Hunter knife. Yakut knife: photos, drawings and dimensions Ancient hunting knives of taiga hunters

15.03.2020

Along with a gun and cartridges, there is a lot of controversy in the hunting environment about a hunting knife. But all somehow does not work out a common opinion. Why? Is it because the task set for the discussion is impossible? I would say, in some way absurd. Indeed: there has never been a “Russian hunting knife” in nature. And if there is no subject of dispute, then there is nothing to argue.

The fact is that Russia was created by regions practically voluntarily joining it. The territory of our state is huge, the conditions for hunting and fishing are different, and the animals and birds are also different. Accordingly, the methods of hunting also vary greatly. How, under such different conditions, could any one model of a knife be developed? It's one thing to skin a muskrat, it's another thing to fish in the taiga. So the debate about the "Russian" knife is pointless.

"Universal" knife...

But we will have to talk about some kind of “universal” knife. Of course, it would be more convenient to have a suitable knife at hand on every hunt. And there is a lot of talk about such knives, more suitable for specific hunts. But it’s good to discuss while sitting in an easy chair at home or at a hunting exhibition, but how to put these tips into practice? Indeed, you have gathered, for example, on a hunting expedition (as they began to say more and more often). There you will have to hunt capercaillie with a husky, try to intercept the autumn flight of ducks, they said that the owner has a hound, and perhaps participation in elk hunting. They promised to bring them to check the fishing nets. Well, what about a functional hunting knife? Take a heavy knife for the taiga, a warehouse for duck flights, a skinner (skinner) for moose hunting, and don’t forget about fish? Don't you think that the situation is approaching absurdity? By the way, now that so many young people have poured into the hunting world, reading about their hunting adventures in the press or on the Internet is simply cool ... A new hunting slang began to appear: “Periodically I shot while walking through the forest; roasted and ate the corpse of a hare; hare - bastard, reptile, bastard; they shot at a squirrel so intensely that they shaved a pine tree; wandered through the woods to no avail, to the point that I felt an unbearable desire to drink vodka. Bird: "Go down only lower - you will get lead in the side." Why did he kill this birdie: "Why does she fly." Etc.

Well, oh well ... Maybe over the years, these stupidities and unacceptable actions will pass ...

So, about the knife. The lover of a functional knife clearly faced a problem. Do not take with you all this blade arsenal? It is easier for someone who goes hunting from his porch with an assembled gun. Here, on a campaign against moose, it is easier to grab an hatchet, a rope, and a hide knife.

City hunters will have to use, most likely, some one "universal" knife. The hunter most often gets used to it, loves it, feels more confident with it, many memories are associated with it ... The knife is the hunter's pride, his friend. Such a knife is not changed or sold ... In each locality, such knives vary greatly in design. I have seen and had many of them.

...everywhere

Altai developed its own taiga knife. Massive, with a mounted wooden handle, with the tip raised up. With such a knife, you can cut down a pole or drill a hole in a plank with a tip. It is convenient to remove the Finnish knife from the sheath, as well as put it back. No fasteners. Yes, and in the cold, in the dark, on the go, what kind of fasteners can you find somewhere below the waist? It is convenient to repair sleds with a Yakut knife with a long and narrow blade, drilling holes for belts in wooden slats ... It is more convenient to use a Tundra knife in gloves, for example, when cleaning a platform for a trap. At one time they talked about a hunting knife in the European part of Russia. Obviously, this term is still contrived. In practice, each hunter, as a rule, has his own "universal" knife. "Universal" is, of course, in quotation marks. Since full universality cannot be achieved. To have to give up some of its properties and opportunities in favor of others ...

Thirty years ago, I had to deal with this problem a lot. In the end, over the years, this approach has been developed in practice. When going hunting for 2-3 or more days, I always take my taiga knife and a small folding knife with many items: an awl, a corkscrew, a can opener, a screwdriver, an extractor, a corkscrew, a file, a blade. I take a folding knife not only for delicate and specific work, but also in case of loss of the main belt knife. (This incident happened to my nephew at our home, in Western Siberia, in the deaf urmans of the Vasyugan swamp, 100 km from our dwelling. Then, late, we made our way through the thickets of the miner to one of our winter huts). Not bad, of course, if both an ax and a saw are in the cache in the hunting place.

General knife arrangement

The general arrangement of the knife is more or less known.

Blade. The plane of the blade is the flat part of the sides of the blade. The lower part is a sharp rib, the cutting part is a blade. Blade Curve - The curved part of a blade that runs from the blade to the point. The line where the blade and side surface meet is the edge of the blade. The heel is the base of the blade plane at the bottom of the handle. Sometimes, for delicate work, the knife is additionally fixed from below by the heel with the index finger. In this place, the heel has a flat cut. Butt - a blunt edge of the blade, opposite the blade. To increase the pressure when cutting, they sometimes press the thumb on the butt immediately behind the handle. On the side surface of the blade, a sample-dol is sometimes made. Then, when sharpening, the side surface (fuhtel) will not be scratched, while the mass of the knife decreases, and the strength of the blade to break increases. The cross section of the blade can be flat-conical, flat-concave, razor-concave, conical. The sharpest thing you can sharpen is a razor (concave) blade or flat-concave. But, of course, during rough work (especially when cutting) it will crumble. For such work, a flat-conical section of the blade is more suitable. The sharpness of the knife can also be increased by reducing the angle of the conical section of the blade. The point where the blade and the bevel of the butt converge is the point. To lower the tip, make a bevel of the butt. If the point is below the line of the butt, this is a falling point, if it is above the line of the butt, it is taking off. The angle of the point should be in the middle between a hide knife and a combat knife, i.e. when defending from a wild beast, the knife should nevertheless cut through the skin of the beast and enter the carcass ... In short, the knife should not be too blunt when stabbing. The handle can be riveted in the form of overlays or mounted on the shank. Clamps can be placed in front of the handle and behind to prevent splitting. The blade and handle can be separated by a guard guard, which serves to support the hand. The head is a part that closes the knife handle and provides a stronger attachment of the handle to the shank.

My knife

What is my taiga knife? Blade length - 173 mm. Handle length - 135 mm. Let me explain these dimensions. On the one hand, for heavy work, it seems that the length of the blade should be longer. For example, 180-200 mm. Like it or not, the first thing that is required of a knife in the forest is to cut down a slug to move through the swamp, chop a perch to build a bungalow hut, cut down a staff to cross a stream or a swamp, and sometimes a tree to cross a spilled stream at night. It often happens that a stream 2.5 meters wide - you can’t jump over ...

After all, you don’t always carry an ax with you, but you don’t want to go around 2-3 kilometers ... In the press, for some reason, they always exaggerate a skin knife. But not every year you butcher an elk... Have you noticed that the total length of the knife is increased due to the handle? What's the matter here? If you need to cut down a pole, I grab the end of the handle with my palm. Then the inertia and impact force increase. Simple as that! And the blade is not very long, and cut well. Blade length 173 mm, thickness 4 mm and width 35-40 mm - these are the dimensions from which the chopping action of the knife begins. On the contrary, with more delicate work, we grab the handle closer to the heel of the blade. The knife becomes more manageable. And the hand gets tired less during such work. The balance of the knife is good, as the handle is mounted on the blade tang. So the handle is not heavy. The center of gravity is in the blade.

The total weight of the knife, depending on the material of the handle, is within 220 gr. Considering that, being far from home, there is no need to wait for help in a difficult situation, the knife must be durable. The thickness of the blade is not less than 4 mm. I once had to tear off the frozen door of a forest hut in the dark. What warnings are there so as not to spoil the blade! Stupidity is all paper scribblers. I prayed to God that the blade wouldn't break. All clothes were iced over from wet snow, I wanted to quickly get into the shelter and flood the stove ... It was not possible to see what the blade hit - on wood, frozen clods of earth or on nails in the door boards ...

Can you imagine the disappointment in the morning when you look at an expensive blade after such extreme work? When purchasing a knife, one should always keep in mind, first of all, its reliability in extreme conditions of hunting and taiga life. I think that sometimes beauty and elegance should go by the wayside after reliability. Hunting equipment, like military equipment, must undergo rigorous testing during the manufacturing process. It is one thing to plan a plank on the porch of a hunting base, another thing is to cut down in the dark to the touch the frozen door of the winter hut into the ice, when the blade hits knots, and frozen clods of earth, and nails ...

For example, compare pouches for AKM cartridges and shotgun pouches for imported production. Try tearing off the hanging loop from one and the other. (During such an experiment, my friend upset his partner by ripping off an Italian pouch from his belt with a wave of his hand. What a delicate and thin skin there! Will it survive in forest wanderings?) taiga wilderness, but also near my village ... I sharpen to a flat-concave tip - sharper (15 degrees), and then to the handle - flat-conical: for rougher work (for cutting, splitting). Dried coniferous knots are strong as a bone!

It is important here that the blade does not bend or crumble. The angle of sharpening here is 20-30 degrees. I do the sharpening itself “in Finnish”. I have already taught this technique to many of my friends for sharpening kitchen knives. Even their wives noticed that the knives keep sharpening longer ... The width of the blade at the heel is 35 mm, at its widest point (before lifting the blade up to the point) - 40 mm. The curve of the blade in front of the point allows good skinning of large animals. The very length of the blade, as it were, increases due to rounding. The tip itself is slightly lowered down, with a bevel. This design facilitates the initial ripping of the skin - the point does not stick into the meat and tendons when the handle is reversed.

Steel

Some time ago, the blades were made of stainless chromium (medical) steel 4X13 (40X13). She was the easiest to get. Some people managed to get steel 65X13,95X18 or even 110X18.

For a better understanding, I will give several groups of steels and the technology of their hardening.

The first - St30 - mild steel. Does not heat up, as the percentage of carbon is small. Not suitable for knives.

St45 - medium carbon steel. 0.45% carbon. Already hot. Carbon content in hundredths of a percent. Not used for knives.

The third - U8 - high-carbon steel. 0.8% carbon (in tenths of carbon). Hardness when hardened 56-58 on the Rockwell scale HRC. Used to make carpentry tools and knives.

Fourth - U8A. High quality carbon steel. Carbon content in tenths. Minimum content of harmful impurities (sulfur and phosphorus). All good steel, but subject to corrosion. And in the taiga, and just with a long stay in the forest, the knife will simply rust. It is unlikely that a hunter, exhausted during the daytime hunting, will find an opportunity to clean and oil his knife at night by the light of a kerosene lamp. Other works in such cases are up to the throat, and the head is already bowing down from fatigue ... There is only one way out - stainless steel (although some chrome carbon blades).

So, the fifth - blades with alloying additives. Just keep in mind that steel does not really rust with a chromium content of at least 13%. These are steel 40X13, 65X13, 95X18, 110X18. And also 12 G2, 60G2, 65G. 65G (this is elastic spring steel). The numbers 40, 65, 95 are the carbon content in hundredths of a percent. Numbers 13, 18 - chromium content in whole fractions. For knives, these steels are good, especially with 65X13 and 95X18. Hardening 110X18 -58-62 units. This is the famous Zlatoust knife steel. It is very difficult to get it.

Steel 40X13 has a hardness of up to 55 units. She's the easiest to get. To obtain high hardness, heat treatment of steel 40X13 is carried out according to the following regime: quenching at a temperature of 1000-1030 degrees in oil, tempering in saltpeter at 330-380 degrees (or quenching at a temperature of 1020-1040 degrees in oil and tempering at 250 degrees for 1 hours with air cooling). We must bear in mind the following feature: hardening at temperatures above 1040 gr. contributes to reducing the strength of the blade. Conclusion: it is necessary to heat not by eye, but in a muffle furnace with thermometer control ...

Stainless steel for surgical instruments 95X18 has increased hardness, high resistance to corrosion and wear. The blades of the knives are of high quality, with excellent cutting ability and with complete resistance to rust. This steel is tempered at a temperature of 1000-1050 gr. in oil and with low-temperature tempering at 150 degrees. Hardness with such hardening can be 53-60 Rockwell units. But up to 58 units is enough. Then the blade is polished and sharpened. It is difficult to get such steel ...

Sixth - there are stainless steels that do not heat up. Not suitable for knives.

And seventh - some alloyed steels, separated into separate groups. Zh - chromium stainless, I - chromium-nickel stainless, R - high-speed, Sh - ball bearing. They contain 0.85% carbon. They are often used to make blades for knives. They are easier to get. Bearings from ships are especially good.

To finish with the blades, a few more points. If the blade is overheated, it will crumble, and it will be difficult to sharpen such a blade in forest conditions. If it is not hot enough, the blade will bend to the side during hard work.

self defense

There is no way around the issue of using a knife in self-defense. Although this happens rarely, mainly among hunters who are in the wilderness, it must be borne in mind that a frightening-looking cleaver is a poor defender at the same time. A comfortable knife with a blade length the length of your palm is more suitable. This will just be 173 mm. Then, perhaps, the knife will not turn out of the brush when striking. If the blade is longer than 173 mm, then you need to have a very strong grip of the hand and stiffness of the wrist. But not everyone is engaged in wrestling?

In my life I happened to see two hunters who had to finish off a bear with a knife with not very successful shots. With the third taiga resident who got into such a mess, I was closely acquainted and friendly.

A case from one's life

His dramatic hunt took place in 1972 in the area of st. Mshinskaya Leningrad region. Having arrived to hunt and settled in the hut of one grandmother, the peasants drank and began to argue how best to approach the lair. We quarreled, and in the morning my friend went his own way, and the other two went theirs. These two, having found nothing, returned early to the village, where they sat down at the table to twilight. Beginning to get dark. Granny began to drive them to look for her friend. But they, apparently, offended by him for yesterday, did not go ... Then the grandmother begged a horse from the team leader and drove along that forest road, along which her guest had left in the morning. So she stumbled upon a wounded hunter crawling towards the village.

Willpower saved him twice: both when defending with a knife after not entirely successful shots, and when striving, even being mashed by a bear, to crawl to the saving warmth of the village ... And it’s a sin to smile - one of the bear cubs had his face peeled off, and two of them had their hands were mutilated, several fingers were bitten off. They told me that in such cases a long blade is not needed, on the contrary, it is better to take a knife shorter, “smaller”, as they put it, so that it would be more convenient for them to cut the bear’s belly from bottom to top. And stabbing in the heart between the ribs is again just a hint, far from reality. Apparently, in such cases everything happens transiently, the beast does not provide such an opportunity ...

Care must be taken when working with a knife. As is known from statistics, the majority of wounds are received by a hunter from inept or careless handling of a knife with an ax, a saw, and not from wounds from a gun. With a large and strong swing with a knife to strike, there should not be any objects in the path of its trajectory (the corner of a table, a knot of a tree, a branch, a stretched rope, a fluttering cloak, etc.). At the same time, the comrade should not push under the arm, gesticulating and substituting his finger.

I know a case when one hunter for some reason finished off a wounded goose with a bayonet from an SKS. The blow was so strong, but inaccurate, that the bayonet pierced the goose and nailed his own foot in a tarpaulin boot to the ground (and this despite the hard rubber outsole of a soldier's boot). He told me that while we drove with a friend to the hospital in the city, the blood in the boot squelched, despite the tight bandage.

Lever

Now about the handle. It should be “warm” - that is, made of wood, burl, plywood, leather. In addition, the handle should not slip in the hand. It should not contain various elements that cool in the cold (just those that are present in imported knives, because they don’t have frost).

I prefer special strong plywood. It will not split, crack, and most importantly, the handle will not swell from prolonged rain or dampness. Handles made of wood or burl must be carefully oiled, then dried for a long time ... I don’t make a special limiter. Special thickenings and a special shape - figured (according to one's hand) - do not allow the knife to slip or twist out of the hand. This danger increases when the palm is slimy or the fingers are stiff.

I don’t make separate finger stops at the bottom of the handle, they can interfere with the reverse grip. The handle itself is not round in cross section, but oval. This is done to more securely hold the knife and better orientate it in the hand, especially in the dark. After all, you can cut with force on something even when the blade is not directed strictly down. Dangerous slipping is then inevitable - here is the wound for you ....

Handle length 135 mm. In winter, try to correctly orient and hold a tiny hand with a glove ...

Sheaths have already been mentioned. They should not be cut with a blade, so as not to get hurt. To do this, inside the leather sheath (made of thick leather of the sole type), you can insert wood inserts or a plastic case. The sheath should hold the knife firmly and securely. The knife should be easily and quickly removed from the sheath and quickly, without unnecessary manipulation, inserted into them. I insert my knife without pulling the sheath forward towards me to visually control it. I do by touch. He himself "knows his place."

My scabbard is like a Finnish scabbard: the handle enters the case for two or a third of its length, while the case clamps the oval of the handle. When carrying the knife should hang vertically, without tumbling. The loop for this protrudes over the upper edge of the handle. The loop itself is wide, strong and is a continuation of the leather scabbard itself. Having got into difficult situations several times, you can easily discard the desire to buy a pretty imported knife. Try to open a frozen trap with such a toy, chop stakes, chip frozen ice from ski bindings, push any frozen boards apart and perform many other hard-to-predict operations. Reliability and more reliability.

Combat knives must withstand a lateral load if a fighter in all equipment stands on a handle protruding horizontally from a crevice. The blade of a hunting knife made of alloy steel, given above, will also withstand such loads. Otherwise - gosh! And you're without a knife for two or three weeks. And also the sharpening of some imported knives is special. After all, they have blades with hardening of only a small bevel edge. And inside the metal is not hardened (Spanish). And you can’t even correct them in the forest ... And, of course, you are unlikely to wean your habits. I mean the habit of handling a knife.

Maybe this is bad, but I'm used to doing all the necessary work in the forest with a knife (you can't cut an ax), including rough ones. He got blunt - he took out a whetstone or needle file, corrected the blade, and again everything is in order. And with an expensive factory knife, you have to beware of rough work ... I don’t like that ...

I remember one guy came to me to zero in on a gun, they shot at a standard 35 meters. It was the turn of shooting at 50 meters. He began to strengthen the shield, and sent a friend to cut down the weeds that interfered with visibility. I shouted to him at the same time as he was swinging the knife: “Be careful, there are tangled braids of wire rod in the weeds” (thick wire). But it's too late. His first blow was precisely on the wire rod. It was difficult for her to distinguish, everything was red, covered with dust and dirt ... The expensive knife was damaged from the first swing ...

GOST

I am quoting the current GOST for hunting knives and daggers 51500-99.

V. Valnev, a weapons designer from Izhevsk, gives an example of testing a hunting knife.

1. Do not fall out of the sheath due to slight lateral vibration with the handle down.

2. When a knife in a sheath falls on a point from a height of 1 meter, the integrity of the sheath must be preserved.

3. The cross-section of the handle should be oval or somewhat flat to ensure controllability, prevent rotation in the palm, reduce effort to hold.

4. A small guard is desirable - a limiter from below for the safety of working with a knife.

5. The handle should not slip in the hand.

6. The color of the handle is better bright - more noticeable in the grass, on the ground.

Unfortunately, our former knives (in the USSR) were not constructively thought out. A good knife No. 1 MOOiR could have been obtained if the upper part of the aluminum guard were removed from it, and the tip slightly raised. It would be suitable for butchering large animals (the upper part of the limiter would not interfere), and for defense, and for other work. The so-called fishing knife had a rough rubber handle, an unnecessary double-sided guard, and a blade point too lowered.

Knife MOOiR No. 2 - unsuccessful, too wide blade. It was inconvenient for them to sand and do other work. Our other knives were unremarkable. We just got unlucky with this. Obviously, there were no hunters in the design bureau during their development. And then there are the restrictions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs ...

Of course, there are good imported hunting knives. But it was the hunting ones, and not those that were manure for us ... But they are very expensive. It is unlikely that a simple hunter will purchase a knife at a price equal to the price of our gun ...

Of the domestic knives, I consider the knives of the Zlatoust Arms Company LLC, the knives Tayozhny, Orlan, Bars, Nika, Kosotur, etc., to be out of competition. The main thing is that you can tweak them yourself - sharpen the blade without fear weakening the hardness of the cutting edge.

I did not consider other functional knives, since this topic is inexhaustible due to its immensity. It was only about a camping taiga knife, capable to some extent to perform a variety of work in forest wanderings. Do not really carry 5 knives with you ... It is important that this is a reliable favorite assistant. So that the hunter is sure of it.

But this is not the main thing. By and large, the main thing is that at the necessary moment at least some kind of knife is at hand. I think that many can remember the case when, due to some circumstances, we would be very happy to see at the bottom of our backpack a box with at least one match, a dusty cracker, at least one cartridge with the necessary charge, a coil of rope, a jar of salt, a thin storage box, flashlight or compass. They could rectify the sometimes seemingly hopeless situation in order to protect one from spending the night in wet clothes under the open October sky in icy drizzling rain, save health, and sometimes life.

I wish all my comrades in hunting passion that, in case of any urgent need, you always have your favorite knife with you or, in extreme cases, a simple warehouse lying around in your pocket ... The main thing is to manage to get out of a difficult situation ...

A. Azarov,

member of the Arsenal Weapons Association,

St. Petersburg

taiga knife- this is the tool that any taiga hunter and any wanderers in the taiga can hardly do without. Of course, in terms of survival, you can do without a knife, like without any other tool, and even try to make a semblance of a knife from any scrap materials that you can find under your feet, but we are not talking about survival, but about purposeful stay in the taiga.

Therefore, if in conditions of survival (which do not happen so often with people), any actions come down to taking a person out of these conditions and getting to people, civilization, and it’s good, if at all, there is at least some kind of knife, then use a bad knife from day to day, when you visit the taiga forest periodically and are forced to work there, you are unlikely to like it. These are unnecessary reproaches against this tool and, moreover, a significant decrease in the efficiency of your work!

If not every knife is suitable for permanent taiga work, then what should be the one that is suitable? Everything is very simple! The shape of the blade has long been chosen by the taiga inhabitants of various northern regions of Eurasia - this is the Finnish form, i.e. blade" Finnish".

All these Rambo knives, with various bells and whistles and adaptations, are an order of magnitude inferior to an ordinary, simplest Finnish knife. Every connoisseur of edged weapons knows that there is no universal knife that would be suitable for all occasions, but the Finnish knife came closest to this. This is the most versatile of all knives.

There are various forms and types of this knife, depending on a particular region, on the people who used it. Traditionally, Finnish is more Sami, i.e. from belonging to the Sami people. It would be more accurate to say "Finno-Ugric knife", because it also covers other Finno-Ugric peoples of the north. In Finnish, a knife is called "puukko".

What can a taiga knife be used for:

Work with wood, plan, cut;

Butchering prey, working with meat;

Use as a cutlery (the peoples of the north eat a lot of food of animal origin, and therefore a knife is simply necessary during a meal, instead of a spoon and fork, many people use their personal knife, cutting off pieces of meat, etc.);

All other household and economic needs;

As a self-defense (you never know what?).

When choosing a knife, you need to proceed from logical criteria depending on the region. If you think logically, then the following follows:

What region? - Taiga;

Who is the indigenous inhabitant of the taiga? - Finno-Ugric peoples;

What knives do they use? - With the Finnish form of the blade.

Various bells and whistles can only hinder you with the constant use of a knife in business. Therefore, if you want to increase your efficiency, it is better to use the experience of the indigenous inhabitants of the taiga region. If you need a really good knife, a faithful partner and friend on your trip, then I, like many other people, recommend you a knife with a Finnish blade shape or its analogues.

Finnish puukko knife set

The blade of the taiga knife has straight slopes, their angle is approximately 30-35 degrees. The Saami like to use sets of two or even three knives, differing only in size. A small knife - for finer work and a large one - for coarser work, and often even for cutting bushes. But this kit is more suitable for the tundra and forest-tundra than for the classic taiga forest. In an ordinary taiga forest, people use a bunch of knife + taiga ax.

Another example of a taiga knife is Yakut knife. The Yakuts are not a Finno-Ugric people, they are a Turkic people, so they brought their own knife shape into their everyday life, which is similar to the Sami knife, but has its own unique shape.

traditional Yakut knives

Just like the Sami knife, it uses natural materials for the handle and sheath. The scabbard is made of leather, the handle is made of birch bar, horn, type-setting birch bark or leather. But, as far as I know, handles for Yakut knives are made from birch bars, or rather, from birch burl, the structure of which gives an unusual natural ornament to the handle. The length of the Yakut blade is about 110-170 mm. The butt, that of the Yakut, that of the Puukko, is equally straight. However, the Yakut knife has a characteristic feature - asymmetric sharpening. In the photo above, the fuller is clearly visible on one side of the blade, and the other side of the blade is curved. This is done so that the knife does not dig into the material.

Blade material for taiga knife - steel. As a rule, carbonaceous, i.e. well corroded. This is due only to the absence of stainless steel among ancient people. However, for taiga conditions it is better to use blades with stainless steel. A good option for such a blade can serve as laminated steel. My knife from the Norwegian company Helle (on the first photo), which I assembled myself from a set (they sell such sets for those who like to assemble by themselves), has a laminated blade. The essence of the laminate is that the cutting edge of the blade is made of strong, hard steel and looks like a thin strip, which is wrapped by forging into a piece of the most ordinary, running stainless steel. After all, it is the cutting edge that is important for us in a knife, and not other parts of the blade. Therefore, you can save on the blade.

Taiga hunter's knife, blueprint

Taiga knife in action

Taiga knife (Yakut) in action when working with the skin

Evenk eats bear meat, a frame from the movie "The Evil Spirit of Yambuya"

Nenets woman eating reindeer meat

Stroganina from fish with a Mora Swedish knife

My knife in the field

Each taiga wanderer chooses a working tool at his own discretion. The length of the blade of my knife is 100 mm - and this is quite enough for me. However, someone else will prefer a length of 150 mm - a matter of taste. I would like to note a significant minus of fins - inconvenient cutting of products. Be it bread, sausage, cheese or something else. Due to the more or less thick butt, this is rather unpleasant to produce. But, as mentioned earlier, there is no universal knife. For kitchen needs, we use thin blades, literally about 2-3 mm in the butt. It is good to cut food with such a knife, but it is bad to do any other work that requires more strength. This blade is easy to break!

Beautiful patterns of Karelian birch

Based on aesthetic considerations, the patterns that are visible on the handle made of Karelian birch or burl cannot be compared with anything. Such a handle is impregnated with oil and, in addition to water-repellent properties, it acquires aesthetic properties. Everyone who sees such a knife asks to see it and look at the handle. And I am convinced that if your knife also gives you aesthetic pleasure, then working with it will go better!

Keep your knife sharp and sharpen it periodically. If the blade is made of carbon steel, then do not forget to lubricate it with oil after completion of work, so the blade will remain clean from corrosion for a long time. Better not use your favorite tool for opening cans, and also for lighting a fire with a flint and flint. I recommend for these purposes to have with you some kind of small, rough working knife made of carbon, which is not a pity and which does not serve important work.

Taiga has attracted the interest of hunters since ancient times, because of the rich animal world. Hunting conditions in the taiga are extremely difficult, which makes it unforgettable and extremely attractive for true professionals and lovers of their craft. For many Siberians, hunting is still the main occupation. And the taiga knife is an integral companion of the taiga hunter.

Taiga hunter's knife.

Why do you need a hunting knife in the taiga

The main weapon of a hunter, of course, is a gun, but this does not reduce the importance of a knife in hunting. He will never "give a misfire." In harsh, taiga conditions, without a true blade, the hunter simply will not survive. The functionality of the taiga hunter's knife is extremely extensive, but there are also basic functions, and no other tool can replace it in this:

cutting prey, skinning a dead animal;
cutting and processing of wood, branches;
use as cutlery;
use for various small jobs;
and in extreme cases, use as a weapon of self-defense.

Principles of hunting in the taiga

From time immemorial, hunting has been considered one of the most worthy male occupations. Its principles and traditions have been formed over the centuries. Taiga is perhaps the most severe place for an ordinary hunter, but with proper preparation and observance of certain principles, it is subject to everyone. Neglect of these rules can lead not only to an unsuccessful hunt, but also to increase the danger to life.

If you do not know the area, then find a local guide. In the Siberian settlements there are people who have experience and are ready to help you. Safety precautions in the conditions of taiga hunting require the participation of at least 2 people, so you absolutely need a partner or guide.
If you neglected the first point, study the area as well as possible. A compass and an accurate watch are essentials.
Self-control and strong-willed qualities: without them, you should not even try to hunt in the taiga. The bear guarded the taiga latitudes, and the trembling hand of an inexperienced hunter can lead to trouble.
Do not kill young animals and those listed in the Red Book, for violation of the rules of hunting, there is criminal liability.

Taiga knife and a case for it.

The most dangerous, but also desirable prey for hunters in the taiga is the bear, but foxes, taiga sables, wild boars and hares have no less value.

Types of taiga knives

Depending on the length of the blade and the size of the knife itself, its use also depends. A large hunting professional taiga knife is suitable for cutting prey, and a small one for working with wood. The two most popular types of taiga blades owe their roots to the peoples of the north:

Finnish taiga or Finnish;
Yakut taiga knife.

These two tools differ in strength, sharpness of the blade and versatility in use.

Which one to choose

To understand which of the above blades is optimal for a hunter, it is worth considering their features in more detail.

Finnish knife

Finca or puukko is a traditional Scandinavian knife shape. Puukko literally means "a knife with a wooden handle." Below are the main features of the finca:

The blade is characterized by sharpness and a straight bevel of 30-35 degrees, which provides excellent cutting.
The drop-down butt allows you to deliver accurate stabbing blows, which are necessary for gutting and those who like to use traps.
The strength of the blade is ensured by the manufacture using the triple stacking method.
The handle is devoid of hail. The technique of working with this knife involves a tight fixation in the palm of your hand, and the emphasis on the head of the handle acts as a limiter.
Finnish scabbards are generally recognized as the best in their kind. The absence of fasteners allows you to instantly get the blade if necessary. Only a third of the product remains uncovered by the sheath, which ensures safety for the owner of such a blade.

Finnish taiga knife.

The standard size of the blade is no more than 10 cm. The balance of the tool is maintained by shifting the center of gravity towards the handle.

The thickness of the butt is on average no more than half a centimeter and gradually decreases towards the blade. This only enhances the balance of this blade.

The handle of the finca is typesetting. This provides the ability to repair and replace the blade, which in the conditions of taiga hunting will be a significant plus.

The second, popular type of taiga blade is the Yakut knife. It is similar to the Finnish version described above. There are two types of Yakut blade: for the taiga and for the tundra.

The blade of a knife for the taiga is pointed and has the same straight butt as that of a Finn. Due to the fact that the knife was used mainly for woodworking and butchering animals, the blade acquired a wide shape. Also, the blade has a distinctive feature - asymmetric sharpening, so that the knife does not burrow into the material. On the right side of the blade there is a fuller, which is designed to enhance the strength of the blade.

The handle is of the taiga type, on average, 12-15 cm long, has no guards and stops. Made from bone or wood. The scabbard, like the Finnish one, also covers a third of the knife, guaranteeing a good preservation of the blade.

Yakut taiga knife.

Based on these above features of the two types of taiga knives, the hunter, having assessed, if possible, his needs and needs in the conditions of taiga hunting, will make the right choice in favor of one or the other option.

Materials for a taiga knife

In the past, Finnish knives were made of carbon steel to avoid corrosion due to regular contact of the blade with blood and other viscous liquids. Nowadays, the main material of manufacture is high-carbon steel.

chromium (increases the wear resistance of the blade);
nickel (provides rust resistance and adds strength to the blade);
molybdenum (gives impact strength to the blade).

Similar manufacturing principles are also characteristic of the Yakut variation of the taiga blade. But the primary material for the blade was mild steel, which was easily sharpened, even doomed river pebbles. The modern version of the knife can be bordered, as well as alloy steel, and in Damascus. The handle is traditionally made of wood.

The best taiga knives

It is optimal to purchase such products in specialized stores or from private craftsmen working with edged weapons. A high-quality Yakut model can be proud of Russian manufacturers, such as Russian Bulat and gunsmiths from Zlatoust and the city of Vorsma. The most popular Finnish taiga knife manufacturers are Kauhavan, Oselli and Marttiin.

DIY manufacturing

There are quite a few options for making a taiga knife, so in this article we will consider the main points:

Handle. For the handle you need a bar about 14 cm long, 5 cm wide and 3 cm thick. As a material, it is better to use birch, oak or walnut. If the handle is mounted in a sandwich type, then the bar is sawn into 2 plates and then processed, giving them a shape. If a mounted mounting is used, then the bar is processed after being connected to the blade.
Blade. To make a blade, a person must be able to work with steel. It is customary to forge a Yakut knife, the processing temperature ranges from 1000 to 1040 degrees, depending on the type of steel. It is very important for each steel to observe its own processing temperature, otherwise it may affect the strength of the product. Finca can also be made from a strip of steel on a grinder or other special machines.
Sharpening. Depending on the chosen type of taiga knife, descents and scope, it will vary.
Sheath. They can be made from any straight grained wood (walnut, pear or birch). This will require a bar about 30 cm long, 7-8 cm wide and 5 cm thick, which splits into 2 parts. The edges are leveled with a planer, then 2 grooves are cut in both parts of the bar along the width of the outer part of the handle, so as to drown it halfway in these grooves. The depth of the groove decreases from the handle of the inserted knife to the end of the blade. Further, both halves of the bar are processed from the outside with a rasp, leaving a wall thickness of at least 4 mm. A small roller is left along the edges of the mouth of the scabbard for a leather ring attaching them to the belt. The joining edges of the two blanks are treated with epoxy glue and the middle part of the scabbard is wrapped with tape impregnated with the same glue. Along the outer edges of the gutter, the sheath is pulled together with 6-7 turns of nylon thread on the same glue.

Taiga knife made by hand.

Conclusion

Each taiga hunter chooses a knife at his own discretion. Having provided for all the specifics of a particular type of blade, the likelihood that a knife will not be an easy tool in hunting, but a reliable companion is extremely high. Keep your tool sharpened, if the blade is carbon steel, treat it with oil after use. Use the taiga knife for its intended purpose, and it will never let you down.

Commercially available knives with round plastic handles, pirate crosses and soft leather sheaths are completely unsuitable for commercial hunting. In the old hunting literature, it is not uncommon to find descriptions and drawings of hunting knives, and, as a rule, these knives have neither crosses nor limiters. It is not clear why the MOOiR production plant makes handles without fail with this unnecessary part, which causes a lot of inconvenience in work and when carrying a knife. Especially ridiculous are the scabbards of our licensed knives. They are only suitable for carrying a knife in a suitcase. When hunting, you will lose a knife in such a sheath on the very first day if you do not constantly hold it with your hand. And try to take it out a hundred times and insert it into the narrow slot of the scabbard, unfastening and fastening the strap each time in the cold!

The issue of fixing the knife in the sheath is no less important than the balance of the knife, the shape, size and quality of the steel of its blade. Of the many tips on the hunting knife that have been published in our magazine over the past years, I have not found a satisfactory answer to this question in any one. As a rule, a system is proposed in which the knife is attached with a blade, that is, it fits tightly with the blade into a narrow gap between the walls of the sheath. To ensure that the handle does not fall out, it is usually covered with a strap with a button. And even when they talk about wooden legs, in which the handle is half or two-thirds recessed, they apparently mean the same way of fixing the knife. Such a fixation system is extremely inconvenient. If needles or snow get into a narrow slot of a scabbard, it often leads to the fact that it is impossible to insert a blade into them, and if it is forced in, it jams and freezes. When you have to butcher the carcass of a large animal in the cold, a layer of blood and fat always freezes on the blade, which is not so easy to remove in the cold. If you manage to insert a knife with this coating into such a sheath, then it is very difficult to pull it out later. Meanwhile, the Siberian fishermen used to make a wooden or birch bark sheath, in which the knife was fastened, tightly wedged with a handle, and the blade hung freely in a spacious cavity. With this system, the knife handle and sheath must be adjusted relative to each other. The width of the handle in the abdomen should be 3-5 mm larger than the widest part of the blade.

I will describe the process of making a handle and scabbard of this type using the example of my knife, which served me in the taiga for many years. The length of its blade is 18 cm, the thickness of the butt is 4 mm, the width of the blade in the abdomen is 4 cm, in the heel is 3.5 cm, the height of the chamfer is 1.5 cm, the length of the handle is 14 cm. suitable for small jobs. We see the same with the Canadian trapper knife ("Hunting ...", 1978, No. 12).

For the handle, a bar is taken 14 cm long, 5 cm wide and 2.5 cm thick. First of all, two longitudinal holes for the knife rod are drilled with a long thin drill. Having drilled the first hole, they drive a tightly long nail or piece of wire into it and drill the second closely with it. The jumper between the holes is removed using a home-made needle file made of flattened and notched four-millimeter wire. Having adjusted the hole to the knife rod, proceed to the external processing of the workpiece. Along the wide edges, the bar is hemmed from the middle to one end into a truncated cone (2.5 cm: 1.5 cm). One of the narrow long edges is bent in the same direction along the entire length from 0 to 1 cm (this will be the ventral side of the handle). The opposite (back) is slightly chipped to both ends by 3 mm (see Fig. a, c). After that, the blank is given an oval shape (in cross section). In the middle part, the oval should be of the correct shape (Fig. e, 2), so that the knife is equally tightly fixed in the sheath in any direction with the blade (forward or backward). With frequent use in winter, it is very convenient. Instead of an inconvenient metal limiter under the index finger on the handle, a recess is made 7 mm deep, with a gentle rise to the abdomen. Under the little finger, the same groove is made with a depth of 10 mm with a gentle rise towards the first. From the grooves, symmetrical sastrugi are made on the sides of the handle. The rear end of the handle is slightly crimped to the ventral side, and its oval, for beauty and convenience, is given an egg-shaped shape (Fig. f, 3). In general, the back of the handle can be slightly narrowed from the back to the abdomen, and on the sides you can make light gentle notches of 2-2.5 mm, without violating its massiveness, otherwise the knife will slip out of your hands with sharp swings. After rough processing of the handle with an ax, knife and rasp, it is polished with sandpaper, mounted on the knife shaft with epoxy glue mixed with emery dust, and boiled in drying oil. The best material for the handle is birch, elm or alder burl. You can make it typesetting from scraps of burl or birch bark plates.

Wooden scabbard can be made from any dense straight-grained wood (walnut, pear, birch). A bar 28 cm long, 7 cm wide and 5 cm thick is split, the adjacent faces are leveled with a planer. Then they are planed in both halves of the gutter along the width of the ventral part of the handle so that it sinks halfway into either gutter, sitting tightly with its middle part (Fig. b, c). The depth of the groove from the end of the handle of the inserted knife to the end of the blade gradually decreases to 4 mm. Then each half is planed with a knife and a rasp from the outside. The wall thickness is left within 4-5 mm. The width of the contacting edges is 6 mm, and at the lower end of the scabbard up to 10-15 mm. Along the edge of the mouth of the scabbard, a small roller with a radius of 3 mm is left on the outside, against which the upper leather ring of the scabbard attachment will rest (Fig. e, 1). If the mouth is not very neat, it is expanded so that a gap of 1 - 1.5 mm appears between the walls and the middle part of the handle around the entire circumference. Next, the handle is wrapped in one layer with thin cellophane, then its middle part is wrapped in 2-3 layers with a three-centimeter tape of cloth impregnated with epoxy glue, and clamped between the halves of the scabbard, having previously lubricated their adjoining edges with the same glue. Under the roller outside, the sheath is pulled together with 6-7 turns of nylon twine on glue, and the end is stitched with 4-5 steps of the same twine with glue flush (Fig. d). After that, the sheath with a knife is tightly wrapped with a rope and left until the glue is completely cured.

Then the knife is taken out and the protruding edge of the keratinized cloth-epoxy ring is filed with a file. This ring gives the handle a perfect fit, enhances the sheath's splitting strength, and protects the leading edge from being cut by the blade's edge. Now, on the wide side of the scabbard, you can burn a beautiful hunting scene and soak their wood in boiling drying oil.

I make the attachment to the scabbard removable. It consists of two leather or kamus rings, 3 and 1.5 cm wide, which are tightly put on the scabbard and connected by a wide (12x4) strap (Fig. e).

With frequent use of a knife in winter, it is very inconvenient to wear it on a belt or bandolier. I wear a knife on my hip. To do this, I sew a leather or three-fold canvas overlay measuring 7x5 cm to the trousers behind the lower corner of the slit of the right side pocket (fig. g). Its upper and lower edges remain unsewn. The lower (narrower) fastening ring is pushed into this slot, and the strap with its wide area is pressed against the trousers with a patch. Now we drive the scabbard tightly through the upper and lower rings, and they are fixed quickly, securely and in an exceptionally comfortable position for wearing and using. To insert a knife, it is enough to get the end of the blade into the spacious mouth of the scabbard, and then he himself will sit exactly in his place even from a throw. This operation is freely done with one hand, without looking. To remove the knife, it is enough, with the right hand slightly bent at the elbow, to grab the protruding part of the handle with four fingers and the palm of your hand and with an effort to rest your thumb against the scabbard roller. The sheath is removed from the thigh (when spending the night by the fire or in any other case) also easily and quickly.

Having used scabbards of this design for many years and the described method of wearing them, I never experienced any inconvenience even in the most difficult conditions of the mountain taiga; with frequent falls on steep snow-covered slopes and stony placers, he did not know the habit of feeling the scabbard: "Did the knife fall out?" Therefore, I can safely say that such a system for fixing a knife in a sheath and a way to wear it on a hunt can be considered ideal.

The sheath of the described sample can be glued from any canvas on epoxy resin. To do this, a wooden template is cut out according to the parameters of the sheath cavity (Fig. b, c) and, wrapping it in one layer with thin cellophane, wrap it in 3-4 layers with canvas impregnated with epoxy glue, forming a roller at the edge of the socket. After the glue has hardened, the sheath is removed from the template and all irregularities are turned with a flat file. Further, according to the described method, a leather mount is sewn. If desired, this light and durable scabbard can be sheathed with skins or leather.

I believe that in order to meet the demand of hunters-traders and a certain part of amateur hunters for hunting knives, it would be advisable to establish the industrial production of the following samples: 1 - taiga knife (according to the described dimensions and pattern); 2 - a hunting knife of the same sample, but with a blade 14 cm long, 3 cm wide in the abdomen, 3 mm thick butt and 12 cm long handle.

Taiga knife: a - the ratio of the shapes and sizes of the handle and blade (dimensions in mm); b - the position of the knife and the sheath (side view): 1 - fabric-epoxy ring, 2 - holes for stitching the halves; in - the position of the knife in the sheath (front view); g - scabbard; e - scabbard mount: 1 - kamus and leather rings sewn to the strap, 2 - strap; e - contours of the cross sections of the handle: 1 - at the front end, 2 - in the middle, 3 - at the rear end; g - a knife in a sheath, fixed on the thigh: 1 - the lower corner of the entrance slot of the right trouser pocket, 2 - a canvas lining.

wenge(Milletia Laurentii) is one of the most spectacular and exclusive exotic woods. Its homeland is the tropical rainforests of Gabon, Zaire, Cameroon and Congo (West Africa). It is known that the name "wenge" was given to the tree by European colonists who at various times owned these lands. There are about 40 species of Milletia. Distinguished by a bright, independent character, wenge prefers to grow separately from its counterparts - it is rare to find groups of trees.
It's hard to imagine, but from the moment the workers go on an expedition for wenge, and before the felled tree trunk is delivered to the sawmill, a whole year passes. This is due to the fact that wenge is extremely difficult to transport in marshy areas: the tree is tied to rafts, and the rafts are manually pulled through the water - such a tedious process takes a very long time.
Wenge is a very stylish breed with a unique color scheme and unusual texture. Interestingly, the color of wenge may depend on where the tree grows and what "neighbors" surround it.
The surface of wenge acquires a dark color only after the trunk is cut down. Golden and chocolate shades, which have absorbed the light of the sun and the warmth of the earth, form an amazingly beautiful canvas, and black veins give the wood a special color and expressiveness. The drawing is distinguished by a bewitching eccentricity: as if a wild animal leaves traces of sharp claws on a velvet surface; as if an invisible artist is trying to capture on a natural canvas numerous rapids and waterfalls of the full-flowing Congo, sharp ridges and deep gorges of the Black Continent.
Wenge has excellent physical and mechanical characteristics: high resistance to bending and shock loads; resistance to fungi and insects; hardness.
Residents of West African countries use this beautiful and durable tree quite widely - and not only as an ornamental material, but also as a building material. In European countries, this exotic breed is used mainly for finishing elite interiors, as well as for the production of gift items and decorative ornaments (car interior trim, making chess, inlays, etc.). Due to its unique properties, wenge is ideal for the manufacture of items subjected to strong and frequent mechanical stress. It goes well with any light wood species. The surface of wenge has a natural matte sheen and always looks very impressive and noble. The very name "wenge" is already synonymous with a rich chocolate palette and is certainly associated with luxury.
The handle made of wenge, contrasting in its structure, is distinguished by its stylistic originality, combining elegance and unpredictability. It conquers with the "sweet" range of hot chocolate and the bright beauty of ethnic patterns.