Knives of the Caribbean

R

Ringno5

Joined
Jul 3, 2006
Messages
4
Hi, all. Long time reader, first time poster here, so please be understanding if I make any blunders.

I have this thing about buying local knives (as souvenirs) when travelling abroad. Some people buy t-shirts, others buy postcards, I buy knives. I usually try to do some research about traditional knives in the region I'm travelling to and make it a point of leaving some time for buying "my Preciousss" (like a fejesgorbe made by Mr Szankovits in Hungary). I'm thinking of visiting the Caribbean this year (been fascinated by the history of the region since I was a teenager in the early 90s) and I must say I'm a bit surprised. Most probably I've been looking in the wrong places, but I can't seem to find any kind of knife that would be "traditional" and unique to the area. The closest I came is the Okapi used in Jamaica, but these are hardly "local" knives. Considering the history of the region, I thought that there wouldn't be any problem with finding something associated with the Caribbean, but it appears I was wrong. And buying sugar cane knives and/or machetes is not quite what I had in mind :/

Is anyone aware of any knives (or knifemakers for that matter) from the area? I would be grateful for any suggestions.
 
Okapi's are common work knives in Jamaica, I worked with a lot of Jamaican men and women when I was in my 20's, and visited a few times in my 30's, I was told knives are frowned on by law enforcement, as Jamaican men's bravado is strong, and many late night knife fights take place (Okapi's are known as the Saturday night special in Jamaica) Jamaica had one of the highest murder rates in the world, the men and women don't take any guff, but my experience has shown that you give respect and you get respect they take it extremely seriously, and they will say back to you "respect" if you treated them right. They are very proud of their culture and love when you see the real Jamaica, that also earns you their respect. I've played many a dominos game with locals which they take seriously and the fact that I knew how to play the game well helped with the "respect" and seeing me playing used to draw quite a crowd, the men and women of Jamaica are some of the warmest folks I've ever met in my travels, and prior to starting a family my wife and I considered moving there. I remember one time after visiting Dunn's river falls, up in the hills I was talking with a wood carver who was using a Okapi and I tried to trade and barter with him, I offered up my Opinel, but he didn't go for it. Also Kief Richards carried an Okapi knife given to him in Jamaica. If you are planning on going to Jamaica bring things to trade, they love trading and bartering, they love Levi's, the woman love perfume, my last time I traded all my snorkeling gear to a spear fishermen for some of his carvings as I knew I was not going to be back for a long long time unfortunately.

Have a great trip,
Pete
 
Stich2442 said:
... Jamaica had one of the highest murder rates in the world, the men and women don't take any guff, but my experience has shown that you give respect and you get respect they take it extremely seriously, and they will say back to you "respect" if you treated them right. They are very proud of their culture and love when you see the real Jamaica, that also earns you their respect. ... The men and women of Jamaica are some of the warmest folks I've ever met in my travels.
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I was there a couple of times in the late '80s and early '90s and came away with the same feelings. We hit a few non-touristy nightclubs, walked around the streets of Kingston, and even took the train from Montego Bay to Kingston (not sure if that's even still running; at the time it was the last stretch of track across the island as hurricanes had wiped out the others). From Kingston, we rented a van and drove on to Port Antonio. We never had a tense moment or encounter and experienced nothing but warmth and (mutual) respect from the locals. On one of the trips, Dad and I were in a taxi driving out in the country to some remote spot. We got stopped at an army road-block and rifle-toting soldiers looked through our daypacks. They found the Schrade LB7 lockback I was using to cut up mangos, breadfruit, meat patties, and so on. They took it and discussed it a bit, then tossed it back in my pack and sent us on our way with a smile.

To the OP ..... I don't think you'll find any local knives, unless you count the Okapi ratchet. If you do hit Jamaica, bring yourself a quality, affordable knife like an Opinel or SAK and use it to cut up all the delicious jerked pork, chicken and goat you can. Drink Red Stripe, greenies (Heineken) and Guinness. And when you leave, gift your knife to a local friend. Have a ball, man! :)

-- Mark
 
I'm also not aware of any knife pattern that is really traditional and indigenous to the Caribbean region.
Also, there's no such thing as a common Caribbean culture, so it would depend on where you're going to.
I guess the only real endemic cutting tool, or at least the most common and used one, would be some sort of machete. ;)

Fausto
:cool:
 
I see a new t shirt in your future, but seriously, I think half of the fun is the research and discovery. If you cant find anything that is truly Caribbean, I would suggest checking out hardware stores where locals would by a knife and see what is commonly sold. It may be a knife, like the Okapi, made elsewhere, but has sole from the Caribbean.
 
My brother in law bought an old, beat up machete while he and my sister were on vacation at her friend's wedding in Jamaica. The machete is gigantic, and was used in the fields.
 
Ringno5 said:
Hi, all. Long time reader, first time poster here, so please be understanding if I make any blunders.

I have this thing about buying local knives (as souvenirs) when travelling abroad. Some people buy t-shirts, others buy postcards, I buy knives. I usually try to do some research about traditional knives in the region I'm travelling to and make it a point of leaving some time for buying "my Preciousss" (like a fejesgorbe made by Mr Szankovits in Hungary). I'm thinking of visiting the Caribbean this year (been fascinated by the history of the region since I was a teenager in the early 90s) and I must say I'm a bit surprised. Most probably I've been looking in the wrong places, but I can't seem to find any kind of knife that would be "traditional" and unique to the area. The closest I came is the Okapi used in Jamaica, but these are hardly "local" knives. Considering the history of the region, I thought that there wouldn't be any problem with finding something associated with the Caribbean, but it appears I was wrong. And buying sugar cane knives and/or machetes is not quite what I had in mind :/

Is anyone aware of any knives (or knifemakers for that matter) from the area? I would be grateful for any suggestions.
Click to expand...

I've been to a few islands in the Caribbean scuba diving and have never seen any knives for sale in the places I've been. The only knives I recall seeing were dive tools or re-purposed kitchen knives. The most unusual knife I saw was a piece of a hack saw blade fashioned to a wooden handle and sharpened. As already pointed out, machetes can be seen readily in use by workers. I usually bring a couple of SAK's with me and gift them before departing, they are always well received.
 
In Belize I got a localy made fancy machete sheath, tourist item, but well made. I paired it with the common machete the sheath was made for (they were sold separately in a market in San Ignacio.) They hang on the wall, but the machete is used every fall. In Belize the machete is the knife of the Caribbean.
 
Except in Guyane, out of topic, no specific knife or knife maker in French WI.
 
Thanks for all the answers, even if they're not quite what I was hoping for. To address some of the points that were raised:

quattromori said:
it would depend on where you're going to.
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My first idea was Jamaica, but the more I read about it, the less convinced I got. Found a lot of negative comments around the web regarding how dangerous it could be with the high crime rates. Sure, if you stay in your hotel you're fine, but what's the point of going to the Caribbean just to stay in a hotel? You can do that anywhere in the world - Thailand, Greece, Maldives, whatever. The whole idea was to see some of the area, touch the forts that remember what, for me, is the golden age of the area (17th/18th centuries). Yes, I'm a pirate junkie, have been since the first time I played the original Sid Meier's Pirates! back in 1991 or so. That's where my love for the region started. Getting a little sidetracked here though. I think that either Curacao, Barbados or Antigua will be the final choice. I'd love to go to Nassau, but I think that might be a bit out of my league.

mnblade said:
To the OP ..... I don't think you'll find any local knives, unless you count the Okapi ratchet.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's what I was afraid of. I was hoping that maybe the colonial history of the area would result in some of the metropolitan states' knives being "adapted" by the locals. You know, like a laguiole in former French colonies or the navaja in former Spanish colonies.

Guess the end result will be just bringing back some sand from the beaches, embedding it in some acrylic and making a "custom" handle for a Case Trapper or something along those lines.

Once again, thanks to everyone for the help :)
 
Ringno5 said:
Guess the end result will be just bringing back some sand from the beaches, embedding it in some acrylic and making a "custom" handle for a Case Trapper or something along those lines.
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That's a cool idea.

You might find something different in kitchen knives. Seems to me the Cubans, anyway, use a broad and straight-backed knife in the kitchen that resembles the Italien messer on Baryonyx's web-knife-store.
 
Ringno5 said:
...My first idea was Jamaica, but the more I read about it, the less convinced I got. Found a lot of negative comments around the web regarding how dangerous it could be with the high crime rates. Sure, if you stay in your hotel you're fine, but what's the point of going to the Caribbean just to stay in a hotel?...
Click to expand...

I know people who go to Jamaica every year and rent a house. They have a blast. A woman I work with went recently with her husband for a week, no problems at all. I heard that during the "off season" Jamaica is quite cheap. Neither person had any trouble with safety issues, but they are mature and smart.
 
I have never been to Jamaica, so I can't express any opinion. I know for fact that very often safety depends on the traveller's behaviour, not on the place you're visiting. Some places are safer than others, that's for sure, but a responsible and smart traveller will always stay safe (except in war zones of course).
With this said, Jamaica vs Curacao vs Antigua sounds a bit like stockman vs peanut vs trapper...meaning they're quite different places. I know for a fact that I would enjoy each and every one of them (and probably get a machete in each and every one of them though :p)
As for taking sand or anything else from the beach...personally I wouldn't do it, and I will take a minute to tell you why.
In Sardinia there's a wonderful beach known as the "spiaggia rosa" (pink beach). The color is due to some corals that drift ashore. After years of tourists taking a bit of sand as a souvenir, the coral population ended up in real danger, the beach lost most of its color, and the beach itself has been closed to tourists for years and years. Yes, a couple tablespoons of sand less will make no difference...unless you're in good company. Also, when it's on the beach, it will be the sand of a wonderful beach where you had amazing holidays. When you get back home, it's just sand, nor better nor worse than any sand from any beach in Florida or wherever.
Obviously, this is just a very personal opinion. I'd stick with a t-shirt and a machete ;)

Fausto
:cool:
 
I understand that the work knife in that region is called a "cutlass". You might find a farmers tool using that term.
 
I have been to Jamaica several times. I stayed in Negril in a small family-owned hotel. Steered clear of the all-inclusive luxury compounds. Found Jamaicans to be gracious and friendly, especially away from the tourist centers.

The hotel had a handyman/fixer who was also the source for ganja. It's not my thing really, so we didn't smoke much.
I have friends who have rented a house in Negril for the past 20 years. They really like their smoke.

Of course there is crime. It is a poor country. But it is not really dangerous if you have a little situational awareness. The only knives I saw were on the dinner table or in the hands of fishermen. I suppose there were some ratchets around, but I never saw one.
 
quattromori said:
I know for fact that very often safety depends on the traveller's behaviour, not on the place you're visiting.
Click to expand...

Yes and no. It's all a matter of perspective. Going to a dangerous place and limiting yourself only to the hotel and the beach next to it will mean you're safe, and it will be because of your behavior (you didn't go anywhere potentially dangerous, like outside the hotel), but there are places where you're pretty much safe anywhere and at any time and then there are places where no matter what you do and how you behave, you're potentially at risk every time you leave the safety of the hotel. Of course, flashing an expensive watch, jewelry or a wallet bursting with cash can get you into trouble everywhere, but the easiest way to avoid trouble is to avoid the dangerous places. However, we seem to be getting a bit off-topic here :)

On a side note, I must say that the overwhelmingly positive opinions I see here are making me think about reconsidering my opinion concerning Jamaica.

quattromori said:
As for taking sand or anything else from the beach...personally I wouldn't do it,
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This is also a bit off-topic, but I think it's a pretty important issue and needs answering. What it all boils down to (and pardon me for being blunt here) is that you'll find idiots everywhere. A friend of mine had to almost physically restrain a guy from taking one of the discarded gas masks from Chernobyl (well, Pripyat to be more precise) as a souvenir. Sounds ridiculous, I know, but some people will do just about anything. However, while I can understand that many people want the unique sand from Spiaggia Rosa or from Vik (that's a black beach in Iceland) for the simple reason it's unique, there is nothing particularly special about the sands of Caribbean beaches. Unless it's for nutcases like me, who are a bit crazy about things related to the region. And how many people like me do you get yearly in those places? A hundred? A thousand? Regular tourists probably remove more sand from those beaches on their towels, bathing suits or in their hair, than folks like me would by taking a few spoonfuls in a bag.

quattromori said:
I'd stick with a t-shirt and a machete
Click to expand...

In all seriousness, trying to bring a machete out of the country might result in quite a lot of questions being asked :D

Henry Beige said:
I suppose there were some ratchets around, but I never saw one.
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From what I read, you can get the ratchet almost anywhere in Jamaica, but buying a knife like that there (of all places) is a bit like buying a SAK as a souvenir from Canada ;)
 
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