RANGER Back in March 2000, I did an article on Finn knifemaker J-P Peltonen’s “Sissi” Puukko M-95. Now before everyone starts giggling about “Sissy” knives, in Finnish this means “guerrilla.” It is also the designation of a very elite battle-hardened Finnish Ranger unit. The original M-95 was developed after the Commander of the Finnish Rangers said that no one in Finland made a knife tough enough for his unit. He threw down the gauntlet and Peltonen created the M-95. While the M-95 has found very good acceptance in the military world (I know a U.S. Army Ranger NCO, who has carried his on numerous combat deployments), I felt the M-95 was a little long for hunting or camping use. When I brought this up with Peltonen I found out he was already working on a smaller version, the M-07 (M-07 = designed in 2007).
Striking Good Looks
Just looking at the M-07 it would be hard to mistake its heritage. For starters it has the same handle as the M-95. The blade is also similar, but with some subtle differences. First, the M-95 blade measures 6 inches; the M-07 is 4-7/8 inches long. The M-07 is 5/32-inch thick at the spine, and is 1/16 of an inch wider than the M-95. This gives the M-07 even better geometry than its big brother and it also has more belly up front. The handle of the M-07 is 4-3/4 inches long, about 7/8-inch thick and 1-1/4 inches at its widest point. It has a bird’s head pommel and is made from an injection-molded plastic, but it feels like rubber and gives a very secure and comfortable grip. The tang is completely enclosed by the handle, a good point when working in very cold weather, where steel may freeze to your hand, and the tang goes to just short of the lanyard hole. The bottom of the handle is ribbed for a better gripping surface and swells downward in the front to form a finger guard.
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