Frag Out! Magazine
Issue link: https://fragout.uberflip.com/i/693549
The utility blades which originate from the Land of the Rising Sun become also more and more popular. A good example of such tools are the kiridashi – small knives for cutting leather or paper, willingly made by the knife makers, frequently from the steel scraps which have remained after the other designs. Despite their modernized form they have not changed their orig- inal intended use so, in reality, contemporary and traditional kir- dashi differ only with aesthetics. It is a totally different issue when it comes to a kwaiken, which more and more often inspires the makers of the custom knives. In the feudal Japan it was a small knife with a characteristic curve, carried mainly by the women. A little bit smaller than a tanto (although according to the certain sources it was a vari- ant of this sword), mainly with a single-edged blade, was first of all intended for jigai – a ritual suicide. It was committed by the women who brought dishonor or were threatened by disgrace, as well as those whose husbands had already committed seppuku. The children were also taught to commit a suicide by cutting the artery in the left part of the neck with one stroke. Jigai allowed them to preserve their honor in the situation when their house- hold was invaded and failed to defend. The other, rather auxiliary, intended use of the kwaiken was a self-defense. Nowadays, nobody seems to remember about a function which the knives of this kind fulfilled in the history. In more or less futur- istic forms they appear among the works of many knife makers. Against the background of the various interpretations of the kwai- ken, particularly distinguishes a design by Lucas Burnley which is now sold by Böker company. This, what makes it so original, is a fact that it is a folding one. The kwaiken manufactured by Böker as a part of the Plus line, has many versions, which differ with the used materials, a manner of opening or a shape of the handle. I had an opportunity to have a model with the titanium liners, a AUS8 steel blade and a flipper. A selection of the blade steel seems to be rather surprising. AUS8 is one of the cheapest grades of steel and it is rarely combined Böker www.fragoutmag.com