Hammergrove Hand Forged 1095 Steel Kukri Knife with Olive Wood Handle | 16 Inch Overall and 11 Inch Blade | Mjolnir Cut Brass Bolster and Leather Sheath | Norse Outdoor Gift | RK-2133

The Hammergrove is a full size kukri in plain 1095 high carbon steel with olive wood handle scales and brass fittings. The blade is polished, deeply forward swept, and carries a long narrow swedge line along the spine and a cut cho notch at the base of the edge. The bolster is brass with a Mjolnir cut into its outer face, the scales are pinned with three steel pins, and the butt is capped in brass. The warm figure of the olive and the yellow of the brass sit together against the bright steel, which is the whole visual idea of the piece. It ships in a stitched brown leather sheath with a companion knife.

The hammer on the bolster is not a modern invention dropped onto an old shape. Mjolnir amulets are one of the most common small finds from the late Viking age, turning up in graves and hoards across Scandinavia, the British Isles and as far east as the Volga. This kukri is made by hand in the Czech Republic. Ransack Viking imports it, checks the grind, the pin fit and the sheath stitching, and ships it from our Memphis, Tennessee warehouse.

The forward angle is the whole point of a kukri, and what a kukri is actually for goes through where the shape came from. Mjolnir is the short handled hammer of Thor, and what Thor’s hammer meant covers the pendants pulled out of graves. If you want a shorter belly for dressing game, the skinner knives cover that job.

Specifications

The hammer on the bolster

Mjolnir means something close to grinder or crusher, and in the myths it is the most important object anyone owns. It is the thing that keeps the giants out. It is also, and this is the part people forget, a consecration tool rather than only a war hammer. It is used to hallow a marriage in the Thrymskvida and to bring Thor goats back to life. Blessing was as much its job as breaking.

Small hammer pendants appear in real quantity from roughly the ninth century onward, and their spread across the same period as Christian conversion is not a coincidence. There is a soapstone mould from Trendgarden in Denmark that casts a Thor hammer and a Christian cross side by side in the same block, which tells you how a working smith of the time saw the market. The hammer shape varies enormously. Some are plain wedges, some are elaborately knotworked, and a few have a beast head at the top of the loop.

Cutting it into brass rather than steel is a deliberate choice here. Brass is softer, so a graver moves through it cleanly, and the cut line holds a shadow against the yellow far better than it would against bright steel.

The steel and the olive wood

The blade is 1095 high carbon steel hardened and tempered to 54 to 58 HRC, with a convex chopping edge. That hardness range matters on a heavy blade. Harder steel keeps an edge longer but chips against a knot, softer steel rolls. This range takes impact and comes back on a stone quickly, which is what a chopper needs.

Olive is an unusual handle wood and it is worth knowing why it is used. It is dense, close grained and naturally oily, which means it resists water without needing a heavy finish, and it has a distinctive wild figure of dark streaks running through a pale gold ground. No two sets of scales look remotely alike, because olive grows slowly and irregularly and the grain follows every twist the tree made. It is also hard enough to take a pin without crushing around it. The trade off is that it is not a stable wood in extremes, so keep the knife out of a car in summer.

Engraving, runes and your own design

Use the rune converter on this page to turn a name, a date or a short phrase into Elder Futhark and we will cut it into the steel, the leather or the wood. If you would rather have a Viking pattern than a rune line, choose your own design in the engraving option above the add to cart button and tell us where it goes. Where a piece already carries an engraved design, your chosen engraving replaces it rather than sitting alongside it, so a chosen mark on the bolster takes the place of the Mjolnir. The olive wood scales and the leather sheath are excellent alternatives, and runes cut into olive read beautifully against the figure. See the engraving page.

Handling and use

Hold it toward the rear of the handle rather than choking up on the bolster. The forward sweep works by rotational leverage and gripping it too far forward throws that away. Keep the wrist loose and let the weight of the blade fall rather than driving it with the arm. For finer work, come forward behind the bolster and use the straighter section of edge near the cho.

This is a working knife and it arrives sharp. Keep it sheathed when it is not in your hand, keep your other hand out of the arc, and remember that a heavy blade that glances off something hard goes somewhere you did not intend. It is not a throwing knife and should never be thrown.

Care

1095 rusts if it is left wet or dirty, so wipe the blade after use, dry it and put a light film of mineral oil on it, particularly after cutting green wood. The olive wood wants a wipe of a food safe oil once or twice a year, worked in thin and buffed off, which keeps it from drying and shrinking away from the tang. Brass darkens on its own into a warm tone that most owners prefer, and a soft cloth with a little metal polish brings it back bright whenever you want. Do not store the knife long term inside the leather sheath in a damp place. Our steel care guide covers rust and edge maintenance.

A curve like this does not sharpen the way a straight edge does, and sharpening a curved blade works through the stroke.

Made in the Czech Republic

This kukri is made by hand in the Czech Republic and imported by Ransack Viking. It is not drop shipped from an importer catalogue. Every piece is unpacked, checked and photographed here before it goes on the site, then shipped from our warehouse in Memphis, Tennessee. Processing runs one to two weeks because these are made in small batches. US shipping is free, returns are accepted within seven days, and the lifetime warranty against defects in forging, grind, heat treat and fittings has no end date and needs no receipt.

A note on handmade variation

This kukri is made by hand, not machine made or bulk produced, so what arrives will not be a pixel for pixel copy of the photograph. Olive wood especially varies. The colour runs from pale cream to deep gold, the dark streaking is different on every set of scales, and the way the figure lands relative to the pins is whatever the board gave. Brass tones differ across a batch. The cut Mjolnir varies a hair in line weight. The blade length, the steel, the heat treat and the build stay the same. The character does not.

Frequently asked questions

Is it sharp when it arrives

Yes. This is a working chopper with a proper convex edge on it. Open the box carefully.

Is the blade Damascus

No. This one is plain polished 1095 high carbon steel. There are Damascus kukris elsewhere in the range if that is what you are after.

Will the olive wood crack

Not under normal use. It is dense and naturally oily. Keep it out of extreme heat, such as a closed car in summer, and give it a wipe of food safe oil once or twice a year.

Is the small knife included

Yes. The companion knife sits in the back of the sheath and ships with the kukri.

Can I have runes on the handle instead of the bolster

Yes, and olive takes cut lettering very well. Tell us in the engraving option where you want it. Choosing the bolster would replace the Mjolnir, so use the wood or the sheath if you want the hammer kept.

How quickly does it ship

One to two weeks of processing, then free US shipping. Tracking goes out when it leaves Memphis.

What is in the box

• One Hammergrove 1095 steel kukri with olive wood scales
• Stitched brown leather sheath
• Companion utility knife
• Protective oil film on the blade for transit
• Hand made in the Czech Republic, shipped from our Memphis, Tennessee warehouse

Explore the range

Browse more in kukri knives, Viking knives and hunting knives, or read the guides on what Mjolnir meant.