The Skrama is a versatile heavy-duty bush knife - a tool that builds shelters, chops firewood and even carves feather sticks! If you're taking just one knife into the bush the Skrama is a viable option. This is naturally no axe, nor a precision tool for extremely meticulous work, but something in between and a solid and dependable companion above all.

The Skrama is a versatile heavy-duty bush knife - a tool that builds shelters, chops firewood and even carves feather sticks! If you're taking just one knife into the bush the Skrama is a viable option. This is naturally no axe, nor a precision tool for extremely meticulous work, but something in between and a solid and dependable companion above all. Skrama - as in Scramasax or Seax, a short, single-edged sword popular in the Middle Ages. Much like the Scandinavian Leuku, it doubles up as a tool and weapon. A fine name is always nice and the best ones are those with some history behind them - our 21st-century Skrama would surely meet the demands of any Saxon man from "ye good olde days". Total length: 430 mm

Total length: 16.9"

Weight: 525 g (knife only).

Weight: 18.50 oz (knife only).

Blade: length 240 mm, width 46 mm, thickness 4,2 mm.

Blade: length 9.4", width 1.8", thickness 0.17".

Edge: 34° for chopping, 25° at the base for finer work.

Steel: Carbon steel 80CrV2, 59 HRC

Grip: Moulded rubber, rough texture for a good grip. Blade The blade is slightly curved, with a hole in the tip for hanging. The back of the blade is flat, no saw teeth or whatnot, perfect to beat a piece of wood against when batoning (Do not use a rock/axe/anything else than wood, it will eventually damage the blade!). Full tang construction, ends with the bare head of the tang sticking out, with a hole for a wrist strap. The blade may have some small rust stains on the base of the handle due to the manufacturing process. These are harmless, and easy to remove. The blade is sharpened to two different angles. Near the grip a 5 cm portion has an angle of 25° for whittling and fine work. The rest of the blade has an edge of 34°, which has proven to be excellent for this type of chopping blade.

The blade is sharpened to two different angles. Near the grip a 2" portion has an angle of 25° for whittling and fine work. The rest of the blade has an edge of 34°, which has proven to be excellent for this type of chopping blade.

Why is there a hole in the blade? It is there for practical production purposes only - it is used when tempering the blades and later during other steps of production. Of course you can come up with your own uses for it too, but most importantly it is there for a purpose, not for decoration!

80CrV2 carbon steel and heat treatment

All Terävä carbon steel knives are made from 80CrV2. The "thing" is that this is really nothing fancy or special, just a very good tool steel which can take a beating and offers good edge retention. 80CrV2 has over the decades earned a reputation as a solid and reliable steel, especially for our purposes.

The heat treatment we use leaves the surface of the steel softer (approx. 52 HRC) than the inside (59 HRC). This functions a lot like fancy differential heat treatments giving the blade added strength. The surface is very resistant against any microscopic fractures or other blemishes, this results in virtually zero problems caused by material defects!

When the blade is ground the harder inner steel is revealed, even though the outer surface is only 52 HRC the actual edge is 59 HRC. This is also why we grind bevels onto the sides of the spine, otherwise the spine corners would not be hard enough to strike sparks from ferro rods!

Carbon steel requires care: if your knife gets wet in the bush, dry it the best you can. Never store the knife without drying and oiling the blade.

Rubber grip

The handle is designed for a "one-and-a-half" hand grip. The back end gives a good, solid grip for tough chopping action, giving the blows more power, as a bush knife this is what the Skrama is designed for. The upper third of the grip is shaped to give you a good feel for detailed work, such as making firestarters. This is however not a miniature model makers scalpel and not intended as one, but as any self respecting Finnish blade it can be used to carve a proper wooden cock, "Leirikyrpä" as it's known in Finnish military lingo. The knife is rather well balanced, so the heavy blade doesn't cause problems when whittling.

Leather sheath

2 mm vegetable tanned cowhide with stitched and riveted construction.

0.08" vegetable tanned cowhide with stitched and riveted construction.

Inside the leather sits the sturdy Skrama plastic liner, a thumb knob on the side of the mouth makes unsheathing easy and controlled.

6 cm wide belt loop, fits just about any belt you can find, even those extra wide military types.

2.4" wide belt loop, fits just about any belt you can find, even those extra wide military types.

D-ring belt loop lets the knife turn on your belt keeping it from coming in the way when moving about or sitting.

Snug fitting press stud strap secured the knife properly in its place. When brand new the strap may feel "short", just pull on it a bit or wet it with warm water and it will soon get a perfect length and shape!

A grommet for a leg tie has been added to the tip.

And last but not least the sheath does of course have a drainage hole at the very end.

A few words from the designer

My dreams of a proper heavy duty bush chopper started some years ago whilst swinging my Hukari (another Finnish heavy blade). During my military service, chopping down trees for camouflage, firewood, shelters etc. these dreams turned into concrete ideas. Apart from the brute Hukari nothing like this was available on the Finnish market. When I finally got the chance to make these ideas into a real life knife it was simple, everything was thought out: The recipe: A long, gently formed handle that would give great hitting power for long swings, this would be the knives primary function.

As a secondary function I wanted the handle to also offer a good grip for detailed work.

Simple and strong construction, full tang and moulded rubber grip. After a few drawing we got to work with Laurin Metalli, one of the biggest named in the Finnish puukko and blade industry. Their expertise and experience made for a great collaboration, one of the best jobs for me so far! Really quick the prototypes turned into this, the final product, which is even better than I had dreamt! Now we'll see how this turns out, buy one, use it and tell us what you think! Stefan M.

Further reading