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- Jul 25, 2010
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Hi guys!
I wanted to compare two working horses with nearly the same design and at the same price range. The mighty DoukDouk and the incredible K55K Mercator
Both are made of folded metalsheet and some pins and a blade. The DoukDouk is made by Pierre Cognet, Thiers - France. The K55K is made by Otter, Solingen - Germany.
Each of them has nearly the same history. They were designed and made for colonial troops of Germany and France during the 19th century and 20th century. They are still on the same design as when were just released. The K55K was made first of the two under contract of Kaufmann, Cologne (Köln) for german troops in Africa roundabout the 1860s. The DoukDouk was made by Cognet (nowadays almost in the fourth generation) and released first in the year 1928 for the french troops in Africa and Asia. - But that´s enough history for now -
As mentioned above, the K55K and the DoukDouk are traditionally made by folded metalsheet and a carbon steel blade (both might use XC75, but I´m not really sure).
Here are some pics. The K55K is the knife with the little lanyard
As you can see here, the DoukDouk is slightly longer than the K55K when it´s opened
The DoukDouk has a very unique bladeshape - but for me it´s a clippoint - the K55K seems to have a very narrow spearblade
The handles are a little the same - the K55K is painted in black with added cat and written K55K (Kaufmann, 55th Street, Köln - Cologne) and the DoukDouk shows a mystic creature (shamane) on the handle, but thats punched or better engraved and the handle. About the handle of the DoukDouk, I have no idea. It´s not painted - but gives the handle a silverish appearence.
This gives an appearence of the handle. The K55K is straight and the DoukDouk makes a little convex at the handle, so it fits better in the hand than the K55K. Especially when working with it a longer time. But the handle on the K55K seem to be a little thicker than the DoukDouk.
The blade thickness on both is nearly the same, again - but the DoukDouk seems to be a little thicker than the K55K. Here´s another little difference, the DoukDouk has really a needle-like tip. The K55K is not that needle-like. It´s more a coarse tip.
I was cutting some cardboard with each of them. They are really good slicers. None of them has failed this task. They went through the cardboard like butter with a hot knife. Even longer working on that cardboard material didn´t show any missing edge, both carbon steels are well heat treated.
This shows the backspring of the DoukDouk. It´s a real slipjoint. And you can believe me, it´s like a tank. It has a halfstop built in. Until the halfstop the knife opens nicely, with a pull roundabout a 6 (of 10 highest). After the halfstop - it´s hardly to open as well as to close, so there´s an 8 (of 10 highest). Once the blade opened, the DoukDouk stays in that place. No danger of closing accidently.
This shows the locking mechanism of the K55K. It´s a traditional lockback, but the lockbar is at 1/3 in front at the blade. When it´s opened, it´s hard to press the lockbar and close the knife accidently. So we have another tank here . But the pull is very light and smooth, so there´s a 4-5 (of 10 highest). And the knife can be opened with one hand, after some practising.
The knives closed and be together.
As you can see here, the blade of the K55K is not centered after all. The DoukDouk is. But that pic is not representative - I used the K55K for real hard work on the building lot and while firewoodmaking in the wood and around the house. The DoukDouk is just a few days in use.
But you can see the F&F compared to each other. The DoukDouk is more coarse finished. The "paint" is not everywhere on the handle, while the K55K is well painted to protection of rust.
Size comparison to other knives I had around and ready to grab them.
In the end. The K55K and the DoukDouk seem to be nearly the same, but some differences are still here. I wanted to share and compare some real working horses to each other. It depends on the mood, which one to take. But (personally) prefer the K55K (not because it´s german made ). But the opening with one hand and the 99 % safe lockback make is to a great working knife. The pull on the DoukDouk is really strong, no closing during work, but no one hand opening (even with practising) for me.
I hope you enjoy the pics, the writting. Thanks for looking - comments are welcome (as always).
I wanted to compare two working horses with nearly the same design and at the same price range. The mighty DoukDouk and the incredible K55K Mercator
Both are made of folded metalsheet and some pins and a blade. The DoukDouk is made by Pierre Cognet, Thiers - France. The K55K is made by Otter, Solingen - Germany.
Each of them has nearly the same history. They were designed and made for colonial troops of Germany and France during the 19th century and 20th century. They are still on the same design as when were just released. The K55K was made first of the two under contract of Kaufmann, Cologne (Köln) for german troops in Africa roundabout the 1860s. The DoukDouk was made by Cognet (nowadays almost in the fourth generation) and released first in the year 1928 for the french troops in Africa and Asia. - But that´s enough history for now -
As mentioned above, the K55K and the DoukDouk are traditionally made by folded metalsheet and a carbon steel blade (both might use XC75, but I´m not really sure).
Here are some pics. The K55K is the knife with the little lanyard
As you can see here, the DoukDouk is slightly longer than the K55K when it´s opened
The DoukDouk has a very unique bladeshape - but for me it´s a clippoint - the K55K seems to have a very narrow spearblade
The handles are a little the same - the K55K is painted in black with added cat and written K55K (Kaufmann, 55th Street, Köln - Cologne) and the DoukDouk shows a mystic creature (shamane) on the handle, but thats punched or better engraved and the handle. About the handle of the DoukDouk, I have no idea. It´s not painted - but gives the handle a silverish appearence.
This gives an appearence of the handle. The K55K is straight and the DoukDouk makes a little convex at the handle, so it fits better in the hand than the K55K. Especially when working with it a longer time. But the handle on the K55K seem to be a little thicker than the DoukDouk.
The blade thickness on both is nearly the same, again
- but the DoukDouk seems to be a little thicker than the K55K. Here´s another little difference, the DoukDouk has really a needle-like tip. The K55K is not that needle-like. It´s more a coarse tip.
I was cutting some cardboard with each of them. They are really good slicers. None of them has failed this task. They went through the cardboard like butter with a hot knife. Even longer working on that cardboard material didn´t show any missing edge, both carbon steels are well heat treated.
This shows the backspring of the DoukDouk. It´s a real slipjoint. And you can believe me, it´s like a tank. It has a halfstop built in. Until the halfstop the knife opens nicely, with a pull roundabout a 6 (of 10 highest). After the halfstop - it´s hardly to open as well as to close, so there´s an 8 (of 10 highest). Once the blade opened, the DoukDouk stays in that place. No danger of closing accidently.
This shows the locking mechanism of the K55K. It´s a traditional lockback, but the lockbar is at 1/3 in front at the blade. When it´s opened, it´s hard to press the lockbar and close the knife accidently. So we have another tank here
. But the pull is very light and smooth, so there´s a 4-5 (of 10 highest). And the knife can be opened with one hand, after some practising.
The knives closed and be together.
As you can see here, the blade of the K55K is not centered after all. The DoukDouk is. But that pic is not representative - I used the K55K for real hard work on the building lot and while firewoodmaking in the wood and around the house. The DoukDouk is just a few days in use.
But you can see the F&F compared to each other. The DoukDouk is more coarse finished. The "paint" is not everywhere on the handle, while the K55K is well painted to protection of rust.
Size comparison to other knives I had around and ready to grab them.
In the end. The K55K and the DoukDouk seem to be nearly the same, but some differences are still here. I wanted to share and compare some real working horses to each other. It depends on the mood, which one to take. But (personally) prefer the K55K (not because it´s german made
). But the opening with one hand and the 99 % safe lockback make is to a great working knife. The pull on the DoukDouk is really strong, no closing during work, but no one hand opening (even with practising) for me. I hope you enjoy the pics, the writting. Thanks for looking - comments are welcome (as always).
(Poor cats...)
