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Forum Index > Historical Arms Talk > Help identifying a knife Reply to topic
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Matt Bessler





Joined: 08 Aug 2015

Posts: 1

PostPosted: Sat 08 Aug, 2015 2:02 pm    Post subject: Help identifying a knife         Reply with quote

I found this knife while cleaning out my grandpas workshop, it was his fathers knife. It is relatively old, approx. ~1920s (I think). Was just wondering what kind of knife it was.





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Timo Nieminen




Location: Brisbane, Australia
Joined: 08 May 2009
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PostPosted: Sat 08 Aug, 2015 3:45 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Scandinavian knife. A lot of people will call all such knives "puukko", after the Finnish version. I'd guess that this one is Norwegian, since those are often fancy dress knives (and the metal fittings on the sheath make this relatively fancy compared to the typical Finnish and Swedish knives). The Norwegian dress knives are called "bunadskniv" (I think).
"In addition to being efficient, all pole arms were quite nice to look at." - Cherney Berg, A hideous history of weapons, Collier 1963.
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Ken Speed





Joined: 09 Oct 2006

Posts: 656

PostPosted: Sat 08 Aug, 2015 5:17 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

I'm largely in agreement with Timo. I'm about as sure as I can be that this is indeed a Scandinavian knife. Timo could very well be correct in saying that this is a Norwegian knife but I've also looked at photos of early Finnish puukkos that look very similar to this knife.
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Mikko Kuusirati




Location: Finland
Joined: 16 Nov 2004
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PostPosted: Sun 09 Aug, 2015 7:39 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Yeah, it's a Fenno-Scandian knife, quite a bit more decorative than the typical all-purpose, every-day-carry tool but of entirely traditional form. Historically, a wealthy man might have worn a fancy thing like this as a piece of functional "bling" (and of course they were popular with knife-wielding thugs-cum-folk-heroes, too, the gangbangers of their day). It could be from anywhere around here, really - Finland, Sweden, Norway, possibly even Denmark.

That said, it looks very much like the ones popularly worn with folk costumes. On the off chance that it actually is such an accessory, with a bit of luck someone familiar with the myriad regional styles might be able to pinpoint the location quite precisely. Happy

"And sin, young man, is when you treat people like things. Including yourself. That's what sin is."
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Tjarand Matre




Location: Nøtterøy, Norway
Joined: 19 Sep 2010

Posts: 159

PostPosted: Sun 09 Aug, 2015 1:37 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

I think the oldtimers here in Norway refers to knives with that kind of scabbard chape as "Finnkniv" (Finlanders knife). There were a lot of Finnish immigrants in Norway and I have seen this angeled scabbard design several times in antique shops and at knife shows. Not a very common design for "Bunadskniv" though, they usually don't have an angeled scabbard tip.
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Harry Lindfors





Joined: 07 May 2008

Posts: 45

PostPosted: Sun 09 Aug, 2015 9:59 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

It's a traditional Finnish puukko, from the Pohjanmaa- area of Finland, on the western coast of Finland. It even has a name, Kauhavalainen, which is puukko- design for the traditional costume and carry of the men in that area. A bling item.

Here's a link to a puukko-page. It's in Finnish, but just roll down to "KAUHAVALAINEN PUUKKO JA SEN KEHITYS", and you can see numerous knives of similar design:

http://www.puukkoseura.fi/doc/suomalainen_ja_...c255852425
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