Neck Knives mockups

At the BCFIN meeting, something came up during the item trading.  The owner of Perkele´s Blog had this really nice vintage Wenger SAK.

 I was just looking for a SAK with saw blade on it, yet small as Victorinox tinker. This Wenger was just ｆilling all I wished. But only items I had to offer was my DIY knives. So he came up with suggestion,  “What if I make him a neck knife with my brand stamped on it?”.  So here I am, start designing a neck knife for him…

On the way back from the BCFIN meet up, I was so happy about get to make knife for someone. So all I can think of was the design.  Japanese style?? Puukko style?? How would he be using?? How to make it so that it hangs nicely?? What about securing and releasing system??After a while, I came up with one idea, "I will go for a traditional Japanese hunters’ knife" called Matagi-Nagasa.

As soon as I got the initial idea, I picked up my whittling knife and started to make mockups … then carried away a bit.

As you can see, instead of making different version of No.2, I have made 4 completely different styles of mockups. I find it that designing neck knife is much more fun than designing full size. There are so many things I need to take it in considerations. Especially for the handle is the tricky part. I would like to keep the full size (original) design as much as possible, yet need to shrink down the size to 3 finger gripping.

No.1> Ainu-Makiri style: it is a design used among Japanese indigenous people call Ainu. They have 2 different types of traditional knives. One is called “Makiri” and the other one is called “Tashiro”. The difference is the capability/usage so the size/ shape. But the interesting thing about this Makiri and Tashiro blades are that these knives are very much alike of Puukko’s and Leuku’s in its size and function.

No.2>Matagi-Nagasa style: The original has a size of 25 to 30cm of blade length. Used by bear hunters in northern Japan. There are some variations on this style; some of them are fitted with socket handle. So when the time comes, the hunter can use the knife as a spear tip.

No.3> This is something I have been thinking of making it for myself as a neck knife. Tactical Sheep foot… :) if you want to call it some ways.

No.4> A Puukko but in neck knife size. Would be fun to make this size once.

So far, I am quite convinced with all these 4 designs. Personally, I am very much interested in Design No.1.  I will play around with the designs little more, and perhaps, I will make all of these.