British Red
20-09-2008, 20:39
Last week I was speaking to a newish supplier of equipment about a combined Leuku and Puukko. I have been intrigued by peoples comments on the versatility of the Leuku and wanted to try one out. However I am a growing fan of the "matched pair" and have wanted to try one of the Leuku / Puukko combo sets. But I wanted a biggish Leuku (8"+) and carbon steel and a Puukko in the same sheath...not too spendy and.....well you know how it goes.
I eventually found one I liked at
www.casstrom.co.uk
http://www.casstrom.co.uk/bmz_cache/d/de80ae2c6c028b46086c66f97b28e1 5c.image.535x550.jpg
My only problem was that bit of coloured wood - yuck. So I e-mailed David Backstrom who runs casstrom.
He was very apologetic that he did not have a plain one available in the UK - would I mind if he shipped me one from Sweden (no extra charge). Sure said I.
Having concluded out conversation on Friday - I had the set on Monday first post :eek:
So they turned up - here is the set.
My initial thoughts? Looks much nicer with plain wood than the coloured stuff :)
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3180/2872474847_97dba2bb04.jpg
David asked for my feedback on other features (more on this later). My initial thought on the sheath was "I'd lose the reindeer and hoof print stamping - its a bit touristy". I was pleasantly surprised at the weight - very wearable I thought - not a real "trouser dragger". Next of course to get the knives out
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3158/2872472139_5c7c722e7a.jpg
Now the set was £75 delivered. So what did I expect? Well not much in fit and finish to be honest. The surprise was pleasant. Lets have a closer look at a handle
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3167/2872473503_13ded50fd2.jpg
I was pleasantly surpised at the fit quality - all the elements are beautifully aligned and neat. The curly birch in the ones I was sent is much sperior to the ones in the advert. The antler nicely shaped with I think bark or leather spacers and the hardwood near the pommel nicely arranged to show the grain
The knives are both stick tang with the tang taken through the pommel antler in the stack and then peened over
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3053/2873304540_f2fc565f2e.jpg
Criticisims? Well I like a handle smooth - these were slightly rough. Actually thats not a problem that 5 minutes with wire wool couldn't sort on the puukko. I left the Leuku be as I thought the surety of grip would help.
Next I looked at the bevel. These are Scandinavian ground with a small secondary bevel. On a closer look the primary bevel shows clear ridges. Weird but not really a problem. Clearly the bevel is machine ground in some way. I sharpened the puukko in testing and all the ridges disappeared so don't let them stress you if they look as odd to you as they do to me
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3159/2872477679_8bf8edfe6c.jpg
I'm not big on secondary bevels on small Scandy knives but others disagree so again - if you don't like the secondary its an easy job to sort.
Having a close look at the sheath shows a fairly simple scandinavian dangler arrangement. Thin leather with a plastic "blade protector" inserted. Not superb but fine for the money. I'd like the sheath to grip a little tighter on the handles (the leuku is loose when the puukko is removed) but its nit picking to be honest
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3026/2873307604_f61cbe7f82.jpg
Okay - enough looking - time for a workout. As usual - to get a feel for handling its into the kitchen - there is food to be made
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3270/2873308668_dc58660e49.jpg
Now. Here is the rub. At this point the review fell apart. I planned to use the puukko as a paring / utility knife. It worked well. The "forge finish" soon came away in the acid of onions and tomatoes but the knife felt great and handled well. Then I picked up the Leuku. It felt all wrong. I shifted grip. It still felt weird. I stopped and examined the knives. The Leuke handle is 3/8" shorter than the puukko. :confused: . In fact its so short that your index finger is dangerously close to the front of the grip. I tried a variety of holds and its just too short. Slicing or speed chopping is just awkward and uncomfortable. Now I ahve I have "shepherds hands" not "shovel hands" so its not the size of my mitts. I was about to warn everyone in the review and, being fair, I thought to tell David at Casstrom that was what I felt obliged to do.
I received this reply
Sorry to hear this. You have a fair point about the length of the handle. I will talk to the maker about this. They make everything by hand so to change a small detail like this won’t be an issue. I there anything else that you feel could be improved about the design? How did you like the knife beyond this point?
Please do mention in your review that we will work with the maker to get a better designed handle for this knife in the near future. I think it will be good for people to know that we are flexible and easy to work with, wouldn’t you say?
Now actually that means a lot in this day an age - a retailer that listens to their customers. As a result I decided to continue the review.Time to go out to play with some ash, cherry, pine and hazel - notice the colour change on the puukko?
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3021/2872466135_bf68251797.jpg
I had to sharpen it to a zero grind though - just to set it up the way I like a small knife
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3091/2872466143_b045115f49_o.jpg
How was it? Just as you waould want - sharp, nimble a lovely knife to use
Cetainly no problem with feather sticks!
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3151/2872466141_845d7741a8_o.jpg
Okay - conclusion - I like the puukko;)
Time to work out the Leuku. Lets use a two finger chop and sharpen some stakes for shelter building or fire cranes
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3052/2872466147_5bfffde431.jpg
That balde chops like a demon! slices of green wood flew off.
Now lets beat the snot out of it. I had some cherry drying for spoons for a couple of years. This bit is full of knots that must be abtoned through to split. A good test I thought.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3273/2872466139_24cdc76742.jpg
I beat the snot out of the spine and pushed the cutting edge through two thick knots. No marks on the spine,no dents or even dinks on the cutting edge. The blade coped beautifully.
So what about the Leuku handle? Well. I should have listened to myself! The constant advice to always carry a FAK with a knife is good. Cherry might not dink the blade - well neither did the bone on my index finger when it slipped off the front of the handle :( . Nice neat cut though - hopefully when I take the steri strips off it''ll have healed cleanly.
So a rubbish "Red Rejects" then? well, not entirely. If the company can sort out the handle length, this will represent a very very good combo. A puuko is what....£25? Postage at..£5? So an 8" carbon steel Leuku at £45 looks like a bargin - but only if they fix that stupid and dangerously short handle. If they do and tell me, I'll let you know. Until then, with regret, give this tool set a miss
Red
I eventually found one I liked at
www.casstrom.co.uk
http://www.casstrom.co.uk/bmz_cache/d/de80ae2c6c028b46086c66f97b28e1 5c.image.535x550.jpg
My only problem was that bit of coloured wood - yuck. So I e-mailed David Backstrom who runs casstrom.
He was very apologetic that he did not have a plain one available in the UK - would I mind if he shipped me one from Sweden (no extra charge). Sure said I.
Having concluded out conversation on Friday - I had the set on Monday first post :eek:
So they turned up - here is the set.
My initial thoughts? Looks much nicer with plain wood than the coloured stuff :)
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3180/2872474847_97dba2bb04.jpg
David asked for my feedback on other features (more on this later). My initial thought on the sheath was "I'd lose the reindeer and hoof print stamping - its a bit touristy". I was pleasantly surprised at the weight - very wearable I thought - not a real "trouser dragger". Next of course to get the knives out
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3158/2872472139_5c7c722e7a.jpg
Now the set was £75 delivered. So what did I expect? Well not much in fit and finish to be honest. The surprise was pleasant. Lets have a closer look at a handle
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3167/2872473503_13ded50fd2.jpg
I was pleasantly surpised at the fit quality - all the elements are beautifully aligned and neat. The curly birch in the ones I was sent is much sperior to the ones in the advert. The antler nicely shaped with I think bark or leather spacers and the hardwood near the pommel nicely arranged to show the grain
The knives are both stick tang with the tang taken through the pommel antler in the stack and then peened over
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3053/2873304540_f2fc565f2e.jpg
Criticisims? Well I like a handle smooth - these were slightly rough. Actually thats not a problem that 5 minutes with wire wool couldn't sort on the puukko. I left the Leuku be as I thought the surety of grip would help.
Next I looked at the bevel. These are Scandinavian ground with a small secondary bevel. On a closer look the primary bevel shows clear ridges. Weird but not really a problem. Clearly the bevel is machine ground in some way. I sharpened the puukko in testing and all the ridges disappeared so don't let them stress you if they look as odd to you as they do to me
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3159/2872477679_8bf8edfe6c.jpg
I'm not big on secondary bevels on small Scandy knives but others disagree so again - if you don't like the secondary its an easy job to sort.
Having a close look at the sheath shows a fairly simple scandinavian dangler arrangement. Thin leather with a plastic "blade protector" inserted. Not superb but fine for the money. I'd like the sheath to grip a little tighter on the handles (the leuku is loose when the puukko is removed) but its nit picking to be honest
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3026/2873307604_f61cbe7f82.jpg
Okay - enough looking - time for a workout. As usual - to get a feel for handling its into the kitchen - there is food to be made
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3270/2873308668_dc58660e49.jpg
Now. Here is the rub. At this point the review fell apart. I planned to use the puukko as a paring / utility knife. It worked well. The "forge finish" soon came away in the acid of onions and tomatoes but the knife felt great and handled well. Then I picked up the Leuku. It felt all wrong. I shifted grip. It still felt weird. I stopped and examined the knives. The Leuke handle is 3/8" shorter than the puukko. :confused: . In fact its so short that your index finger is dangerously close to the front of the grip. I tried a variety of holds and its just too short. Slicing or speed chopping is just awkward and uncomfortable. Now I ahve I have "shepherds hands" not "shovel hands" so its not the size of my mitts. I was about to warn everyone in the review and, being fair, I thought to tell David at Casstrom that was what I felt obliged to do.
I received this reply
Sorry to hear this. You have a fair point about the length of the handle. I will talk to the maker about this. They make everything by hand so to change a small detail like this won’t be an issue. I there anything else that you feel could be improved about the design? How did you like the knife beyond this point?
Please do mention in your review that we will work with the maker to get a better designed handle for this knife in the near future. I think it will be good for people to know that we are flexible and easy to work with, wouldn’t you say?
Now actually that means a lot in this day an age - a retailer that listens to their customers. As a result I decided to continue the review.Time to go out to play with some ash, cherry, pine and hazel - notice the colour change on the puukko?
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3021/2872466135_bf68251797.jpg
I had to sharpen it to a zero grind though - just to set it up the way I like a small knife
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3091/2872466143_b045115f49_o.jpg
How was it? Just as you waould want - sharp, nimble a lovely knife to use
Cetainly no problem with feather sticks!
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3151/2872466141_845d7741a8_o.jpg
Okay - conclusion - I like the puukko;)
Time to work out the Leuku. Lets use a two finger chop and sharpen some stakes for shelter building or fire cranes
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3052/2872466147_5bfffde431.jpg
That balde chops like a demon! slices of green wood flew off.
Now lets beat the snot out of it. I had some cherry drying for spoons for a couple of years. This bit is full of knots that must be abtoned through to split. A good test I thought.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3273/2872466139_24cdc76742.jpg
I beat the snot out of the spine and pushed the cutting edge through two thick knots. No marks on the spine,no dents or even dinks on the cutting edge. The blade coped beautifully.
So what about the Leuku handle? Well. I should have listened to myself! The constant advice to always carry a FAK with a knife is good. Cherry might not dink the blade - well neither did the bone on my index finger when it slipped off the front of the handle :( . Nice neat cut though - hopefully when I take the steri strips off it''ll have healed cleanly.
So a rubbish "Red Rejects" then? well, not entirely. If the company can sort out the handle length, this will represent a very very good combo. A puuko is what....£25? Postage at..£5? So an 8" carbon steel Leuku at £45 looks like a bargin - but only if they fix that stupid and dangerously short handle. If they do and tell me, I'll let you know. Until then, with regret, give this tool set a miss
Red