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Old 5th April 2006, 11:34 AM   #22
Chris Evans
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Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Australia
Posts: 661
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Hi,

Marc, I think that you are absolutely right.

There is much misapplication of the terms facon, puņal, cuchillo cuchilla and daga (dagger), but the Argentinean knife expert Abel Domenech does make the point that for a knife to qualify for the nomenclature of facon, it must have a cross guard. He further argues that the facon is a sub-species of the dagger family, albeit of single edge, often sporting a false edge.

To summarize:

Cuchillo: A narrow single edged knife, that resembles a butcher's or kitchen knife

Cuchilla: a broad bladed variant of the cuchillo

Daga (dagger): Any one of the possible variations of the straight double edged European bladed knife.

Puņal (Poniard): A loose term indiscriminately applied in Sth America to all kinds of shorter knves. The root word is in Spanish "puņo", that is fist, so a puņal is a knife that is intended to be held in the "ice pick"grip, in the clenched fist, so as to deliver a powerful downward stab. It finds correspondence with the pogniard.

Facon: The bade of legends. A large variant of the dagger, but with a single edge and always fitted with a cross guard. Facons measured up to 60cm blade length and were invariably made from discarded swords or bayonets.

Caronera: A very large facon, at times of sword length, carried under the saddle and usually lacking a handguard. Or, to put it differently, a rehilted sword sans its handguard.

I should add that facons (and caroneras) were more in use before the 19th century than afterwards and that real halcyon days of the gauchos were before 1800. Their mystique of the facon bearing gaucho was such that right up to the present day any knife worn on the small of the back tends to be called a facon. Historically, facons and caroneras were made from cut-down sword and bayonet blades, whereas cuhillos and cuchillas were re-hilted butcher's blades, usually imported from Europe, the most famous brand being Arbolitio, a trade name owned by Boker. In the closing years of the 19th century, Sth American manufacturers started to make blades, but up to that date their cutlers largely confined themselves to the re-hilting and ornamentation of sundry imported blades.

The silver hilted and sheated knives that these days we associate with gauchos, were in fact luxury items that could only be afforded by wealthy landowners or their overseers. The common gaucho, by the 19th century was reduced to an impoverished "peon", a mere agricultural laborer, and had to contend himself with far far less lavish cutting implements.

In the 20th century gaucho knives in all kinds and sizes were mass produced around imported butcher blades and their sheaths and hilts made from German Silver (Spanish: Alpaca). For most part these are items sold to tourists, or worn as dress items on festive occasions.

Cheers
Chris
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