My favorite small gear is a small Puukko (Finnish knife). The blade was made for me by Alpo Kemppainen, in Kuhmo, Finland. The blade is 3 1/16 inches (78 mm) long, the overall length is 7 1/4 inches (180 mm). I made the handle of stacked birch bark with a alder root burl knob on the end and a woven birch bark sheath. With this knife I can do most any outdoors task that a reasonable person would ask of a knife. I can make very fine cuts with this blade, so I can pick up a shed wing feather to make a quill, thus not having to carry a pen or worse yet a fountain pen into the woods.
The Puukko is considered a all purpose knife in Finland. Alpo and his brother Olavi have long been retired, I believe their nephew Veijo Kapyla who trained under them has taken over and is making puukko's under the Kainuun name. Kellam at one time sold their knives in his Florida shop, with a heafty markup, if someone wanted a knife that was made by a family of blacksmiths that can trace knife making back to the 1600's that may be a place to start looking.
