Now here they come: Puukkos, the woodworking wonders of the North. From the top: Roselli carpenter, and on the expo, I got myself some lovely Wood Oy Wood Jewel knives, and I must say these knives certainly inspire me. In the picture below you can see both of them and the knife I made recently.
To the right there´s a small whittling knife, and the knife in the middle is a slightly bigger build. Now these babies come at an outright bargain. They are not quite meticulously finished, but made sturdy and well enough for a knife that sees actual use. The tang goes all the way through the handle and is peened over a disc, even on the small knife. The blades are selectively tempered (some 58HRC in the edge and 45HRC in the spine). When I tried to test them on the hair on the back of my head, I accidently got me a haircut, they are just hair-splitting sharp out of the box. The sheaths are fitting very well with use in mind: They will eventually loosen up a bit and be perfect. They offer a plastic liner inset that adds safety against penetration. Plus, they are dead beautiful. I have been craving these since I knew they were existent, some 10 years or so, but did not know where to get them. I can absolutely recommend this combination to anyone who would be satisfied with a natural-looking bushcraft knife and does not necessarily need a full-tang knife, they will do everything and beg for more, and you will be pleased by just looking at them. I am.
But now this is somewhat more of just a plain review. I own several Puukkos and I always wondered why it is that they offer so much atmosphere and function. First and foremostly it might just be that they are just following an ideal shape for a blade. The general layout makes this style of knife very dexterous for woodcarving. The blade is in line with the general working direction of the hand, and yap, the ergonomics are spot-on because there simply were hundreds or even thousands of years of refinement in the layout. Knives from the Finnish Viking age look no different from nowadays´ blades for a reason - because they work. But there is more to it. As with every nation I have so far encountered, the Puukko also had some ethnological and mythological functions... I am planning to do a feature on that soon. Just have to find this bloody manuscript ;-) in my attic again to give some real references...
In the meantime, I should say I will try to make myself a real one, maybe with a Damascus blade or stuff... I´ll keep you posted!
