Knife suggestion and a pukko (puuko?) vendor

[Netpackrat]

I keep a small hatchet and folding saw in my daypack for stuff the knife can't handle. For hunting, I like a nice medium fixed blade like the Cold Steel Master Hunter or Russell Green River "Camp" knife, but that's mostly to keep the nooks and crannies of a folder from getting nasty when dressing an animal. Otherwise there is no reason why the 110 can't be used to clean a deer, etc, and plenty have including mine.

Don't get me wrong, as a tool freak I like a big honking blades as much as the next guy, but just because they're cool doesn't mean that you need one, or even that it's a practical tool.

[SeekHer]

Try Ragnar's Ragweed Forge for all your Scandi needs.

I like and collect puukko knives from Helle, Kellam, Marttiini, Roselli, Kauhavan, Brusletto and a few others.

Fallkniven has a couple of new ones out that I've yet to handle but really want to.

Entrek USA also has a lovely Woodsmen on a Scandi grind.

Erik, Mora in the higher price category of $45 to $60 are nice knives for outdoor use the ones for $10 are designed for woodworking and woodcarving not outdoor skills...I have a copy of the Swedish Army Knife that Mora produced and it's not bad but I'll still take a Helle or Kellam over it for $10 to $25 more.

The Cold Steel Roach Belly is a piece of Chi-Comm crap.

[Erik]

Erik, Mora in the higher price category of $45 to $60 are nice knives for outdoor use the ones for $10 are designed for woodworking and woodcarving not outdoor skills...I have a copy of the Swedish Army Knife that Mora produced and it's not bad but I'll still take a Helle or Kellam over it for $10 to $25 more.

I have to disagree. The "classic Mora" with the red birch handle is $10 on Ragnars site, and that's the classic knife for outdoors use in Scandinavia. It's been used as outdoors and general purpose knife in Scandinavia for decades, and it's the knife they issued to all swedish soldiers when doing their service. Some people carry a second knife specifically for fielddressing game, but that's generally because they like a dedicated knife for that purpose.
The #40 ($29) is popularly called the "scout knife", it's usually used by kids because it's considered safer with the finger guard.

The knives they sell specifically for woodworking look basically the same, but have shorter blades, 2-2.5 inches or so.

I'm not sure what the "Swedish army knife" is. The "classic Mora" is the one that was issued last I heard, but since those were really old it's possible they switched to a more modern version.

You might prefer another knife and consider it better suitable for your conditions, but given all the people over the years that have relied on a "classic Mora" as their only outdoors knife, and even depended on it to keep them alive, I really cant agree that it's not suited for outdoor use.

[SeekHer]

This is the knife I was thinking about:

It’s called the Sissipuukko M95 but it’s the Finnish Army knife.

This was the knife I was referring to: the Mora M40 Pilot’s Survival knife that was replaced by the Fallkniven S1 in 1985 or so.

Fallkniven has their F1 and S1 entrenched in the Swedish military system.

This was Mora’s entry in the last knife tests and what I meant by higher priced knives:


I don't know if they have different models for Europe and North America as I've never cared for their line except for the carving set I had of theirs...They, the longer 3" to 4" blades with the Red handles were flimsy, dulled quickly--yes they sharpened quickly and had terrible ergonomics...I've never skinned an animal with one, they'd probably work fine but I/we have used them in the kitchen to slice vegetables and they would probably work as a camp knife but I just don't trust the Red knives with their thin blades, poor handles and fast dulling steel.

Lots of guys on the survival boards say, "Why buy one $100 knife when you can buy eight Moras to carry with you in case you lose or break one?" I've never lost a knife, even when going down rapids without a canoe, and I've never broken one since I don't use them for non-intended purposes.

If you want a brute of a knife, that can do some prying then look into the Becker BK2 Campanion or the Ontario Quartermaster's Knife.

I, also, completely forgot about Grohmann Knives…Great Canadian maker with lovely, inexpensive knives that Cold Steel, Bark River and various other makers have copied…I wore a Model 2 Bird & Trout for an everyday carry knife under my suit jacket when I wad working in an office or on the road selling for over twenty years…The Model 1 has been housed at the New York Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) since it was designed in the 1950s

[Erik]

I've heard that Fallkniven has a lot of knifes sold to the Swedish Army, but that's exclusively to pilots and elite forces. I imagine that any soldier doing UN service somewhere also gets them, but as far as I know the regular conscripts still gets an ordinary Mora. The reason is the cost of course, if you have lots of conscripts you'd rather give each a $10 knife than one for $200. If they want something else, they have to buy it themselves.

I do agree with the bad ergonomics, I've never been very comfortable using the classic Mora, and would prefer a handle that was more ergonomic. Unfortunately most of those knifes have plastic handles and stainless blades, and I'm not very fond of either.
A lot of handymen, carpenters, painters, electricians, etc carry it as an all purpose knife, and those knifes take a lot of abuse. It's used as a prybar, to open lids, split wood, etc. "Flimsy" is not a word I personally would use to describe it, but I do agree that the blade is smaller and more slender than a lot of other knives, and that doesn't suit everyone. (It's another reason hunters generally carry a second knife, the narrow blade makes it harder than it has to be to field dress and skin game. Not impossible, but harder.)

The green knife seems to take over more and more around here as the new favorite outdoors knife these days, I see it for sale everywhere. I've carried it, but I never really liked it. The stainless blade is really hard to sharpen once it's dulled, and the blade is often too big and wide for me. I use knives for fishing a lot and a smaller blade suits me better personally. But that's personal preference, I wouldn't be uncomfortable having it as my only knife on a camping trip.

[Termite]

P.S. Who is EDT? Elder Daughter the Third?

Eldest daughter termite.

[SeekHer]

Erik -- you should get yourself a classic Rapala filleting knife..I've probably got 30 with the tip broken off (due to our error not the knife's) in the kitchen drawer that we use for paring knives...Great, inexpensive, with good grips, especially the plastic handled ones that do their job very well...Stiff enough to break ribs from the spine yet supple enough for you to slice under those ribs to give you a lovely fillet.

At the lodge, we use 10" and 12" ham slicers for filleting and have a dozen or so in the fish (Cleaning) house--one dulls, you set it aside and just grab another...After you've cleaned all the fish you stick the dulled one in the bucket and once we get six or seven in there we sharpen the lot of them at once.

Lots of companies make filleting knives--CRKT, Buck, Gerber, Cold Steel etc...Mora makes one with a Sandvik SS blade and roughened Polypropeen handle that's almost identical to the Rapala.

The Mora Bushcraft line has a 104mm Triflex steel blade model that is a laminate and not stainless that has gotten good reviews...Their Companion and Neverlost editions sell here quite well and seem to be a lot better then the "Reds"!

I thought that the Swedish Army, for regular conscripts, didn't supply knives (I don't mean bayonets) just like most other armies do...I was led to believe by some Swedish neighbours that they had to buy them themselves in the PX...These are older gentlemen and maybe when they were drafted it was so...Yes, Fallkniven has taken over the military knives since the mid 1980s and they are IMO a far stronger--just compare the spines--knife with far superior materials and ergonomics but with a higher cost as well.

I made this up for another forum:
Some other commercial Scandi/Puukko makers:

Scandi Commercial Makers and Dealers
Finland
H. Roselli Oy
Iisakki Järvenpää Oy
Kauhavan Puukkopaja = Matti Koski
Kellam
Lapin Puukko
Marttiini
Passo Puukot
Puukkojunkkari
Puukkopaja Liukko
Rapala
WoodsKnife

Norway
Bruseletto
Helle
Knivsmed Strømeng

Sweden
EKA
Fallkniven
Ice Bear
Karesuando Kniven
Mora of Sweden
Kivikangas Oy

Scandi Dealers
Ragnar’s Ragweed Forge
Cloudberry Market
DEN - Hanghøi Knive
DEN - The good stuff shop
FIN - Puukkosivut
FIN - Lauri-tuotteet = Veikko Hakkarainen
NDL - Knife Heaven
SWE - Art and Knives from Maihkel Eklund
SWE - Knivkompaniet – Great guys, have been in their store many times
SWE - Stockholms Knivförening

Scandi Dealers – Kits & Supplies
FIN - Brisqa
FIN - Lahjapaja Puuhari
FIN - Laurin metalli Oy
GER - Wolf
SWE - Da Knives
SWE - Nordell
Thompson’s Scandinavian Knife Supply, LLC

Blogs
Virtuell Knivsamling
Antika Skandinaviska Knivar -- Antiques
LINKS - Nordic / Scandinavian knives

[Erik]

Erik -- you should get yourself a classic Rapala filleting knife..I've probably got 30 with the tip broken off (due to our error not the knife's) in the kitchen drawer that we use for paring knives...Great, inexpensive, with good grips, especially the plastic handled ones that do their job very well...Stiff enough to break ribs from the spine yet supple enough for you to slice under those ribs to give you a lovely fillet.

I have one. For filleting it's great, for general purpose not so much. I usually keep it in my bag if I intend to take any fish home. My general purpose knife is on my belt, and that can be used to anything from cutting bait, cutting fishing lines, clearing the odd brush, cutting up sealed bags and things like that.

I thought that the Swedish Army, for regular conscripts, didn't supply knives (I don't mean bayonets) just like most other armies do...I was led to believe by some Swedish neighbours that they had to buy them themselves in the PX...These are older gentlemen and maybe when they were drafted it was so...Yes, Fallkniven has taken over the military knives since the mid 1980s and they are IMO a far stronger--just compare the spines--knife with far superior materials and ergonomics but with a higher cost as well.

Could be different time periods and/or units, but as far as I know Mora knifes have been issued to every recruit for decades. Though since the ones that are issued usually are so beat up, most recruits probably wouldn't call them "knifes", and would buy their own anyway.
Military regulations can be tight, and unless you are issued a knife I don't think you'd be allowed to carry one, at least not visible. It can vary between units though, but most commanding officers frown upon anything that would make a recruit stand out visually, whether it's a knife, different boots or a different way to button your coat. Elite forces generally have more freedom though.

I would be surprised if regular ("common") conscripts would get Fallkniven issued. They certainly weren't in the late 80s, and I haven't heard that that's changed. The cost alone is prohibiting, and conscripts are hard on equipment. Take the average city boy that has never been camping and might not be motivated to become a soldier, and they'll wear down things fast. But fewer people get called in these days, so maybe those kind of guys wont be there.
That selected units get issued Fallkniven doesn't surprise me though. I believe several of their knives were originally developed on request by the Army.

[Rich Jordan]

Thanks for all the info and commentary. I don't know what he'll decide but I think I'm going to get a couple of Moras to try out. I've forwarded the information to him.

[rightisright]

The Cold Steel Roach Belly is a piece of Chi-Comm crap.

Got mine from Amazon a few days ago.

First impressions:

It's not Chi-Com, it's made in Taiwan.
The blade finish is a bit rough. There are a few vertical striations above the edge grind and a few very small bumps up toward the spine.
The edge is razor sharp. Shaved my arm hair w. little effort and made multiple thin, non-jagged slices through 20# paper.
The Codura sheath is simple and it will only fit a small belt (1 3/4" or smaller), but retains the knife pretty well.
I actually like the thumb serrations on the top of the blade. The grip is pretty economical albeit a tad small for my XXL hands.

I can't report on durability yet.

Will this knife win any beauty pageants? No.

But for $13, if the edge holds up well, it's a bargain. Time will tell.