Finnish knife

This article is devoted to the type of knives common in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. For the Finns' national knife, see the Puukko article .

Finca. Poland.

Finnish knife , Finnish - a special type of knife , widely used in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union in the first half of the 20th century. The popularity of knives from Finland ( puukko ) led to the fact that almost any knife with a straight blade and a bevel of a butt (“pike”) began to be called Finnish in Russia, regardless of the place of manufacture. The Finnish enjoyed particular success in the criminal environment of large cities. Even before the Russian Revolution of 1917 , such distinctive features of the Russian Finnish knife took shape as bevel butt and dales , which are not obligatory on the original puukko. Also on many “finks” an element alien to the prototype appears - a developed crosshair of the guard .

Modern knife based on the Finnish. "Gyurza" LLC "Folding Knives Factory SARO", Vorsma .

One of the options "Finnish NKVD." The Trud Plant, Vacha Village, 1930s

The successful use of puukko- type knives by the Finnish forces during the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939-1940 led to the adoption by the Red Army of the " Scout Knife " NR-40, which, in fact, is one of the varieties of "Finnish" with a bevel butt and S- shaped guard. The popularity of the knife in the army, the mass production of varieties and replicas of the “intelligence knife” by factory and artisanal methods entailed the consolidation of its design and forms in the domestic knife tradition.

“Finca” has always remained a part of the criminal environment, was perceived as a prohibited weapon used by marginal elements (unlike puukko, which is primarily a household tool). The reason for the popularity of Finnish in the criminal environment was its excellent penetrating property when piercing.

In the absence of a classic Finnish guard, nevertheless, it is firmly held in the hand, as it rests on the palm of the handle with the base of the handle - this is the so-called “Finnish grip”. By the way, on so many ethnic knives, which are also used as combat knives, the guard is absent as such (for example, Buryat hutaga, Japanese aikuti , etc.)

... And to you in the evening blue gloom
Often one sees the same thing:
Like someone in a tavern fight
Sadanul under the heart of a Finnish knife ...

- Sergey Yesenin . Letter to mother. (1924)

In the end, people are most afraid of the incomprehensible. I myself was once a lone mystic and reached such a state that it was possible to frighten me with a simple Finnish knife. Yes Yes.

- I. Ilf, E. Petrov . The Golden Calf . (1931)

So lightning strikes, so the Finnish knife strikes! "

- Mikhail Bulgakov . "The Master and Margarita " (1929-1940)

Special company - special honor for the sapper.
Do not jump with a fin on my back from the branches.
Trying in vain, I'm with a throat cut
I’ll see the dawn today until my denouement ...

- Vladimir Vysotsky , “Black Jackets”

The freedom is to become absolutely poor -
Without a dedicated sharp finca behind the boot,
Two grams under the bottom,
Trump in the sleeve.

- Vera Polozkova , “Freedom”

He calmly entered the stage,
And instantly he was amazed
Hypnotic experienced look
Like a Finnish chiseled knife.

- Alexander Bashlachev , Griboedovsky Waltz

The illegality of Finnish knives was enshrined in the Criminal Code of the RSFSR from 1935 :

To prohibit the manufacture, storage, sale and carrying of daggers, Finnish knives and the like cold steel without the permission of the NKVD in the prescribed manner.

- Article 182

The production of “illegal” knives was especially widespread in places of deprivation of liberty; the Finnish became a “Zekovsky knife”. The tradition includes typesetting sticks from materials of different colors. It had various names in jargon: “gut”, “blade”, “stray”, “finyak”, “dunk” (Finnish small knife). And in colloquial Russian, Finnish often denoted any knife of criminal origin.

From the list of obviously forbidden types of knives, the Finnish knife was removed on the recommendation of experts only in 1996 by resolution No. 5 of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, but can be recognized as such at any time after examination.

A new interest in traditional Russian Finnish knives appeared among manufacturers at the turn of the 20th — 21st centuries: marketing searches for a successful brand lead to the appearance of numerous replicas and reminiscences of Finns in modern products.