Rocky Mountain Bushcraft: REVIEW: Terava Jaakaripuukko 140 Finnish Navy Survival Knife by Varusteleka

The SPECS:

Weight (w/o sheath) – 190 g 6.70 oz

Complete size – 270 mm 10.6″

Blade size – 140 mm 5.5″

Blade thickness – 4.20 mm 0.17″

Edge angle – 23°

Metal – 80CrV2, 59 HRC

Road Worth – $47.99 USD with out sheath, $82.99 with leather-based sheath, and $87.99 with a kydex sheath

The KNIFE

The Terava Jaakaripuukko Survival Knife is a three way partnership between fashionable Finnish based mostly navy surplus web retailer Varusteleka.com and Finland’s main knife blade producer Laurin Metalli.

Varusteleka has change into well-known within the American bushcraft neighborhood for providing laborious to seek out, prime quality European navy surplus for lower than $10 delivery to the US. 

The origins of the Terava Jaakaripuukko Knife are greatest defined by this remark from a French member of Blade Boards USA who goes by “Schwep.” His clarification is useful and fascinating, which I edited for readability to account for the French-English language distinction:

“In Finland, most infantry are referred to as jeager or ranger troops. It is meant to be a normal utility knife for conscript troopers (and civilians) who want a sturdy knife for all times within the infinite forests to do camp work.

Surplus store Varusteleka in Helsinki bought these knives, however resulting from a really restricted manufacturing, they had been all the time out of inventory so that they determined to design their very own tackle such knives, which had been the 110 and 140mm variations of the (Terava) Jääkkäripuukko. Which, in flip, shortly turned so fashionable they they’re bought out as a rule. 

These knives are made by Laurin Metalli, a good maker of Puukko blades.”

As you’ll be able to see from Schwep’s clarification, it was designed for troopers of the Finnish Armed Forces who require a knife that’s robust sufficient to be thrashed on whereas being nimble sufficient for wilderness duties in Finland’s “infinite forests.”

FEATURES

The Terava 140 contains a 5.5″ excessive carbon 80CrV2 blade at a Rockwell hardness of 59. It has full tang development with an uncovered pommel that has a gap in it to accomodate a lanyard. The deal with is made out of a cushty, non-slip rubber. 

The blade’s design is a Scandi grind with a secondary micro bevel for edge energy.

The again of the blade is sharpened for placing firesteels and scraping tinder.

The leather-based dangler sheath options each stitching and rivets and has a sturdy plastic liner to forestall the blade from puncturing by means of. It has a novel button snap blade retention system that may be very safe however simply disengaged by utilizing your thumb to unlock it.

FIELD TESTING & COMPARISON TO THE COLD STEEL SRK

As famous within the title, my first impression of the Terava was that it jogged my memory of the unique Nineteen Nineties period Chilly Metal SRK in Carbon V. The Carbon V SRK was one of many best mid-size survival knives ever made for my part. It had a stout tip and blade, easy however efficient sheath, comfy rubberized deal with, nice throughout blade form, and better of all, metal that was robust but very simple to sharpen and held an excellent edge. 

Considered one of my previous Carbon V SRK’s:

Photograph credit score: Rocky Mountain Bushcraft, ©2009 All Rights Reserved

At this level chances are you’ll be considering “However Chilly Metal nonetheless makes the SRK, together with one made out of Excessive Carbon SK5 Metal. Why is the newer SRK not so good as the unique Carbon V?”

Photograph credit score: Rocky Mountain Bushcraft, ©2009 All Rights Reserved

Plainly talking, the newer SRK in SK5 is simply not as strong as the unique Carbon V or as simple to sharpen. It has a skinny tip (see the comparability additional under) that breaks too simple and the metal, though respectable, is more durable to sharpen and doesn’t take as high-quality of an edge in my expertise. The AUS8 model of the SRK is healthier (I’ve owned two of them) than the SK5 model, however it’s now not made. 

By comparability, the Terava has the entire options of the unique Carbon V SRK, so I needed to do a direct comparability earlier than commencing area testing.

Terava 140 vs the Chilly Metal SRK

Sadly, I now not personal any of my Carbon V SRK’s, so I substituted certainly one of them with a more moderen SRK in Excessive Carbon SK5 metal for the comparability. 

Evaluating the 2, though the blade types are completely different, they’ve so much in frequent for his or her meant objective of navy use and survival duties — thick, rugged blades, beefy rubberized handles, and extremely safe sheaths which might be able to safely retaining their blades within the occasion of a fall.

The Terava’s blade is barely shorter at 5.5″ vs the SRK’s 6″ size. The SRK has a bowie formed blade with a sabre grind and the Terava has a Scandinavian grind with a small secondary bevel. The Terava has a full tang with an uncovered pommel. The SRK has an enclosed stick tang that runs the size of the deal with. 

 

The Terava’s tip is noticeably thicker than the present SK5 model of the SRK. The unique Carbon V SRKs had a lot thicker suggestions (just like the Terava). You will need to have a stout tip on a survival knfe as a result of you might have to dig with it or pry issues in an emergency (i.e. prying grubs from rotten logs, popping open a locked gas door on a car to get emergency fuel throughout a catastrophe scenario, and many others). 

The Terava’s backbone can also be sharpened for placing firesteels whereas the SRK’s shouldn’t be.

Each knives have glorious sheaths for soldier obligation or wilderness survival. The SRK’s plastic Safe-Ex sheath is lighter and comes with slots to wrap further cordage by means of. The Terava’s leather-based sheath is heavier however quieter and doesn’t have slots in it for wrapping further cordage. The Terava’s leather-based sheath undoubtedly exudes the next degree of high quality than the SRK’s Safe-Ex sheath: 

FIELD TEST

To see if Varusteleka’s Terava knife would reside as much as its description, I took it excessive up into the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, an unrelenting and harsh surroundings, to check its skills. 

Batoning

To check the batoning functionality of the Terava, I chosen a chunk of very twisted Cottonwood and cut up it into kindling. This piece was extraordinarily troublesome to separate and among the items actually broke off somewhat then simply splitting. The Terava carried out glorious throughout this activity. Though it is a Scandi grind, from a splitting perspective, the best way the Terava is floor is just like the SRK’s Sabre grind which helps to wedge the wooden open because it passes by means of the log.

 

I additionally cut up a number of different small logs and enormous department sections off digicam and had the identical outcomes (i.e. glorious). 

High-quality Carving

Though the Terava’s tip would not have the finesse of a skinny Mora knife, it will get the job performed for making bow drill divots, and many others:

Wooden carving- that is had been the Terava actually shines in comparison with the SRK Carbon V and any of the newer SRK variations. For such a stout knife, it carves virtually in addition to a Mora:

I’ve owned 6 SRK’s over the previous 2 many years. Though they lower properly sufficient for a survival knife, they’re undoubtedly not nice for high-quality carving duties. The Terava actually ups the ante in that it’s a tremendous robust survival knife that may deal with high-quality carving duties with ease. 

Backbone Check for Scraping Tinder and Placing a Firesteel

Not like the SRK, the Terava 140 has a sharpened backbone that’s able to making high-quality tinder shavings or to strike a firesteel to begin a fireplace. Right here, I used the Terava’s backbone to scrape a pile of pitchwood shavings from a Ponderosa Pine department and ignite it with a firesteel:

Facet notice/survival tip- Blue medical gloves are nice for retaining frostbite away whereas doing duties requiring high-quality dexterity in excessive chilly climate. They’re tremendous compact so its good to maintain them stashed in your pocket and in varied kits when you’re out within the backcountry. 

Making ready to strike the firesteel:

Success!

You will need to notice that I did fairly a little bit of off-camera area testing of the Terava 140 earlier than posting this overview. This contains taking it with me to Rabbitstick 2022, the place I assisted my pal and knife guru Lex Rule to show a bushcraft knife sharpening course there.  

I gave the Terava to Lex to check out to see what he considered it. I will not beat across the bush — Lex may be very laborious to impress in the case of manufacturing unit produced knives. However after Lex spent a while utilizing it after which resharpening it, he pronounced “I believe this is without doubt one of the greatest manufacturing survival knives I’ve used — nice metal and edge profile!” 

I additionally used it throughout a one week tenting journey within the Uinta Nationwide Forest in Utah on the best way again to Colorado from Rabbitstick and it proved to be an important normal objective camp knife. Throughout this time, I obtained to make use of the Terava on some more durable wooden like Exhausting Rock Maple and Scrub Oak (White Oak). The sting on the Terava held up completely. 

CONCLUSION

So is the Terava Jaakaripuukko 140 the fashionable day successor to the unique Chilly Metal Carbon V SRK? I believe so. 

The Terava has a special blade model than the SRK, however in each different approach, they’re comparable in options and in actual world use. And regardless of my fondness for the Carbon V SRK, I believe Terava has truly improved upon it with its superior wooden carving capacity. 

The Terava’s tip is well as stout as the unique Carbon V if not even stronger. The Terava’s deal with is as comfy, and its leather-based sheath is as safe as Chilly Metal’s Safe-Ex sheath and exudes a fair increased high quality. 

In reality, one of many cool issues I discovered I may do with the Terava’s sheath was to show it into an efficient strop. I rubbed Flexcut Gold onto the bottom after which stropped the blade forwards and backwards on it. The form of the sheath together with the plastic liner and high quality/thickness of the leather-based made it a wonderful platform for stropping:

I used to be capable of shortly carry the Terava again to hair shaving sharpness utilizing this technique — fairly cool!

Enhancements? Sure, two — 1) Add a firesteel loop to the sheath, and a couple of) Carry again the stainless model of this knife as an possibility for many who do a whole lot of canoeing, reside close to the ocean, or simply desire a maintenence-free knife for his or her bugout bag. 

So in order for you one knife that may carry out practically any activity — soldiering, city/suburban survival, search and rescue and even bushcrafting, take a look at the Terava 140 by Varusteleka. I imagine it isn’t solely a worthy successor to the Carbon V SRK, nevertheless it has truly improved upon its idea.