A few words on the "Pirka Knife"...

[zenheretic]

Exactly my opinion considering what Mont-Bell asks for them. As I wrote in my text, a D4 with better steel and a better construction can be had for less money. People who are looking for a cheap knife won't buy it either as they tend to get other stuff that costs a fraction. I guess that only fanatics like us :D are willing to pay what they ask for this kind of knife although it wouldn't be a bad user at all.

Cheers, Rob

Very true. Frankly I like the looks of it. As the Deacon mentioned it isn't encumbered with a Boye dent either. Since all lock backs of similar strength now will have Boye dents, using this little blade must be like riding a scooter with no helmet :eek: ....whoa look out! Rebel without a clue of how dangerous he is coming through... Toot toot! :D

[dedguy]

[quote="zenheretic"]
P.S. It isn't Asians overall that pronounce that way no more than you would say a Frenchman and a Russian European pronounce "beer" the same way. I believe you are specifically refering to the Japanese language. ]

i was under the impression this occured in chinese speakers of mandarin as well. i could be wrong. i'm not sure about other possibly related languages in the area though.

[Ted]

Very nice piece of documentation Rob! I've added it to my list also with your perfect picture.

[Mr Blonde]

(I am still a bit puzzled why they call it Pilica in their catalog...)

Olorin15 is spot on. From my 6 months of Japanese training (after that I quit! :D ), it's one of the few things that stuck. Excellent review, very interesting read!

Wouter

[olorin15]

i was under the impression this occured in chinese speakers of mandarin as well. i could be wrong. i'm not sure about other possibly related languages in the area though.

I believe it does occur with Mandarin speakers as well ... BUT Japanese and Chinese are not related languages

[dedguy]

[quote="olorin15"]I believe it does occur with Mandarin speakers as well ... BUT Japanese and Chinese are not related languages ]
i would think they're related in the same way say... French and English are.

[zenheretic]

i would think they're related in the same way say... French and English are.

I wouldn't think so. The French and English cross conquered and intermingled several different times: Hastings, errr other times :o . Not to mention being co-conquered by others: Goths, Romans, Normans, etc. These conquerings lasted generation, long enough to bring many common root words into both languages.

I don't believe the Chinese/Mongols ever conquered the Japanese like they did to their neighbors on the mainland, thanks to the Kamikaze (divine winds). The Japanese also never held the mainland for long, failing both in "samarai days in Korea" and in WWII in China/Korea to stay long enough to truly influence the language. Although one of the two Japanese alphabets is indeed the Chinese characters.

Eastern History Scholars please speak to correct me if I'm wrong. :) :confused:

[dedguy]

well i know culturally china has had a massive impact on japan. huge amounts of japanese religion and lore come from china. i'm not a linguist but i have to imagine there has to be some intermingling of language as well. it's been a long time since i was in school and my memory isn't the best so i don't remember much in the way of specific details. i do remember a professor telling me though that "shinto is the only native aspect of japanese culture" which i think may be a slight exageration but really only slight. i think the japanese are only rivaled by the romans when it comes to "culture theft". :)

oh man i am so sorry for completely derailing this thread.

[zenheretic]

I do believe Shinto is more a native Japanese thing, but the Zen of the Warriors code and other aspects of Buddism are indeed mainland. However I must point out Buddism originated in India, not China. Not to mention that traveling monks brought that over to Japan and not conquerors that required a change in official governmental language. I speculate that the monks learned the Japanese tongue rather than the other way around in order to spread the "word". Interesting point though.

I do believe I've heard that linguistically English and Chinese have more in common than Chinese and Japanese. I assume that means the rules of the language and not their root origins.

[anson argyris]

It sounds like a real collectors piece - so can anyone help me to get one for
my collection , please ?

[dialex]

Please correct me if I'm wrong but isn't that a blade from the Standard model they used on the K?

Yes, this is possible. Unfortunately, I don't have neither a Standard nor a K to compare

[anson argyris]

I have both, and the blades of the K and the Standard seem to be identical
regarding length ,thickness and steel ( AUS-6 ), but there was never a Standard
with a coated blade with comboedge, IIIRC.

[olorin15]

I do believe Shinto is more a native Japanese thing, but the Zen of the Warriors code and other aspects of Buddism are indeed mainland. However I must point out Buddism originated in India, not China. Not to mention that traveling monks brought that over to Japan and not conquerors that required a change in official governmental language. I speculate that the monks learned the Japanese tongue rather than the other way around in order to spread the "word". Interesting point though.

I do believe I've heard that linguistically English and Chinese have more in common than Chinese and Japanese. I assume that means the rules of the language and not their root origins.

Yes, Buddhism along with Kanji (Chinese characters) and many other things made it's way into Japan from China. It's still a very different culture, shaped by hundreds of years of isolationism. Japanese are very close to Koreans, but not to the Chinese both ethnically and language-wise. Japanese and Korean are a lot closer to Indo-European languages linguistically than to Chinese, which is a tonal language, and thus worlds apart.

Sorry for continuing to derail this thread, but having lived in Japan for a long time, I can't pass these things by :)

[zenheretic]

Thanks for setting me straight on that Olorin

some pirka pics:
Comparative to Police: