By Luke Causey

When knife folks get into the ‘Every Day Carry’ mentality, a lot of the focus can be on the things that are brand new to the market. Of course, humans have been carrying a knife for about a long as we’ve been able to make sharp rocks, so this is nothing new. The APOC crew, and designer Mike Wallace have taken a centuries old style, the Finnish Puukko, and upgraded it with modern materials and design. Let’s take a look at the large and small puukko, and see just how much better they are than a rock with an edge.

The puukko is a traditional Finnish knife generally used for everyday chores and tasks. Typically made with a wooden handle and stick tang, the puukko in its current form has been around since the great industrialization of the 1800’s. Mike Wallace has put a new slant on this traditional blade. Using modern materials and production methods, APOC Survival Tools has brought the designs to life in the form of a Large a Small Puukko. These are spot-on designed for everyday use.

Both puukko’s use the same materials. The blade steel is D2, which is a good quality steel that’s technically not stainless but behaves like it is. It will patina, but the chromium content is such that detail scrubbing and fussing isn’t necessary. Over a summer of fish and game cleaning I haven’t seen any spots or patina develop, and I generally don’t do any more maintenance that wiping knives clean. Both knives feature a saber grind and came paper-slicing sharp. The grinds are even and uniform from ricasso to tip.

The handles are made from black G10 and are bolted on a full tang. The sheaths are made from Kydex and hold the blades securely. Each of the sheaths include a very well-designed belt loop, capable of opening with a push-button release on the bottom. They can be donned and doffed without the need to remove a belt. The blades of both knives are 3mm thick, just in front of the handle, and taper to about 1mm thick behind the tip.

Both knife sheaths come with firesteel rods attached, and they’re quite sparky! The blade spines are nicely squared, and they make an effective striker. Igniting everything from dried grass tinder-bundles to Vaseline cotton balls has been easy. Interestingly, APOC includes a metal plate sandwiched between the layers of the Kydex on the sheath as a firesteel striker. This is pretty neat-o; it works very well. When I originally saw this, I thought it was a sharpener for the knives, as it feels a little like a coarse diamond plate. So…I tried it for sharpening, and it works, but the coating seems to wear quickly in that use. It’ll sharpen the knife in a pinch, but I’d recommend sticking to using it for a firesteel striker, which it’s very good at doing.

The Large Puukko

This one I really like for belt carry, and I don’t say that often. I tend to carry most fixed blade knives either in a pack or slipped into my back pocket, as I generally reserve belt carry for items with more ballistic performance. However, I first took the APOC Large Puukko out on a back country fly fishing trip and wanted to have it handy for tasks that normally need accomplishing with a knife. I prefer to carry a pistol inside the waistband most of the time, just behind my right hip. With the handy clip on the Large Puukko, I was able to clip it on my belt just behind my pistol, and I found this extremely comfortable. This is how I carried it for months during testing. The clip APOC uses, when combined with the extremely flat Kydex sheath, carries remarkably well.

The Large Puukko has a blade length of 4¼”, with a handle of 4 7/8”. The shape is a traditional Puukko shape, with a flat spine. The edge stays relatively parallel to the spine, then curves up to meet the tip of the knife. This shape works well on food, general camp tasks, and does especially well on wood. I’ve built about a dozen fires with the Large Puukko. Batoning pine and aspen was uneventful. Even knotty pine about 3 1/2” thick wasn’t a problem, I just batoned the puukko through and it kept on ticking.

The handle is especially comfortable. The shape has a sort of ‘indent’ where the index finger lands, and I found this very ergonomic. The rear of the handle features a well thought out lanyard hole, with enough exposed tang to thump on should the knife need to be driven into something. One thing I learned about Mike Wallace from my previous experience with the APOC Wallace Bowie, is that he really knows how to design a handle. The Large Puukko handle is very pleasant to use; no hotspots, aggravating angles, or other abominations are present at all. Even my 10 year old used it to clean several trout, under watchful supervision, and I was never worried it would slip in his hand.

I’ve used the Large Puukko to do everything necessary on fishing and camping trips and have been pleasantly pleased. It’s been my go-to for around the house tasks as well, and performs especially well when an assault needs to be waged on the invading cardboard boxes. The steel has resisted any staining whatsoever, and the handles have stayed secure after all the batoning. Weighing in at 6 oz., I wouldn’t hesitate to clip it to a pistol belt or tactical rig should that need arise. The Large Puukko retails for around $77, and is a great choice for a medium sized fixed blade.

Specifications

• Blade Length: 4.25"
• Overall Length: 9.25"
• Handle Length: 4.88"
• Blade Steel: D2 Tool Steel
• Blade Thickness: 0.118"
• Blade Style: Drop Point
• Blade Finish: Titanium Coated
• Handle Material: Black G10
• Sheath Material: Kydex
• Weight: 6 oz.
• Designer: Mike Wallace
• Made in China
• Price: About $77 retail

The Small Puukko

The Small Puukko is about as handy as a pocket on a shirt. It’s small enough to tote along with you, but still enough of a blade and handle to be useful. It has the same sheath design and attributes as the Large Puukko, scaled down a bit, of course. The firesteel rod and belt clip on the Small Puukko is the same as those for the Large.

The blade is an even 3” in length, with a 3 7/8” handle. The rear of the handle on the Small Puukko tapers a little slimmer that it’s mid-section. The Small Puukko lacks a lanyard hole, but otherwise matches the design features of the larger knife.

The Small Puukko weighs in at 3 oz., half the weight of the Large. I found the Small Puukko to be light enough to have with me when I didn’t feel the need for a larger knife. Paired up with a multi-tool, the Small Puukko made an excellent companion blade for trips in the camper and day hikes on BLM land. I enjoyed knowing I had it with me as a fixed blade option, should the need arise to build a fire or a rainstorm necessitate putting up the emergency tarp.

I have long been a fan of carrying smaller fixed blades in my back pocket. On a coyote hunt, I stripped the Small Puukko of the belt loop and firesteel rod. This made an extremely flat package for back pocket carry. I was able to thumb-press the sheath off, leaving it in my back pocket. Re-sheathing took only a casual look to ensure the tip found the sheath opening and not my rear-end, and it clicked back in just fine.

Recently, a couple guys I know have been advocating cross draw carry of smallish fixed blades. I gave that a go with the Small Puukko. The belt loop on both knives is designed to be completely reversible to the left or right, and convertible to vertical or horizontal carry. I set is up for cross-draw as a right-hander, and put about 20 trail miles on it during several trips. I gotta admit, there’s something to this, and even this old dog can learn a new trick.

The Small Puukko retails for about $67, and represents a quality knife that’s pocketable and carriable just about all the time. With the sheath stripped of the attachments, I even carried it in my inside pocket of my Carhartt jacket. It’s truly a fixed blade you can carry and ignore until you need it.

Specifications

• Blade Length: 3.00"
• Overall Length: 6.88"
• Handle Length: 3.88"
• Blade Steel: D2 Tool Steel
• Blade Thickness: 0.118"
• Blade Style: Drop Point
• Blade Finish: Titanium Coated
• Handle Material: Black G10
• Sheath Material: Kydex
• Weight: 3 oz.
• Designer: Mike Wallace
• Made in China
• Price: About $67 retail

The APOC Puukko’s are a fresh take on the traditional design. The fit the role as everyday carry knives well, and will handle everything from kitchen chores, to camp craft, to DIY project. The sheaths and handles are smartly designed, and really tie the knives together as a package. For a great price point, they’re hard to beat. Check them out at www.apocsurvivaltools.com