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During the 2005 SoCal Dirttime Gathering, at the Wind Wolves Wildlife Preserve, Dude McLean taught a class on making a unique little knife called the Hoko Knife.

This knife was discovered in an archaeological site in western Washington near the Hoko River, hence it's name. It has been dated to be about 2700 years old. Just so I do not attempt to reinvent the wheel, here is a link to Dick Baugh's article, on the Primitive Ways website.

http://www.primitiveways.com/pt-hoko.html

What I would like to do is add some initial ideas, based on my experiences this last week...

Here is the original knife...

The handle was split the entire length. Several times this week, I heard comments as to how the handle could be split only part way, and still allow one to insert a stone chip. I think that the fully split handle gives the maker a couple of advantages over splitting it only part way.

Here is a fully complete knife...

Here is the same knife 3 days after being made, with no maintenance. i.e., not tightening the wrap...

I used green Yucca cordage to wrap it up, and as it dries, it always loosens. The chip fell out, and the two halves of the stick warped away from each other.

That gives us the first advantage. If one would now pinch the two ends together, the pressure between them would be greater than if the sticks were straight.

Here is a view of the knife after re-wrapping it:

The second advantage can be seen at the bottom of the cordage wrap. You can pull the ends apart slightly and run the end of the wrap between the sticks, effectively trapping the cord. This would be difficult to impossible to do if the split did not go the entire length.

Tying the end of the wrap off does not work nearly as well...

Another bit of wrapping might appear to be a good idea at the bottom end of the stick, although this does not seem to be at all necessary. The stone chip is wedged in very tightly as it is. None of the replicas shown in Baugh's article used a second wrap at the bottom.

I have to do some experimenting now. Would a tightly tied stick warp while drying, and increase the pressure on the chip? Or does one have to dry the sticks first to get them to warp? Does it make any difference?

After reading the article, you can see how to make one. I suggest you go out and try it yourself... Maybe your experiences will differ from mine.

Making a knife like this can be done in a short period of time, including twining the cordage, breaking a chip from a rock, and using the chip, or another sharp rock, to cut and split the stick. If one had absolutely no other blade of any kind, it would be effective enough to start your survival chores. A knapped stone knife could be made after you have fire, and your belly is full...

All in my opinion, of course. I'd be interested in anyone else's experiences.

Bill

Addendum: Here are a couple made up with obsidian chips, and wrapped with willow bark. The one on the left is split only part way. It was very difficult to get the split to match the wrapping. I had to take it apart several times and push the split further down. Not worth it, in my opinion. The other one, however, was much easier to make, and took only about a third of the time.

Here is the back side...

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The Hoko Knife