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View Full Version : What is the working knife of Georgia/the Caucasus region?


Pitt1999
1st January 2023, 10:25 PM
While the thread on my odd kindjal (place of origin yet to be determined) is developing, a question arose in my head. What was the working knife/utility knife/bolo knife equivalent of Georgia or the Caucasus region in general, if there was one? Kindjals are a little too nicely made to use for tasks that in today's parlance would be referred to as "bushcraft", cutting small bits of wood or brush clearing, carving, dismantling or dispatching your dead or wounded quarry.

Ren Ren
2nd January 2023, 12:44 AM
Here is a universal shepherd's knife typical of the highlands of the Northern and Western Caucasus. Karachays and Balkars call it "Bichak", Abkhazians "Apsua Khuzba".

Pitt1999
2nd January 2023, 03:22 AM
Are there older examples of these around? This example looks quite recent.

Pitt1999
2nd January 2023, 04:52 PM
I was going through a thread regarding Khevsur weapons and found mention of a Khevsur knife that was called an Ursa knife. I would be curious if anyone has an example of one of these.

Ren Ren
3rd January 2023, 04:16 AM
Are there older examples of these around? This example looks quite recent.
You are absolutely right, this knife was made about 10 years ago by the Karachai knifemaker Ramzan Tekeyev. He is one of the few craftsmen who makes "Bichak" knives in accordance with all traditions.

Kindjals were carefully kept, because they were a valuable item, a symbol of social status, and they were passed from father to son. Old utility knives are 100 times rarer because they were used "until the blade becomes an awl."