Heres whats going on.

Ive been shamefully quiet with my blog, yes i know.

I can say that most of my webtime has gone at BCFIN forums, so i havent kind of even remembered to post a thing here.

And even now i am heading to have some ice-fishing time so il just post a few shots.

Some overnight hunting trip at the shelter area.

 Wellcome.

 Tracks.

 Reindeer pelt with spruce boughs under it, old trick and yet it works superb to insulate a man from grounds coldness.

 Artsy shot, naturally.

 Not as much snow as last winter but better than nothing.

 While there was  temps ranging from  minus 3 to minus 12 ( not cold at all really) outside, i had almost ten plus temps at my shelter, when i measured it 8 inches from groud level and as far away as possible from fire. So its more like fall-ish temp in it, and i had no sorrows while sleeping without any blanket , sleeping bag nor insulated outer clothing. Nice.

Its surely not a traditional pack, but then again it has a metal frame and cottonmix cloth used in it :)

Great stool-pack indeed designed for hunters needs, bloodproof game pouch inside, silent, non-gun-clanking structure etc.

Ive been making some wooden stuff as well:

Something to hang your clothing etc from, made from wood and reindeer antler. The backplate resembles (imo) the ear marks cut to reindeers. I think its better than any Ikea stuff ?

I donno did i already show you this tiny leather cover or sheth for my tiny hatchet ?

The antler piece is a miniatyre sized kiela that i´ll be using in one close future project.

Ive been doing pretty much stuff with chainsaws, spent days in a row felling old birch and spruce, dragging em with tractor to another place where ive been putting the tree trunks in desired pieces with chainsaw. I have few saws, and one of em blew up on me, so i had to do fix it. I didnt have funds to get totally new spare parts but i had a good idea.

I had this one saw project, that had a top-end that produces more power and offers more acceleration etc and i noticed that i could switch these to my low-end mid-power saw.

 Now i have been sawing with it for some 4 days and man....for a 20 e project, its damn god tool to work with, cuts easily, doesnt suck too much gasoline and starts in subzero temps pretty easily too.  Hopefully it´ll serve in future in my car as well as here its commonly needed tool to be able to get your vehicle through the un-serviced un-plowed logging roads etc.

Ill try to find more pics from last weekds and days and post em with short descriptions.

Who knows, maybe i am able to do some more "true" woods-hike in this month so i could tell you something better.

Oh by the way i might have a new factory-made puukko prototype to show you pretty soon ;)

..and a sheath to go with it.

Here you go, a few pics of the sheath that i made for the knife that i wrote about last time.

 Theres a compact, as low as i could do, firesteel loop behind the sheath.  Its next to the liner part of sheath to keep the sheath riding close to my leg, unlike if it would be in the handle part of the sheath.

 Simple, plain black. 2mm veggie tanned leather.

 Belt loop is made of 3.5mm veggie tanned leather, and it has a screw-open stud so i can remove the belt loop if i want to hang the knife to rucksack / backpack, or to saame belt etc.

Based on Brakar´s blade

Long time no see, sadly.

But heres a little something that i made. Since ive been lacking coal and gas to use forge, and been pondering about more common man things, as i wrote before, i´ve been using  my spare time to make a knife, usng this Helle Brakar blade.

Its made without electric tools, so its crude ( as always, heh ). But ive been getting very familiar with files, different saws, hand drill, and most of all, pack of old rasps.

Its in same length as factory made Brakar, but as i am not the bigest fan of any finger grooves in handles, as well as my desire for those leuku type of handle butts, using the blade that i really find nicely shaped and with good measures, i could make my own kind of handle. Not a surprise, i think :).

Just a tad of finishing, oiling and such, and then its ready and will be user after i get the sheath done.

Common man knife. Factory made blade, cut from blank.

As the title says.

Ive been pondering about knives and bushcraft, as always. No matter how big knife freak i am, i still think that bushcraft is NOT equal to word knives.

One thing ive been thinking of, is that there might be many folks out there, who cant or wont, get a handmade knife, with handmade blade, from true knife making blacksmith shop. Nor will everyone, ever make knife, from the blade they made with their own hands, nor will everyone ever even assemble a knife, from any blade they buy, may it be handmade or factory scale , mass produced one.

I have made blades, as well as bought handmade blades, and received a good few, just as complte knives from makers and made em all the way myself. BUT, somehow, i felt  that i´d like to make more common man stuff.  You know, "get an affordable ,cheaper, blade cut from blank in a factory, that you can buy with a click of a mouse and then make the rest yourself".

Why ?

I really cant say :).


Just felt like it. Live through feelings, not through brains, you know.

Well, anyways, my take, will be constructed over a Norwegian . Its a stainless, no-nonsense, triple laminated Helle blade. Its the same, as used in their Brakar´s .

I somehow remember reading, or seeing, when these knives first appeared, an advertisement, in which its name was written like BraKar, as a combination of two words. Even today, Bra Kar means Good Fellow, and i can only hope that using this blade, will end up as a good buddy.

As its said in their website:

" The core is made of high alloy steel which gives it a lasting, razor-sharp edge. This harder layer cannot however exclude the threat of rust or breakage. To exploit the superb qualities of the high alloy steel we added two layers of tough stainless steel(18/8) to protect the blade against breakage and corrosion, while the high carbon core still provides a superb cutting edge."

Some comparison shot, so you might get a better feel of it, compared to plain measurement listings:

Its 126mm long and bit over 3mm thick, and as you can see , its bit more wider than common puukko blades tend to be. Just as i prefer.


I have always thought, that if i´d get to pick one Helle for myself, it would be Brakar, but now, i think that making a handle for the same blade, myself, will satisfy me preferences even more, although Brakar sure is a beauty. But some of you know, about my love for the leukus.....i think this blade will be having a handle with some leuku influences, allowing easier pull of the knife away from the handle. Other than that, i donno yet. Id like to make a something from several pieces but we´ll have to see about it.


P.S

If youre thinking that this is some sponsored blade, youre wrong.

Stopped by at the shelter again.

While i was hiking with my dog, to see all the devastation going on in the forests just next to the area where the kota i have, is located, i naturally went to check out its condition, as its been blowing snow quite a lot, and then, melting, and freezing, as its been bit confusing weather here.

Well, it looked all rite, after i shoveled most of the snow covering it. I guess its pretty heavy on the end, to the structure as the snow slides, from the tarpaulin, gathering to the surrundings of shelter, then piling up against the frame of shelter. But, its more than good excuse to escape from home, to see & save the shelter.

This wasnt, again, any true hike, nor contains any bushcraft. Sorry.

Everything was i icy crust, "thanks" to continuous melting and freezing, but what the hell. Just remember to remove snow from outside of the shelter, then shake the tarpaulin from inside a bit, collect the fallen ice crust, throw it out of the hatch, and youre good to go. One thing more: scrape off the snow that has collected to the joint of the poles, so the warmt of the fire, wont melt it, and turn the melting snow, in to small shower that keeps dripping from the poles :).


But, i had good time, with my dog, especially cause i have noticd that he´s in to winter and snow, and has stamina to crawl in it without any care of the world.

Sure i gave him a roasted sausage as well and enjoyed seeing that he aint afraid of campfires nor bit of smoke, since he fell in a sleep next to the fire.

Sadly i had forotten my coffee at home, so had to settle for a canteen full of juice.

But hey, next weekend, ill be there for 2 overnighters, then i think i have something worth posting instead of this nonsense "hey my blog aint dead" mumbojumbo reminder :).

Bit of pulk "sledding" with my dog.

Heres a snapshot i quickly took, while i was at the lake, training my dog, to get him used to pull sled behind him.

Its just an ugly, plastic big pulk meant for ice fishers, but as it was dirt cheap, i thought i could convert it to a dogs sled. I own still one wooden, bigger and better pulk "ahkio", but its missing the bottom piece, so instead i had to use this makeshift thingy. All the hardware, is from local tiny hardware store, nothings dedicated dog sled stuff, except for the dogs harness, which is a ManMat product, made especially for pulk pulling. Total price without harness is under 50 euros, including pulk, rods, reflective stickers, nuts and bolts, everything, so it sure isnt a bank breaker. I was glad to see that dog seemed to like pulling it, and did it fast, with 40 kilos of weight, as well, if encouraged.

Hopefully my hand, that i injured pretty bad, heals enough in next two weeks, so i could do some more serious hiking, with ski´s and dog pulling the pulk. I sure would like to ski to my kota, through the woods with my dog ad hang out there over the weekend.

How to define leukus , by shape ?

This is just quickly typed thingy that i once wrote when we discussed about the fact that whats definition of leuku, what makes a knife a leuku.

In many many cases, ive been frustrated to see all sorts of knives, called as "leuku" or stuorra niibi or sami /saame knives. Sadly, it happens even in my hometown as well...you pull out a small machete or a bigger military knife, or even a 10 inch traditional Tommi puukko theres always a person who yells something like "wow man thats a big ass leuku you got there!!!", as if any "big" knife would be a leuku, and thats blasphemy  . Sometimes i think, that is is it like....."i order some blade with a word LEUKU mentioned in its advertisement" and then you go and make any kind of weird handle and sheath to it, and the leuku-named blade, makes the knife a leuku ? So does a blade, determine the whole results name or species ?

Theres like million of knives named a leuku, that might have a leuku-like wide blade, but assembled in to boat-tail thin handle, looking more like a skinner knife etc.

I think if its to be called a Leuku, it should have few :) distinctive spots atleast...

This is Only my interpretation and i am not trying to say that i truely know a thing, or call this even the truth, only truth....but:

-it HAS TO HAVE a flared, wider pommel, a mushroom-like, or a ball-ish butt, that is clearly usually wider than any other part of the handle.

-The handle  has a small belly or if not, it tapers from front bolster, towards the pommel / butt.

-The handle MIGHT have a GENTLE curve. But keep it easy,smooth.  Dont make it a jungle machete 45 degree bent curve. Keep in mind that most of the leukus, are put in backseam sheaths, that DONT allow heavily curved handles.


-In MOST cases, front of the handle, like the bolster, has the same measures, as is the width of your blade. No ramps, no steps, and KEEP THE RICASSO short, dont go over 3/8" or 10 millimeters, ESPECIALLY if your leuku is NOT a big slasher. The shorter the ricasso, the more accurate to whittle it is, and will be.

-Blade might have SLIGHT bellylike drop, as well as a SLIGHT hunchback, and the blade can even curve a BIT, very SLIGHTLY, not like parangs and kukri knives. AGAIN, sheath issues will occur, if you do a curved blade, just as it goes with curved handle.

-More common, is a straight spine, than  hunchbacks, i think.

-No clip points, no tantos, no sheepsfoot, but a normal , almost like a big sized puukko´s tip shape of blades tip. Even the dullest curves were created perhaps, after tourism affected the leukus, and people might have favourted a dull tip as it looks more special and mean, exotic...? In any case, the tip should be ok for whittling, skinning, as well as piercing / perforating, that dull tip simplu wont do well at all.


-If anything, a SLIGHT drop point, but very slight.


- Traditionally, the leukus were butchering tools, as much as they were also wood working tools, for northern wood species that are still, on the small side, in height as well as diameter, compared to southern birch etc.

-There has been sideseam sheaths but not that much and i think i an say that its more "true" with backseam sheath without weird snap & strap inventions.

-If youre chasing TRADITIONS, i think all kinds of leg straps and button flap closures are a no-no-no-no.

-All sorts of clear, STEEP & DEEP  finger grooves and choils as NO NO NO NO NO. They do prevent versatile use of different grips of the handle and make also sheaths, a pain in the ass to fabricate.

-Handles are often something between  shape of an egg, standing on its narrow tip ,an oval and round, they are NOT flat sided.

-Sheaths are very deep, revealing like 1/3 of the handle at most, as the flare shaped pommel, is there to be used as a way to pull out the knife, which is mostly covered by sheath.

Am i totaly wrong ?

I know there are even older leukus and their predestors, carried more horizontally, and such but they are maybe bit less known and less seen as traditionals as they disappeared like almost 400 years ago...

And yes, everyone is entitled to have custom made leukus fit to their need and taste, but i think, then some of those cant be called as "pure" leukus. What ever that is, after all...