of the precursor to the modern ice axe, which is quite a bit smaller.

However, the ones I am familiar with are German/Swiss, not Finnish.

Clinton
 
Yep,I think you are right,too.The other end of the hatchet end was sometimes a pick,but not real sharp,for hiking safety sake.I have the steel ready to work,but can't get into the shop yet because of an injury.Thanks very much for all the replies,guys!Hey-I just found good info on these in my KNIVES 2002 book that got misplaced.Really great article by Joe Szilaski.
 
Hi John,

If you are going to make some of the "fokos" like the ones in Knives 2002, please let us know. I believe some of us may be interested in getting it.

Best Regards,
Ted
 
Dragon, YEP, same one, and I will give you a holler when I get them done. I'm going to make 2 to see how it goes. I copied one of them pretty much right off page 40. I havn't decided yet what I am going to use for the stick yet. Do you have any suggestions?
 
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