Marttiini knives: Rovaniemi's puukko maker

A working knife, not a letter opener

Walk into almost any gift shop on Rovaniemenkatu and you’ll find a wall of fixed-blade knives with birch handles, leather sheaths, and a reindeer motif somewhere on the packaging. Most are sold as puukko, the Finnish word for this style of knife, and a fair number carry the name Marttiini, the cutlery company that has made them in Rovaniemi since 1928. It’s easy to walk past that wall assuming it’s all decorative tourist stock. Some of it is. But the puukko itself is not a decorative design - it’s a genuinely old and genuinely practical tool, and Marttiini’s reputation rests on having made a working version of it for close to a century, through a war that flattened the town it’s made in.

This page is about the knife and the company specifically, not the wider shelf of Lappish handicrafts - for wood carving, textiles, and other souvenirs, the handicrafts buying guide covers that ground.

What a puukko actually is

A puukko is a single-edged fixed-blade knife, usually 8 to 12 cm in the blade, with no guard or bolster between blade and handle. That missing guard is deliberate: the knife is held with a light grip and the thumb often rides along the spine, a grip that works for controlled carving cuts, not for stabbing. The handle is typically birch, curly birch, or a synthetic equivalent, shaped to sit flush in the palm rather than to look impressive on a wall mount.

Historically it was an all-purpose tool for anyone working outdoors in Finland: a farmer, a forester, a fisherman, a reindeer herder. It skins, it carves, it cleans fish, it whittles kindling, it cuts rope and opens packages. It is not, traditionally, a hunting trophy knife with an ornamental blade etched for display, and it isn’t a combat knife either - Finnish carry law treats it as a tool, which is exactly what it was designed to be. If you want to see one used the way it was meant to be used rather than displayed in a case, a guided Rovaniemi: Wilderness Tour with a knife in the kit for firewood and food prep will show you more in an afternoon than a shop window will in ten minutes.

Marttiini: a Rovaniemi company since 1928

Marttiini was founded in Rovaniemi in 1928 as a small knife-grinding workshop, at a time when the town was a modest river-confluence service centre, long before Santa Claus tourism existed as an industry. The company built its name on grinding and finishing blades for everyday use, supplying farmers, loggers, and fishermen across northern Finland.

Rovaniemi itself was almost entirely destroyed in October 1944, when retreating German forces burned the town during the Lapland War - a piece of local history worth reading in full in the 1944 reconstruction guide. Marttiini rebuilt along with the rest of the town, and production has continued in Rovaniemi since. Nearly a hundred years of continuous local blade-making is genuinely unusual for a town this size, and it’s the reason Marttiini’s name carries weight on a knife in a way that a generic “Lapland” stamp doesn’t.

The company’s factory and an outlet shop are both in Rovaniemi, and the outlet is generally open to visitors, sometimes with a window onto part of the production floor. Exactly what’s on view and when varies, so treat a factory visit as a possible stop rather than a guaranteed attraction, and check current details locally before planning a special trip around it.

Blade and handle: what to actually look at

Judging a puukko is mostly about three things: steel, tang, and fit.

Steel. Marttiini makes knives in both carbon steel and stainless. Carbon steel takes a noticeably sharper edge and is easier to resharpen in the field, but it needs drying and occasional oiling or it will rust, sometimes within a day in damp conditions. Stainless holds a slightly less keen edge but tolerates neglect far better, which is the more sensible choice for a knife that will spend most of its life in a kitchen drawer at home rather than on a belt in the forest.

Tang. The tang is the part of the blade that continues into the handle. A full or extended tang runs most of the length of the handle and makes for a stronger knife that can take real force - batoning wood, for instance. A short or “hidden” tang, common on cheaper decorative puukko, is glued or peened into a handle and will not stand up to hard use. If a knife is being sold purely as a souvenir this barely matters; if you actually intend to use it outdoors, it matters a great deal.

Fit. On a well-made puukko the sheath fits the blade closely enough that the knife doesn’t rattle, and the blade sits centred in the handle with no visible gap or wobble. A loose sheath sized to fit several different blade shapes is a reliable sign of a mass-produced import rather than a purpose-made Marttiini.

Feature	Genuine Marttiini	Common tourist copy
Blade marking	Company name stamped into steel	Painted or printed logo, wears off
Tang	Full or extended, visible in handle	Short or hidden, glued in
Sheath fit	Snug to that specific blade	Loose, generic sizing
Country of origin	Marked on blade or packaging	Often unmarked or vague
Edge	Ground for actual cutting	Sometimes left dull from the factory

Puukko versus leuku versus a folding pocket knife

Rovaniemi shops sell more than one style of Nordic fixed blade, and the names get mixed up often enough that it’s worth separating them.

Knife	Typical blade length	Traditional use
Puukko	8-12 cm	General everyday tool: carving, food, small game
Leuku	15-25 cm	Heavier Sámi work knife: branches, larger game, camp tasks
Filleting knife	15-20 cm, flexible	Fish only, not a general-purpose blade
Folding lock knife	Varies	Modern, pocketable, no tradition behind the design

A leuku is the tool a reindeer herder reaches for when a puukko is too small for the job; it’s associated with Sámi material culture specifically, and worth understanding on its own terms rather than as “a big puukko” - the Sámi culture guide is the better starting point for that context, and the souvenir caution guide covers where knife souvenirs shade into appropriation of Sámi design without credit or connection to actual herding communities.

Where the knife earns its keep on a trip

It’s easy to buy a puukko as a static souvenir and never take it out of the box, and plenty of visitors do exactly that. But if you want to see the knife doing the job it was designed for rather than sitting in a display case, a few activities around Rovaniemi put one to work directly.

On a an Arctic survival course in Rovaniemi course, instructors typically carry a short, thick-bladed puukko for batoning kindling and building a fire from scratch - a demonstration that does more to dispel the “ornamental hunting knife” idea than any shop display could, in about ten minutes of actual use. A a guided tour through the Arctic wilderness near Rovaniemi covers similar ground at a gentler pace, with the knife used for camp tasks and food prep around a fire rather than for anything dramatic.

Food is the other obvious use. A a tasting of Lappish specialities in Rovaniemi tasting session will often involve a fixed-blade knife for slicing cured reindeer or bread at the table, which is closer to how a puukko was used historically than any hunting scenario. And a half-day ice fishing trip puts a knife to work cleaning a perch or corégone catch on the spot rather than back at a kitchen - worth reading in full in the ice fishing guide before booking, since the activity itself is quieter and slower than the knife work makes it sound.

None of this means you need to buy a knife to enjoy those trips - it just explains why a puukko is standard kit for guides working outdoors here, rather than a prop.

Buying one: what to actually check

Don’t expect to find a fixed price list anywhere, in shops or online - Marttiini’s range spans simple stainless models through to higher-end carbon-steel and curly-birch handled knives, and prices vary by model, retailer, and season. What’s worth checking in person, whichever shop you’re in, is the same short list every time: the blade marking, whether the tang is visible in the handle, whether the sheath fits snugly, and a country-of-origin mark somewhere on the packaging or blade.

A shop assistant should be able to tell you plainly whether a given knife is a genuine Marttiini or a different, unrelated brand sold alongside it - Rovaniemi’s souvenir shops carry several knife makers, not just one, and not everything on a “Lappish knife” shelf is Marttiini or even Finnish-made.

The factory outlet is the single most reliable place to see the full current range in one spot, since it isn’t limited to whatever a gift shop has chosen to stock, but it’s still worth checking current opening details before planning around it specifically. For a wider view of where handicrafts and souvenirs are sold around town, and which ones to treat with more scepticism, the handicrafts guide and the grocery and budget shopping guide both cover practical ground beyond knives specifically.

Carrying a knife home

Finland does not restrict ownership of a fixed-blade knife bought for a genuine purpose - camping, fishing, food preparation - but carrying one in a public place without a reasonable reason is against the law, and that applies to a locked-away souvenir just as much as a knife you intend to use. Practically, the only thing that matters for a visitor is packing: a puukko goes in checked luggage, never hand luggage, wrapped so the blade can’t work through the sheath, and it’s worth keeping the receipt in case customs on either end asks what it is and why you have it.

Import rules for knives vary a lot by home country - some are stricter about blade length or lock type than Finland is - so it’s worth a quick check before you fly rather than after you’ve already bought one. The three-layer packing guide is about clothing rather than gear like this, but it’s a useful checklist to build a packing list around generally.

Care, once it’s home

A puukko rewards almost no maintenance beyond drying it after use. Carbon-steel blades need a light coat of oil if they won’t be used for a while, since Finnish winter air is dry but a damp sheath left on a blade overnight is enough to start surface rust. Stainless blades are far more forgiving and are the sensible choice if the knife is destined for occasional kitchen use rather than regular outdoor work.

Sharpening is done on a flat stone at a shallow angle, following the existing bevel, rather than on a powered grinder, which removes far more steel than the edge needs and can ruin the temper if it overheats the blade. None of this is specialist knowledge - it’s the same basic care any decent fixed-blade knife needs, which is really the point: a Marttiini is built to be used and maintained like a tool, not preserved behind glass like an ornament.

Marttiini and puukko knives: your questions answered

What is a puukko, exactly?

A puukko is the traditional Finnish fixed-blade knife: a single cutting edge, no bolster or guard, and a handle shaped to sit flat in the palm. It’s a general-purpose tool used for skinning, carving, food prep, and rough bushcraft work, carried by farmers, foresters, and fishermen for centuries, not a weapon or a piece of ceremonial cutlery.

Is Marttiini still made in Finland?

Marttiini was founded in Rovaniemi in 1928 and the company still manufactures knives in Finland today, though like most cutlery makers it has moved some production and materials sourcing around over the decades. Checking the country of origin on the packaging or blade stamp is the only reliable way to confirm a specific knife.

Can I carry a puukko knife while travelling?

Finnish law allows carrying a knife for a genuine practical purpose - fishing, camping, food preparation - but not for self-defence or without reason in a public place, and airlines will not let you carry one in hand luggage. Pack it in checked luggage, keep the receipt, and check your home country’s import rules before you fly.

What’s the difference between a puukko and a leuku?

A leuku is the larger Sámi equivalent, with a longer, broader blade built for heavier work such as clearing branches or dressing a reindeer carcass. A puukko is smaller and lighter, the everyday tool; a leuku is closer to a machete-sized bushcraft knife than a pocket companion.

How do I tell a real Marttiini from a cheap copy?

Genuine Marttiini blades carry the company name stamped into the steel, plus a country-of-origin mark, and come with a leather or plastic sheath sized precisely to the blade. Mass-produced tourist knives sold as puukko often have a loose, oversized sheath, a painted rather than stamped logo, and no origin marking at all.

Is a puukko actually useful, or just a souvenir?

It’s a working tool first. Guides on wilderness, survival, and fishing trips around Rovaniemi carry one daily for firewood, food, and general camp tasks, and a well-made puukko will outlast a multitool for most outdoor jobs. Plenty of buyers do take one home purely as a souvenir, which is fine, but that’s not what the design is for.

How should I care for a puukko blade?

Dry it after use, oil carbon-steel blades to stop rust, and strop the edge on a fine stone rather than a powered grinder, which removes too much steel too fast. Most Marttiini knives use either carbon steel, which takes a sharper edge but needs more care, or stainless, which is more forgiving for a knife that will mostly sit in a drawer.

Can I visit the Marttiini factory in Rovaniemi?

Marttiini’s factory and outlet shop are in Rovaniemi and the outlet is generally open to visitors, with a viewing window onto part of the production line, though hours and what’s on view vary and are worth checking locally before making a special trip.