No pics of it in use sorry, but I did see alot of badger sign today and found a latrine.
I took the Leuku out to harvest some hazel wands and Elder shoots. It excelled at this task going through thumb thick branches in one stroke. Nearly as handy as my secateurs by Felco which are the ultimate bushraft energy saving tool!! maybe.
The special 'OK' grip where you hold it with your first two fingrs and thumb around the flared butt is very powerfull with a bit of wrist action.
I tried it for some finer work and carved a few trap triggers for a figure of four trap. Its a bit awkward for this being long with an obtuse grind but defo usable if you didnt have a smaller knife. I am not quite sure if it is more usefull than a small axe and mora combo though.
I also split some wrist thick hazel for a fire and made feather sticks with it.
I can see where it is very handy for chopping and cleaning up branches very quickly so it would be a great tool for shelter building which I am of course going to test out.
I am planning on going for a camp out this weekend were I will put it throught its paces properly.
Then I can take a few pics.
Here is some input in the form of a comment from someone who knows what he is talking about a native Finlander and friend of the blog. And I agree with everthing he says. The leuku is excellent but it is designed with a specific enviroment in mind. Fascinating stuff thanks Perkunas.
" Perkunas said...- Here in Finland where leuku is very common,especially in lapland areas, you rarely need an axe because all the trees...well they arent even trees as theyre so tiny that man only needs a sturdy leuku to cut em. Also, in butchering a reindeer its very useful etc. Its actually very dedicated tool, developed and used in special enviroments originally so many men who dont use it as its intended, may take it as a weird tool and compare it to an axe usually. If you visit norwegian,swedish or even finnish lapland ever, with an axe and leuku, youll discover how wonderful leuku is there."
Cheers
6 comments:
Here in Finland where leuku is very common,especially in lapland areas, you rarely need an axe because all the trees...well they arent even trees as theyre so tiny that man only needs a sturdy leuku to cut em. Also, in butchering a reindeer its very useful etc.
Its actually very dedicated tool, developed and used in special enviroments originally so many men who dont use it as its intended, may take it as a weird tool and compare it to an axe usually. If you visit norwegian,swedish or even finnish lapland ever, with an axe and leuku, youll discover how wonderful leuku is there.
Hey man,
thanks for noticing my humble opinion. Nice that you didnt take as a bad comment as i didnt mean it in that way.
I love to see folks not from scandinavia,getting interested in tools used here. Its a shame that i didnt carry a camera all the time on one trip where i worked in reindeer round-up, where they used leukus first to build campfires and lavvu shelters,then they fixed the fences and gates with it,and butchered reindeer/s with 9 inch & 7 inch leukus,skinned the pelts,and prepped them and then carved few wooden wedge shaped nails and used the nails to hand the pelts in log cabin outer walls etc.
Ive seen guys trying to make trysticks and similar stuff with leukus too, and some of tem are even impressive but the leukus that i see as "real" ones,have so short bevels with wide angles,and theyre very bold,convex like sharpened that you cant often make any detailed jobs with them. Offcourse,many reindeer folks too sharpen the part next to handle, into better shape,to have bit better whittling capabilities but in any case, leuku is a tool for harder, chopping tasks. Traditionally they see that leukus with 5 to 7 inch blades are for women and blades over that are men. But nowadays almost every guy carries one big and one smaller leuku (Stuorra Niibi,is the bigger and smaller is Unna Niibas ,in sami language),and that combo is something i appreciate as high as some appreciate the "nessmuk trio´s".
One thing more,
If youre interested in leuku´s,heres something that many dont seem to know. The leuku combos,in which theres big leuku and smaller one,in same sheath is something made for tourists, not long ago. The sami reindeer folk didnt use it and they rarely use it even today. So if you want to "keep it real,get two knives with separate knives ;).
Oh and one more thing,
Nowadays,two major knife factories here, they offer something thats called a leuku,but in reality, their products are more closer to an oversized puukko´s in my mind since they keep making them with bevels that are made for whittling,as in normal puukko´s. Id say we have only one bigger company that still offers a factory made leuku which really works as leuku should and thats from Roselli. Offcourse,we have variety of smaller shops and knifemakers making true leukus but i´d avoid leuku´s from Marttini and Iisakki järvenpää,that are with whittling bevles and are made from soft stainless steel. They are old factories and i appreciate the fact that they still keep making variety of traditional puukko´s and such but the competition for lower manufacturing costs, seems to lead them into low quality items as well,and that if what is a sad sad thing.
Brilliant information there my friend!
I have a helle Leuku and the one pictured in my blog. I notice the bevel is very short and wide toward the tip and finer towards the handle. What do you think of Helle Laplander?
Hi again,
I sent you an email,sir.
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