Short review of a Sampo Puukko

On a recent medieval reenactment fair near my home I had the opportunity to get me a Puukko cheap. It´s distributed by Sampo corporation, and according to Klaus, whom I met on the fair, and who is the owner of the shop, is made by hand in Finland. It costs 77,00 € when purchased regularily. It´s made from beautiful birch burr and reindeer antler. The tang is peened over a brass disc and the reindeer buttcap, which shows the natural surface at the end. The blade is 90x3,5mm, made from some unspecified carbon steel, but it appears to be something with manganese in it. Even as is, it would have been a good enough buy, but the surprise came when I checked the hardness on the edge. I estimate it to have 62 - 63 HRC IN THE EDGE. I emphasize this, because this appeared to me that someone got off his rocker on a production knife and cut short on the heat - treating process, until I realized the blade gave that familiar ringing sound only selectively tempered blades have. I then checked the spine hardness, and it came in at an estimated 49-52 HRC. At this prize, this is frankly insane! Out of the box the knife came wickedly sharp. Without any work by myself, it was hair-splitting sharp, and this after being transported all over Germany and lying in the heat, and the cold, and the rain, and the cold again, being fingered by thousands of customers and such. As is to be expected, it´s a most able whittler and even should stand up to quite an amount of abuse. If you use it for light batoning, it should even handle this, but remember that no rat-tail-tang is made to be pounded with a heavy baton through knotted hardwood  burr constantly. The sheath is made from top - grain leather with a plastic insert that is actually molded into shape, not just some piece stuck into the leather as with those Roselli sheaths. One complaint is that the belt loop could be more caringly put together and drilled together. 

For most any bushcraft and camping tasks, however, this is one knife you can bet your arse on. It´s also a great first knife for beginner viking reenactors, and, last, but in no way least, it´s a beaut.

And best of all, there´s plenty more of them, including Saami sets, Leukus, whittlers and whatnot.

Sampo also sells those wonderful reindeer hides... so pay their site a visit!

Short introduction of an Otter sailor´s knife / London / sheepfoot slipjoint folder

 This is a knife I have owned now for some time, and I realized how much I like it just because it always rides in my pocket, and I actually use it quite often. It is an Otter sheepfoot blade with a slipjoint construction. This knife is dead simple, but it comes with a real spring and a rectangular blade root making for a half-stop for safety. Liners are made from mild steel, as are the bolsters. Cocobolo scales are pinned in place by brass pins. I drilled a lanyard hole through them and fitted a leather lanyard. The blade is C100 still, with a hand-ground very thin convex bevel. It has an even temper aiming towards a higher flexibility and comes at a claimed hardness of 56 HRC. The blade is 75x2 mm with a sheepfoot tip, with a speciality, for the edge line is slightly offset and diagonal to the spine. It is a very effective cutter, whittler and eating knife. You can use the spine to spread butter very effectively making it a great snacking knife also.

 Plus, it is a knife with history and atmosphere, for this blade shape originated as a "Boscher" (a Solingen dialect term for a bos-scher, "woods shearer" or "woods knife", cognate with the Dutch "bos" for woods.) This shape goes back to the medieval ages and was quite a common shape throughout the North of Germany. Many Solingen kitchen and general use knives were forged that way. The "Scherper" of miner´s attire origin often shared characteristics with it, but it was most famed as a mariner´s knife. Legend has it that boatsmen tended to break off the tip of any knife brought on deck of any ship privately, except for knives in this shape, so it became a common mariner´s blade shape. The French folding knife type often called "London" is nearly identical.

By the way, apologies for the lousy pics, I still cannot figure out how to use this camera properly...

The knife is not a masterpiece of craftsmanship, in that the blade is fixed a bit off centre in the handle. The grind, however, otherwise is excellent. It can be made hairpoppingly sharp, so sharp in fact that you can split a hair with it. Talking of which, out of the box the sharpness was nothing to brag about, either. But then, it comes dead cheap. The spring is super stiff and actually gives you a lot of confidence, the blade has a nice geometry, the knife has a rustic, but serviceable finish. It is capable of hard work and begs for more. Buy it;-).

They come in a size even  legal in the UK and Denmark. Get them here.

Study of a historical equestrian folding knife-flea market find

 It has been quite some time since I found this knife on a local flea market. It was lying submerged under a heap of trash, and you can think I was quite enthused I found it. Not exactly to use it, although I would love to, but because it is a historical piece, dating back at least to the early 1900´s. The combination of tools hints to a use as an equestrian or even post wagoners or wagoners use. The knife has beautifully aged stag antler scales, presumeably Sambar stag on nickel silver liners with a very delicate filework. It´s a slipjoint. It incorporates a hoof scraper, a corkscrew, a leather punch / awl, a saw, a main blade, a champagne hook, an oyster or walnut opener, and awl / drill, a wood chisel / scraper, and apparently a toothpick / pincer, which is missing. All blades are made from carbon steel. A manufacturing stamp is not intelligible, and the main blade obviously had been replaced by a former lockback blade, and the pivot is made from an old nail.

 The wood drill, apparantly it has seen a bit of reworking.

 The leather punch and the pivot of the hoof scraper, plus a detail of the beautifully wrought liners.

 The corkscrew apparently was hand-filed.

 A detail of the champagne hook and the oyster / walnut opener blade and the space for pincers and toothpick.

 The hoof scraper.

 Wood chisel, main blade and saw. Note the makeshift pivot and the beautiful filework on the bolsters.

 The backside and the springs.

 More detail.

This knife is a good example of a knife that was an essential and often used tool in everyday life. It illustrates a period of time not even so long ago, when a knife was a must-have for all the little tasks everyday life had to offer, from preparing food to whittling, leather tooling and whatnot. In those times it was mandatory for any gentleman to carry a knife. Self-understanding of any man (and woman, too, at that) indicated that one had to cope with what challenge life had to offer by themselves. I speculate that this has changed. The banning and deification of knives in general might have something to do with a change of attitude. If nowadays a wheel on the wagon broke, one would stand by the roadside and claim legal compensation from the manufacturer and cry so long until someone would help.;-) In those times one had to help oneself, and the more versatile and practical the tools were, the better. And even those tools were repaired with what was at hand. This knife tells the story. It had certainly not been repaired by the manufacturer, something you certainly would not see in modern times. It had been lovingly repaired and used to near extinction, by an individual who did not care for others patronizing him- or herself, but tried to put up to the challenge, in this case the breakdown of a beloved tool. Being able to do that, knowing some tricks to keep it going makes your life independant. And, it might be obvious, but this individual may have done many things, but one thing he / she certainly did not: Buy a new tool.

Dumb and unskilled and fearful people make better consumers, and consuming and throwing away are the main pillars on which our economy rests. It all comes down to the old question of being and having. This knife to me is a lesson, and I am right grateful for that.