So I am in a really fascinating process of recreating the Trollstein knife, a knife that had been found in the glacier melt near Trollsteinen in Norway in March 2023 by Secrets Of The Ice archaeology.
Now people who know me know that while I have a strong fascination with all things historical and archaeological, I also want to know how those things worked and whether or not they would still work. I believe in check, check and doublecheck whether a technological Innovation really benefits our everyday- or not. We have been sold a lot of BS (and that is getting worse), nuff said.
What we have here is a real knife used for a kind of bushcraft we cannot even imagine. For while, to be quite honest, for most people including myself, it might be a leisure activity or maybe even a lifestyle, they most certainly not even called it any special name at all then, because it was simply life reality in those days.
In our time we have very specific things we want from a knife. And while it is a good thing we are able just to walk inside a shop and buy the latest tool with a steel of precise specifications, we tend to dismiss anything that the industry doesn't hype.
The original (see my previous post) is roundabout 1400-1600 years old. You can bet that it saw some pretty hard use before the owner lost the tool, and it suffered a huge load and immense force and pressure from the ice drift. The tang and handle are bent. That's the damage it suffered. And it is pretty much good to go. Put an edge on it, and it will cut again.
We like to put knives to extreme tests and even destruction. That is pretty okay and understandeable.
The test this knife has been through is the most extreme I could think of and it is neigh on impossible to duplicate it. Not that it would make any sense at all, but it is a fact.
Thing is, if I posted the knife in a lot of bushcraft groups, I can imagine the kind of arguments that would arise instantly. You know, "but batoning " and "survival " and "tactical settings". Hard use, you know. Not that sissy reindeer hunting, woodcarving, building traps, butchering and processing firewood and what have you. The knife doesn't even have a full tang, mind you!
Fact is, I have built these two first knives to see what they are capable of. Or better yet, what I can do with these knives. They are not as close as I would like them to be, but about as close as I can get without handling and measuring the original. The first one is made from file steel and quite close to the original as far as the blade is concerned and the general shape and layout of the handle are concerned. On the second I stuck more to the shape of blade and handle cross section, but added bronze bolster and peening disc and a bit of a finger notch. That blade is made from 80CrV2 with a selective temper, an awesome steel that I am just coming to terms with. Balance point on both knives is on the index finger.
Using the knives I can safely say that I cannot say much, and in the best of ways. Everything simply falls into place. And this is not due to a special achievement on my part. The design simply does everything. It is awesome for food prepping, cutting meat and Slöjd. No, it is not the next hyped survival knife. But if you know what you are doing, it really COULD be a one-tool-option.
It almost certainly was for the hunter who lost it in presumeably the 6th century. That is humbling.
