A good friend of mine, Nam vet, has had a pinky which will not close since he was a teenager, thanks to hand slipping on some unknown Scandinavian knife. Anecdotally, anyone from Finland will tell you that they are not Scandinavian. One need only look at the language as written (puukko vs knivar, for instance) in order to see they are not Dane/Swede/Norse, but neither are they Rus....they are different.

The young boy scout photo posted by DS is telling, the child training to use the heel of palm on the pommel, and knife with guard until he learns, where normally the adult versions did formerly ditch the guard, and this true across all of northern europe until this last century.

Also, again, one can see in the DS photos that some traditional regional styles are totally different from the knives of the Kainuu region, most of those pictured of Kuahava style and make, (perhaps one Tommi style on most modern soldier shot), mostly shop produced, (I think several of Kankaanpaa make by Altti's dad) large and small, if not a factory, much like typical Rapala fillet knives which came from same area at US importer request of design, and geared ONLY for pull cuts and a slippery slide down to edge on some styles for those of other cultures accustomed to also pushing with hand wrapped around handle.

I have noticed with this style Tommi that when held where knife feels "right" in hand, that the pommel is already braced against heel of palm, and the pommel "crest" as much a reduction of pommel edge to aid in palm getting behind the knife....it has little touches like that, built in, whether on the smaller or larger knives.

But, Pappy, you are not alone and historically, the most ordered Kainuun knife from USA buyers has been the one with a guard (and I think an American retail request as for origin), and Marko makes the several decade old Teho version with domestic market finger rest....there are knives with both, and then others as well.....cannot dig up at moment a photo of one with both, but the Granberg knife has the dip, while several large ones on table have the guard, and the tableful was all a shipment to a US retailer.

BUT, will note that once knives get here, in checking retailers, the ones which move right away are the traditional, while the "better" ones (with guards) as far as maybe their retail strategy seems to show, (and dyed and lacquered) are the ones which take a while to move, and the next fastest to move are the Teho/finger rest. Just going by own looking at what was out there and what was sold out.

Personally, I find the oiled (not lacquered) fancy birch or raita (burled goat willow root) handles seem perfectly fine for traction, the stacked birchbark is excellent.

Just wood-finish trivia, the oil finish Marko uses is a tung oil which is then waxed, and keep in mind arctic birch quite water resistant, and main worry only to keep knife from looking nasty, the dyes and lacquers as much a cosmetic thing. Tung oil can be reapplied at home as it wears, and easily stripped with mineral spirits if desired. Also, both fancy arctic birch and raita are prone to fissures, the raita far worse, and such is considered normal.





Just noticed out of that table full ordered by a USA retailer, not one of the knives a traditional Tommi. The black sheath with solid red front panel reserved for the totally traditional knife. I hate it when retailers know what I want better than I do.