Puukko

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Template:Wiktionary A puukko is the Finnish word for the traditional Finnish or Scandinavian style woodcraft belt-knife that is a tool rather than a weapon. The word is in the process of assimilation into English.

The basic components of a puukko are a hilt and a blade along with a sheath, which can be attached to a belt. The puukko's blade has a single curving edge and a flat back. The flat back allows the user to place a thumb or his other hand on it to concentrate the force. Puukkos are used both as a tool for all kinds of carving, especially to work wood, and to clean the catches of anglers and hunters. Some puukko designs have a slightly upwards or downwards curved point, depending on what purpose the knife has. A hunting puukko's tip is often curved downwards to make skinning and opening the animal easier and less messy. The blade is relatively short, usually about the same length as the handle.

Image:Knife.jpg Most puukkos have a slight shoulder but no choil, since the point where the edge ends and the handle begins is also the point where most power can be applied. A puukko often has no guard to stop the hand from slipping onto the edge, but this is of no greater importance, since it is primarily considered a cutting tool, not a stabbing weapon. In cases where the knife and the hand are expected to get wet, like if the puukko is meant for gutting fish or game, some form of guards are carved into the handle.

Both factory forged and hand forged blades are often laminated. A thin layer of very hard steel is sandwiched between two layers of softer metal, which make the blade less brittle and facillitates repeated sharpening.

In Finland and northern Scandinavia many men put great pride in carving their puukko's handle. Traditionally, the handle is made of birch, sometimes with horn spacers for decoration. Over generations, this knife has become intimately tied to Nordic culture, and in one or another version is part of many national costumes. A good puukko is equal parts artistic expression and tool. Making it requires a lot of different skills: those of a carver, a jeweller, a designer, and a leatherworker to make the sheat — and if you master the difficult art of weaving birchbark, this is an opportunity to use it.

In the Nordic countries, the puukko is however an everyday knife that is used for everything from hunting, fishing and garden work to opening boxes in the warehouse, and many puukkos are industrially produced by factories of which Fiskars is the most notable. Bearing of all sharp objects which could be used as weapons was banned in Finland in 1977. Since then, the puukko has lost ist visibility in public places and been restricted to household work, hunting and fishing. In many industries, e.g. construction, the puukko has been replaced by the Swedish Mora-knife, which resembles puukko but has a much cheaper and less durable construction. The mora knife's handle is typically plastic, and the blade is either stainless steel or of laminated construction; harder steel which forms the edge is clad by softer steel.

As the carrying of puukkos is prohibited in public places, the only built areas where they can be nowadays be seen carried are garrisons. It is a custom of Finnish conscript NCOs and officer cadets to carry a puukko of their year course as as part of combat uniform. This is rationalized as carrying of a handy tool but here, the puukko doubles as a symbolic sidearm.fi:Puukko ru:Пуукко