What 2 Do With a Cheap Ulu?

[arcticap]

I bought this used Pakastani Ulu knife with a Frostwood handle at a gunshow along with a bag of other goodies. I just kept adding stuff to the bag because it was all so cheap like at a rummage sale.
At least it has a nice sheath that smells delightful like good ball glove leather...honest!
Sure it has a few rust spots and it's uncomfortable to hold, but the sheath has slits that allow it to slide on to a belt for convenient carry.
Maybe that would be great if I worked at a pizza, donut or bakery shop frequently slicing pizza or cutting through mountains of dough because those are about the most practical uses that I can imagine for it.
Well I suppose that I could also slice & dice a few veggies and some cheese with it too!
But what other tasks are an Ulu knife with an uncomfortable handle supposed to be useful for? I almost forgot to mention that this Ulu knife is also pretty sharp! That will only help to increase the liklihood that I'll accidently cut myself because it's sort of unwieldy anyway.

 

[Speedo66]

First thing I would do is take all of the sharp edges off of the handle and reshape it to make it comfortable.

Would make a good salad prep tool. Might actually make a good skinner too.

 

[arcticap]

The opening under the handle is small so I can only get 3 fingers through to hold it in a fist.
I would need to grind some steel to increase the size of the opening.
At least there are other ways to hold it.

 

[eight433]

"The knife was primarily used by Eskimo women for skinning and cleaning fish and has played an important role in the survival of the Arctic people. Blades were originally made of polished slate and given a bone, ivory or wood handle. The handles were often inscribed with distinctive designs or markings exclusive to the maker of the knife."

from http://www.ulu.com/aboutulu.htm

I would definitely round the handle off and make it comfortable to hold. Neat little knife.

 

[arcticap]

I used to see a lot of Ulu's for sale at low prices on eBay. I wondered if they were confiscated at the Alaskan or other airports from tourists trying to fly home with their souvenirs.
If anyone wants one, they should check out eBay. So many Ulu's are probably sold as new twice that by the 2nd time around it's bound to be cheaper!

 

[TeamRush]

I watched an Inuit woman skin and cut up a 300 pound seal in about 20 minutes with an Ulu.

Not only did she skin the thing, but it all came out the mouth of the seal and they used the skin as a sack for storing seal blubber and seal oil in.

I've used them a couple of times for field dressing deer, and they are fast, efficient and down right dangerous if you don't know what you are doing!

On a recent trip to Alaska I found myself short on knives due to an unfortunate series of accidents, and I made an ulu out of a can lid and used it the entire trip.
I even came home with it since it was so handy!

Once you learn to use an ulu properly, you will find out it's VERY handy, and way faster than a regular knife.

 

[Coyote3855]

Most if not all of the Ulus currently on Ebay are cheap tourist shop junk, the Alaskan equivalent of the $9.99 Rambo survival knives. The real thing is out there, and worth looking for. Various areas of Canada and Alaska developed unique Ulu styles. The Ulu is a woman's knife, and in traditional culture would not be used by a man.

 

[arcticap]

I did an eBay search and found one authentic looking Ulu with a D2 steel blade for $56.75 shipped under the heading:

KNIVES OF ALASKA MAGNUM ULU BELT CILP FREE SHIPPING

Bladetech has a folding Ulu with a sliding blade that locks in the Ulu position. They call it the Universersal Locking Utility (U.L.U.):

Lastly there's this 2 inch Ulu pocket knife because
no one should never be without an Ulu!

 

[TimboKhan]

Once you learn to use an ulu properly, you will find out it's VERY handy, and way faster than a regular knif

True statement. I use an Ulu as my main kitchen knife, and it excels at chopping stuff up quickly and efficiently. The one you have isn't so hot, but I actually use one very similar to that KoA Ulu, and it is a delight.

 

[Valkman]

I use one in the kitchen also. Traded it from an Alaskan knifemaker at a knife show for a small skinner blank that I made - he was selling them for $60 with a bone or antler handle.

 

[wuluf]

I proudly display mine....