Suomalainen PUUKKO (The Finnish Sheath Knife) – Risto Hakomäki

 

Throughout history, the Puukko sheath knife has been the most important personal tool of the Finns, who wore it on their belts wherever they went. It was part of daily chores and festivities, war and peace, and work and leisure, ever since childhood.

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The Puukko is a short single bladed weapon and all-purpose tool carried in a sheath and particularly suited to carving wood.

 

The handle is roughly 10 cm long, and the blade is usually shorter than the handle. The Puukko was previously called vetsi (knife) in Finnish, as it is generally translated into other languages. The word Puukko originally meant “a knife with a wooden handle.”

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Lithic tools resembling the Puukko knife were already made in the Stone Age, being used for partly the same purpose as later. Medieval Puukko's and their sheaths in particular have been discovered in the excavations of medieval towns and other sites, such as castles. These artifacts resembled the later folk Puukko's in many respects. During the 18th and 19th centuries, regional traditions emerged in the making Puukko blades, handles and sheaths. Clasp knives also began to be made at the time in Finland.

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In the early 19th century, the industrial manufacture of Puukko knives began in Finland, first at the Fiskars ironworks under the direction of skilled knifesmiths from England and later in other parts of Finland. After the middle of the 19th century, the province of Ostrobothnia and in particular its southern part became a centre for making Puukko's.

 

At present there are some five factories in Finland, the largest ones being firms of Iisakki Järvenpää (founded 1879) and J. Marttiini of Rovaniemi (established 1928). The low-cost products of the Mora factories, Sweden’s leading knife manufacturers, are the most popular imported puukko's. There are also approximately forty Puukko- makers operating on a small scale, most of whom work on a purely handcraft basis.

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As an all-purpose tool, the Puukko has had countless uses. In addition to making wooden scoops and spoons, vessels, chip baskets, birch bark artifacts, containers and other utility items, the puukko has been used for eating and preparing food. It is among the standard equipment of hunters, fishers and Finnish soldiers. In the early 1900s it was, alongside the spoon, the most important personal item of cutlery. When needed, it was taken from its sheath or from the wall. For many years, knives and forks were rare among the common people and were used only at major celebrations. The housewife’s Puukko, worn on a belt and used for a variety of household chores was a kitchen knife made completely of iron that was small, slender and handy in use. The Sámi puukko, or Leuku, is still as important everyday all-purpose tool.

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The Puukko has been an important element of ancient costume, folk dress and later national costumes. It is a common and valued gift in Finland, while also a design product and an art object. Wearing a Puukko of certain type is a means of reinforcing identity and expressing membership in a group such as the Boys Scouts, or the Civil Guards of the pre- war years.

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The Puukko has been and still is a dangerous weapon. Approximately one third of all  homicides in Finland are carried out with a Puukko, and three out of four attempted homicides. Carrying a Puukko outside work was first banned in 1850, and its possession in  public places was finally outlawed in 1977.

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The Puukko is a very simple knife model where the blade is usually shorter than the handle and does not have any ricasso etc. Also the traditional cross-cut of the blade is rhomboid, and straight long edge without a micro- bevel. The Puukko's handle is very simple, it does not have any guards, or other stuff like finger holes etc. The Puukko is all around knife, and it is not designed to any specific job.

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Remember, there is not a “Scandi Puukko”, Finland is not a part of Scandinavia, its part of the Nordic countries and the Puukko was designed and originated in Finland.

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The shorter blade helps the user orientate the edge and provides enhanced control.

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A Puukko is the traditional belt knife of Finnish people. In its classic form, it features a relatively short, single- edged blade with a curved cutting edge and a straight spine. The handles are typically made of wood and feature concealed- tang construction and a teardrop-shaped cross section that helps the user orient the edge and provides enhanced control. It does not matter how the blade is made, or materials. Its shape and, if it has anything added, like guards, or ricasso, it’s not Puukko anymore.

 

Blade is shorter than handle, straight edge with 17-19°, rhomboid cross cut, or a flat grind to Zero bevel.

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Note that the Puukko is traditionally carried on the opposite side to the dominant hand, so that the dominant hand can handle the Puukko,

while the weaker hand can hold the sheath. The Sheath is worn with the point at the bottom of the sheath, facing backwards. If the point faces

forward, the Finns call it an "erection"

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