Douk Douk

[Elgatoloco]

Copying from other forum, as there might be some folks interested in this sexy folder

Story behind the name

Actually the history of this knife is really interesting. But for now let's start with the name of the knife, what is "Douk-Douk" ?


Copied form Wikipeda:

Duk-Duk is a secret society, part of the traditional culture of the Tolai people of the Rabaul area of New Britain, the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago of Papua New Guinea, in the South Pacific.

(img from Google)

The society has religious and political as well as the social objectives. It represents a form of law and order through its presiding spirits. In ritual dances, members of the society invoke the male spirit duk duk and female spirit tubuan depending on which mask the dancer wears.




The dancers are always male despite the fact that some are performing the role of female spirits. Women and children were forbidden to look at these figures(or look and face death). Both types of mask are cone-shaped and are constructed of cane and fibre, with short, bushy capes of leaves. Traditionally the duk duk was taller than the tubuan and was faceless. The tubuan had circular eyes and a crescent-shaped mouth painted on a dark background. In addition to the mask, leaves cover the torso of the dancers so that only their legs are visible. Only males could belong to Duk-Duk, with an entrance fee (in dewarra, small cowry shells strung on strips of cane, often 100 metres or more).




The society has its secret signs and rituals, and festivals which were in past times closed to strangers on pain of death. Duk- Duk only appeared with the full moon. Justice was executed, fines extorted, taboos, feasts, taxes and all tribal matters arranged by the Duk-Duk members, wearing masks or chalk on their faces. In carrying out punishments, they were allowed to burn houses and even kill people. Dancers wearing the tubuan masks were regarded as divine beings whose judgment and actions could not be questioned. The society's practice has been dying out since around the start of the 20th century, but Duk-Duk dancers are now featured as tourist attractions.

Common misconception about this knife? - It was never a French army knife, yes it was used by French soldiers(Foreign Legion) but it wasn't an official French army knife.

The Company behind it




It all started in 1929. Company that invented it(or probably was inspired by the famous German "Mercator" or traditional Japanese folders - Higonokami, no one knows for sure...) is Coutellerie Cognet which was started by Gaston Cognet - fun fact - you can still find this company at the same address in France as in 1929. The Flagship model(a.k.a Turkish clip-point) was invented to be used in South Pacific area, however introducing the knife there was a complete flop, due to it's name and the picture of the Douk-Douk warrior, people were just scared of it. So, the after this the company decided to launch it in the French-African colonies and it was a huge success there due to it's low production cost, simplicity(Blade, handle out of folded steel, two rivets and a piece of spring), robustness.




Built like a tank(No joke)


It's a very basic slip-joint construction and possibly the cheapest and flattest knife ever built(Unlike the cheap Asian knives that will fall apart when peeling an apple, so "cheap" in a good way). This whole thing is built like a tank, the spring is very heavy duty, I would say probably 6x stronger than Victorinox spring(There's no way to open it with one hand). In fact it's so strong that even tho the Squirrel version(drop point blade) with the nail-nick it's almost impossible to open it with your finger nail, gotta pinch the blade just like in the regular Douk-Douk blade and pull. Handle is made out of the blackened and folded steel(one piece) with a bail.


Specs:
Full flat grind - 3mm thick
Blade length - 87 mm
Full length - 203mm


Out of the box


it's sharp enough to cut your finger easily and slice through paper with ease. Good thing is that when you are closing the blade it snaps at 90deg angle, otherwise it would be hard for me to point in any direction with my right hand index finger in the future...


Pictures:

90deg sharp angle spine, good for shaving your ferro-rod.

Fun facts

• These days in some African countries "Douk-Douk" means knife or machete. It's its simplicity, low-cost & robustness that appeals to many people, if you want a fixed knife, you just take the hammer and bash the handle close to the blade, wrap it with some insulation tape, job done
• Because of the full-flat grind it's not only easy to sharpen, but it can get scary sharp - that's why in some places it's being used for shaving(just like the cut-throat razor)
• Cold steel Pocket bushman is based on this knife and probably "Mercator" knife too.
• It wasn't very popular in France, not until the war with Algeria[1962] - it was even banned in Algeria at some point for being the French product.
• In Arab countries this knife is called "El Baraka" and has different symbol on the handle as they were not accepting a picture of a man on it.
• There's also a Tiki version of this knife with an etching of a Tiki idol on the handle.

Oh and it's approved by the pygmees

(img copyright douk-douk.com)




Conclusion


If you're into old style folders, love the "Sodbuster" or "Bull nose" I'm sure you will appreciate the Heavy Duty aspect of this knife.
It's absolutely awesome, even tho it bites sometimes when you're not careful and has the appeal of a knife built by convict.








Part 2 with field testing, food processing coming soon...


[Space reserved]

 

[Blaidd]

Thanks for that. Seen them on the EDC sites but never knew their background. Nice knife.

These are just my opinions. Unless they're wrong.

 

[Samon]

I really like my mini. Solid, slim and sharp!