lapin-puukko (aka puukko) revisited

Otso · 9th May 2005, 12:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Radu Transylvanicus

Let`s clear some fog around here: In Finland the word for any knife is puukko / puukotaa. Absolutely any kind of knife from kitchen to the army would be reffered to by this word. Just wanted to make sure that know that what we are reffering to is not the Finland knife but the Lapland knife, as this ittem is a creation of the Lap people. Therefore the most correct therm woold be ,, Lapin Puuko,, or ,,Lappland puuko,, .
.

Correction:

In finland we use two names for knife:
Veitsi , Which includes kitchen knives, hunting knives, doctors knives and all others that are not Puukkos.

Puukko refers to a traditional finnish style to make a knife, which has long history from ironage to this day. the traditional puukko is:
-Single bladed.
-Blade`s "back" (hamara) is straight.
-blade and handle are almost same lenght.
-hand made, i use those industrial plastic handled puukkos only as toothpicks.

Different traditional model`s:
-Tommi-puukko from kainuu, Kauhavan puukko (kauhavalainen), järjestöpuukko etc.

Lapinpuukko and lapinleuku are variations of puukko with strong ethnic
touch, mostly made in lappland. Reindeers horn, and curly birch are widely used in the handle, and decorated with saami carvings.

Radu Transylvanicus · 9th May 2005, 01:03 PM

Wish I could tell you who was the Finn that quoted me that ... Did I do Ok on the rest ?

Cool, thanks for the briefing, any further description of the differences between the two styles? And in your own acception as Finn, may I ask please, how much do you think a puuko is a Finn knife vs. a Lap knife ?

tom hyle · 9th May 2005, 07:06 PM

Otso, thanks. I hadn't even been thinking about the ratio of handle length to blade length, but now that you mention it, except for some of the really big machete/dagger types with like 8 and 10 inch (25cm) blades, this does seem to be true of the ordinary ones, which have a pretty wide variety of blade size between I'd say maybe 2 and 4 or 5 inches.....I see some with a slight "clip" or indentation to the straightness of the spine at the tip; do you consider this a modern and/or foreign feature? Very similar knives are worn in Norway, Iceland, Denmark, Sweden; I really don't know for many that I've seen which specific tribe/country they are from, either, as many really old ones are unmarked (though they may once have had light marks; many new ones are marked only with a light etch).

derek · 10th May 2005, 10:13 PM

Rich,
It's a good little book and rare too. I was lucky to find mine on ebay (was surprised to find it was signed by the author on the inside as well).

Otso · 11th May 2005, 10:25 AM

There are lots of different models of puukkos depending of use and area where they are coming;

this is a short list i borrowed from webpages of Taisto Kuortti.
http://personal.inet.fi/koti/taisto....ypit.htm#etela

Vöyri`s puukko: Earliest model of puukko. Handle and sheath made from metal (brass).

Härmä`s puukko: Maybe best known type of puukko in finland. usually there`s two puukkos in same sheath; small and big one.
IMG]http://etelapohjanmaa.fi/kulttuuri/puoti/tuotekuvat/68_puukko_ja_helavy+.jpg[/IMG]

Kauhava`s puukko: welldone and expensive.

Kainuu`s puukko: Or tommi puukko. simple and beautiful.

Sami puukko: Also called as Lapinpuukko, always beautifully decorated.

Other styles include: Rautalammi`s puukko, Toijala`s puukko,
Pekanpään puukko, ilves-puukko, wartime puukkos made in the front,
and many more are yet to come...

-o

diogenes99 · 18th June 2006, 05:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Otso

There are lots of different models of puukkos depending of use and area where they are coming;

this is a short list i borrowed from webpages of Taisto Kuortti.
http://personal.inet.fi/koti/taisto....ypit.htm#etela

Vöyri`s puukko: Earliest model of puukko. Handle and sheath made from metal (brass).

-o

Is there a book that discusses the Vöyri style puukko?

gp · 29th August 2025, 09:38 PM

...

gp · 2nd September 2025, 09:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by diogenes99

Is there a book that discusses the Vöyri style puukko?

there is a book in English and also German, next to a few in Finnish

whilst looking for some literature, I stumbled on this picture on the bottom;

somebody did find a cheap and very nice box filled with Finnish goodies in a second hand market...
most be a good surprise all of us can only dream about

some nice websites as well:
https://nordiskaknivar.wordpress.com...tional-puukko/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLnqr6IGVgs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGG0xWgw0UM

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/TUcwAj_7A5w

gp · 30th August 2025, 04:39 AM

...

Jim McDougall · 30th August 2025, 07:54 PM

Is there a question, new example ? This was a great thread, well discussed on these, but its been 19 years. Stuff on these doesnt come up much.

10th May 2005, 10:13 PM	#4
derek Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 215	Good Little Book Rich, It's a good little book and rare too. I was lucky to find mine on ebay (was surprised to find it was signed by the author on the inside as well).

29th August 2025, 09:38 PM	#7
gp Member Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 931	... Last edited by gp; 30th August 2025 at 05:48 PM.

30th August 2025, 04:39 AM	#9
gp Member Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 931	... Last edited by gp; 30th August 2025 at 05:48 PM.

9th May 2005, 01:03 PM	#2
Radu Transylvanicus Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: 2008-2010 Bali, 1998-2008 USA Posts: 271	Wish I could tell you who was the Finn that quoted me that ... Did I do Ok on the rest ? Cool, thanks for the briefing, any further description of the differences between the two styles? And in your own acception as Finn, may I ask please, how much do you think a puuko is a Finn knife vs. a Lap knife ?

9th May 2005, 07:06 PM	#3
tom hyle Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Houston, TX, USA Posts: 1,254	Otso, thanks. I hadn't even been thinking about the ratio of handle length to blade length, but now that you mention it, except for some of the really big machete/dagger types with like 8 and 10 inch (25cm) blades, this does seem to be true of the ordinary ones, which have a pretty wide variety of blade size between I'd say maybe 2 and 4 or 5 inches.....I see some with a slight "clip" or indentation to the straightness of the spine at the tip; do you consider this a modern and/or foreign feature? Very similar knives are worn in Norway, Iceland, Denmark, Sweden; I really don't know for many that I've seen which specific tribe/country they are from, either, as many really old ones are unmarked (though they may once have had light marks; many new ones are marked only with a light etch).

11th May 2005, 10:25 AM	#5
Otso Member Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 2	There are lots of different models of puukkos depending of use and area where they are coming; this is a short list i borrowed from webpages of Taisto Kuortti. http://personal.inet.fi/koti/taisto....ypit.htm#etela Vöyri`s puukko: Earliest model of puukko. Handle and sheath made from metal (brass). Härmä`s puukko: Maybe best known type of puukko in finland. usually there`s two puukkos in same sheath; small and big one. IMG]http://etelapohjanmaa.fi/kulttuuri/puoti/tuotekuvat/68_puukko_ja_helavy+.jpg[/IMG] Kauhava`s puukko: welldone and expensive. Kainuu`s puukko: Or tommi puukko. simple and beautiful. Sami puukko: Also called as Lapinpuukko, always beautifully decorated. Other styles include: Rautalammi`s puukko, Toijala`s puukko, Pekanpään puukko, ilves-puukko, wartime puukkos made in the front, and many more are yet to come... -o

30th August 2025, 07:54 PM	#10
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 10,708	Is there a question, new example ? This was a great thread, well discussed on these, but its been 19 years. Stuff on these doesnt come up much.