Oetzi's knife

[jojo]

I might have mentioned before my interest in Oetzi the Ice Man. One of the many artifacts that were found with him was his knife. I have wondered what it would be like to use such a small tool. Recently I broke a knife and decided to use the broken tip to make a Oetzi knife look-alike. It's not a reproduction: for a start the blade is steel rather than stone. But it's about the same shape and size, and in that context, it should give me an approximation of what it's like to use.

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The knife is a little bigger than the original, about 140mm long with a 45mm steel blade. The handle is a piece of branch off the hedge in the garden... The blade is epoxied in the handle, with a rawhide wrap. I have now used it on a small carving and I quite impressed with the little knife.

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I used other tools on these but most of the bulk wood removal was done with this knife. The carving on the left was a piece of pine (horrid stuff to carve) and the one on the left is Lime (much nicer)

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I am planning to make a sheath like the original and use it for some bushcraft tasks, just to get the feel for it. So far though, I think it's a success.

 

[Cromm]

Very nice.

 

[Dannytsg]

Very nice and different. Seems like it can be used for a multitude of reasons and is very practical.

 

[grey-array]

Cool stuff, nice to see such an Oetzi knife.
and I dont mind getting a nice blend in tradition and technology as you did with the shape and material(steel) I think its rather fitting, so great job looks cool
Yours sincerely Ruud

 

[dwardo]

Looks like it would be a very handy shape to use.

 

[Man of Tanith]

interesting oetzi's stuff is fascinating

 

[Skaukraft]

Handy little piece of tool.
Nice!

Nice blog to. Love your work.

 

[mrcharly]

What did you think of the blade shape compared to, say, a scandi like the Mora 106?

 

[Hoodoo]

jojo, your work never ceases to amaze! Way cool bit of archaeological recreation and those carvings are super!! Just wonderful all around and a very interesting project.

 

[Toddy]

I like that another goodie there Jojo

I have a little iron knife, made for me by Jon, a Danish archaeometalurgist, that is pretty much that size. He made a woven birch bark sheath for it too. His daughter brought it to me from Denmark and said that the sheath, that really just covers the blade and no more, is very traditional as is the small blade.
It's a really nice wee knife, really useful and surprisingly effective.
I know I'm an advocate for small knives, but they just work so well I'm not surprised that you're finding the one you made, to be sound
Have you seen the small bronze ones found in women's graves in England ?
Like this one
http://www.templeresearch.eclipse.co.uk/bronze/wessex_b.htm

I find the sequence fascinating and the continuation of style even though the medium changes. Like the Australian aboriginies knapping glass electricity insulators and making blades as they do with obsidian

You've just gone the other way

cheers,
M

 

[John Fenna]

Good link Toddy!
I wish the illustration was more detailed though ...
I like the knife Jojo ... but how did you break that blade?
It looks like thick steel......
The icemans gear is what got me into "primitive" reconstructions and I would love to have the time and skill to reconstruct all the gear he had on him....

 

[forestwalker]

Good link Toddy! I wish the illustration was more detailed though ... I like the knife Jojo ... but how did you break that blade? It looks like thick steel...... The icemans gear is what got me into "primitive" reconstructions and I would love to have the time and skill to reconstruct all the gear he had on him....

That is one of my goal as well. Not perhaps full reconstruction, but an inspired by one. Belt: I love the way it contains the essentials in the pocket, well protected. Cloak: I keep trying to find a good source of sedge that would work well for a replica And now I have a clear time-limit on my goal: next summer I *will* have the hides I need to make the last of the clothes I lack. But I'm rotten with flint, so that is going to be the hard part. And a fur waistcoat...

 

[jojo]

Oh, Thank you, lady and gents, your comments are much appreciated. I was not expecting that much interest! John, the blade is only about 2.4mm thick, I dropped the dang thing just after hardening it, on a concrete floor...maybe there was a fault in the steel, I don't know.

I don't have a Mora 106, so I can't really comment or compare. All I know is that's a very sharp blade, the point is quite, well pointy... it stays sharp quite a while and I find it's easy to get to awkward corners of some of those carvings. I used an angle grinder with a worn disc to make the blade look vaguely "flint-ish"

I'd love to make a flint blade so as to compare the two, but I haven't done any flint knapping, yet!

I love the size of this knife, for my own knives, I have gone away from large blades, although of course they have their uses, I prefer the thinner smaller one nowadays.

Thanks for the link Toddy, I haven't seen those before.

 

[Biker]

Ooooh I like that a lot!!!

Last night I was downloading and saving several film clips from youtube, mostly about flint knapping (which I hope to try my hand at sometime) anyway one character mentioned Oetzi's knife. So feast your eyes this little baby! This blokes is just amazing with what he's created. His stone knives are drool inducing. You have been warned!

Anyway on with the film clip:

[video=youtube;eEwIcNMz5-E]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEwIcNMz5-E&feature=channel&list=UL[/video]

Just goes to show what they can do eh? In one of his vids he even shaves with a flake, now that's got to be scary!

 

[John Fenna]

On the last South Wales Bushcraftersflint knapping meet we butchered a pig using flint and slate knives/"hand axes" and they were remarkable good at the job

 

[jojo]

Here is the sheath I made for my Oetzi's knife. I had wanted to make a birchbark strip sheath, but the bark I have was just too short and I was not able to make the sheath properly. So I made it out of strips of leather, that will be fine, until I can get some good birchbark. There is a wood insert to prevent the blade sticking out through the leather strips. It is very secure, the strips act to prevent the knife slipping out. I think it would work even better with the birchbark.

 

[Retired Member southey]

JoJo! Thats a fantastic looking tool!

 

[bikebum1975]

Awesome work really love that sheath to. How did you do the pattern on the knife?

 

[grey-array]

Lovely work on that sheath it looks really classy and stylish
Top job on those pieces
Yours sincerely Ruud

 

[ged]

Agreed that small blades are really useful, most of the time all I use is a multi-tool. My favourite at the moment is the S30V blade on the Charge TTi.

http://www.mindyourfingers.co.uk/pi-4083-3a.jpg

But what do you think about small handles?