The Douk-Douk 815 is a French pocket knife with a 3.13" carbon steel blade, a black folded steel handle, and a bail for a lanyard. The Cognet family has made it in Thiers, France, since 1929, using the same simple construction: a blade, a folded sheet-steel handle, a backspring, two rivets, and a bail. The blade carries the Douk-Douk etching, and the knife is 4.38" closed. Short and Sweet Douk-Douk 815 by MC Cognet 4.38" (11.13 cm) closed with a 3.13" (7.95 cm) blade High carbon steel clip blade, hollow ground, with Douk-Douk etching One-piece folded steel handle with black ferro-blackened finish Slip joint with backspring (non-locking) Bail for lanyard carry Made in Thiers, France Condition: New, bulk packed From Thiers to the Far Corners of the French Empire Thiers has been the capital of French knifemaking for centuries, and the Cognet cutlery firm has worked there since 1835. In 1929, the Cognet family designed the Douk-Douk as an inexpensive working knife for France's colonies in the South Pacific. They named it after the Duk-Duk, a Melanesian spirit figure whose masked costume appears on the handle. The knife spread far beyond Oceania into French Africa and around the world, carried by laborers, sailors, soldiers, and explorers who needed a knife that was cheap, tough, and easy to sharpen. Cognet remains family-owned and is the only maker of the authentic Douk-Douk. Six Parts and Nothing Extra The blade is high carbon steel, hardened to about 50 to 53 HRC and hollow ground on water-cooled wheels. That relatively soft temper makes it very easy to sharpen, even on a rough stone or the bottom of a coffee mug. The curved, scimitar-like clip blade gives you plenty of belly for slicing. The handle is a single sheet of steel folded into a channel and given a ferro-blackened finish, a bluing process similar to the one used on gun barrels. The knife is a slip joint, so the backspring holds the blade open and closed but doesn't lock it. The Fisherman's and Traveler's Knife Cognet's own team calls the Douk-Douk ideal for fishermen and adventurers, and that's how most owners use it: cutting line and rope, cleaning fish, slicing fruit and bread, and whittling at camp. It's thin enough to vanish in a pocket and light enough to hang from a lanyard or keyring by the bail. Because the blade is carbon steel, it will darken with use. Wipe it dry and add a drop of oil now and then, especially after cutting food or working near salt water.
