Description

The WoodsKnife Wild Bear is a handcrafted Finnish puukko hunting knife made by third-generation Finnish knife maker Harri Merimaa in Kauhava, Finland.

There are knives made to a price, and there are knives made by someone who has been doing this their whole life, learned it from their father, and whose grandfather was running a puukko factory in Finland in the 1940s.

The WoodsKnife Wild Bear is the second kind.

Harri Merimaa works out of Kauhava in northwest Finland, the same town where his grandfather L.V. Kuure built a reputation for exceptional puukko making in the post-war years. Harri’s father Esa worked alongside him. Harri is the third generation to carry that craft forward, and he does it with the same attention to materials, finish, and purpose that his family has brought to it for decades.

The puukko is Finland’s national knife. It is not a decorative piece or a collector’s trophy, though it often ends up being both. It is a working tool that Finnish people have carried for centuries, used for hunting, fishing, camp tasks, and daily outdoor life. A good puukko has a simple, strong carbon steel blade, a comfortable wooden handle, and a leather sheath that fits it properly. No gimmicks. No serrations. No modern tactical theatre. Just a well-made knife that does what a knife is supposed to do.

The Wild Bear fits that tradition while carrying Harri’s own character. The blade is 120mm of 80CrV2 Finnish carbon steel, hardened to 59 HRC, left with a black forged skin finish that gives it a raw, working look and provides natural corrosion resistance. The handle is curly birch with wenge edging, shaped by hand, finished with a brass bolster. The leather sheath is wet-formed to fit. Each knife is unique because the natural grain and figure of the materials means no two are identical.

This is not a production knife. Harri finishes each blade personally. The grinding and polishing are stages he considers central to the work, not incidental to it.

Raptor found WoodsKnife the way we find most of the gear we stock: slowly, through looking for makers rather than products. We are not interested in buying from catalogues or moving volume on brands that are already everywhere. We want to know who made it, where, and why they are still doing it. Harri and his family answered all of those questions well.

This is a limited run. We brought in a small number of these to see how they land with our people. If you have the collecting instinct, or if you simply want a knife that was made properly by someone with real skill and a genuine lineage, this is worth paying attention to.

Specifications:
Blade length: 120mm
Blade material: 80CrV2 carbon steel
Blade finish: Black forged skin
Hardness: 59 HRC
Handle: Curly birch with wenge edging, brass bolster
Sheath: Wet-formed leather
Made in: Kauhava, Finland
Maker: Harri Merimaa / WoodsKnife Oy
Note: Carbon steel requires basic care to prevent rust. Oil lightly after use.