Sardinian Shepherds Knife

[Shuya]

If you were about to head out as a shepherd, alone, miles from your village to live with the sheep for weeks or months all alone, caring for yourself and the animals around you.

In a harsh, barren landscape.

Which knife would you take with you? A lot of people will add a whole list of knives and tools and stuff. A whole bunch.

Let me introduce you to a shepherds knive, nicknamed the Sardinia Shepherds Knife. A pattern that has been used for centuries around the mediteranian seas and as far as I know evolved somewhere around the 16th century. A knife that has grown and evolved, used a million times.
A simple, no nonsense, cheap user for people who used it everyday for everything.
No overdesigned and overbuild piece of metal created by some armchair commander and marketed to be sold to wannabe commanders.

My knive is made by Pallares, a company located in Spain in the Pyrenees at the border to France. Can be found if you search for „Pallares Busa“. The company was founded more than 100 years ago and is one of only two in the area still making cutlery.
This specific knife is made from 12C27 and ram horn scales. The blade is less than 2mm thick, similar to opinels and has more a convex than a flat grind to a zero edge. The blade is 80mm long, the handle 100mm and again similar to an Opinel No8, despite this knife has no lock, but strong springs and a halfstop.
Also available in various woodscales and carbon blades.
Fit and finish is Okish, not perfect or compareable to modern french manufactures. But good and usable.

Back in the day, this type of knife was made in every other village and sold dirt cheap. A Barlow of southern europe if you want to.
Imagine a blade used by a poor shepherd who struggles to feed his family and needs a cutting tool for everything and more. There you go. Ive read about them beeing sold for less than 10 Euros in more „robust“ made versions.

This little bugger is in my pockets since a few days and I love it. Simple and slick. The warm ram horn handles are great in hand, a awesome cutter.
It always amazes me how the generations before us made so much with so little.
And when I really think about what I need, a basic cutting tool for basic everyday tasks, a knife like this is exactly what does the job.
My first and for sure not my last knife of this type.

Link to manufacturer: https://www.pallaressolsona.com/en/

[Aloha]

Thats a beauty.  I've always admired knives in their purest forms.  Those simple designs that would be familiar to someone long ago even in its current iteration.  The changes are subtle yet effective for the user.  I love the spear shape of that blade.  I bet that ram horn feels great in hand. 

   

[SteveC]

Cool knife !   

[Old Boy]

Love that blade shape. Thanks for sharing.

[pfrsantos]

Around here, we've managed to get even more minimalistic. With a piece of wood for handle and a small carbon steel blade, our shepherds got a perfectly capable blade for a couple of €.



The blade spine was used to make fire, by striking a piece of silex.

[cbl51]

Yet another perfect example of what is not needed in day to day cutlery!

In this day and age of over built, over hyped, and over priced 'tactical' knives and one hand opening for the quick draw in case of a dual, its a reminder of how simple working people like the Sardinian shepherds, as well as farmers, working people in factories made do with simple knives like the Sardinian resolza, the German/American pattern that evolved to the sodbuster, the Opinels before 1955 when the viroblack was added, and the Japanese Higonokami.  Simple thin blade that cuts well, and a handle to hold onto. In 99.99% of the real world, how much more do you need?

I've got a Sardinian Resolza, but its a friction folder like the number 5 Opinel. It works just fine as long as I don't try to takeout any enemy sentries while yelling "WOLVERINES!!!!"