A knife bearing the 1st name of Roselli's founder must be superb, right? Well, yes, with a few caveats. The nearly 4-in L x 7/8-in W x 3-mm Thick ~60 HRC carbon steel blade is very sharp & differs from most Rosellis in that the bevel starts 1/3 from edge vs. halfway like its others. The 2/3 unground part has an appealing stippled finish, also unusual for a Roselli. The full tang (my 1st puukko w/ this feature) should confer incredible strength & makes the knife over half a lb., > 2x weight of 4-inchers w/ traditional tapered hidden tang. The edge features an ever-so-slight inward swoop from halfway down before subtle outward flare to barely-there ricasso. At pommel end, a large 7/16-in-diameter hole is centered in tang, the bottom corners of which, like the handle's half-moon carve-out accomodating the hole, is too sharp for comfort. The beautiful dark-stained curly-birch handle is excellent otherwise: 5 1/4-in L, 4-in circumference for med to lg hands, attached w/ 2 brass rivets, a prominent but smooth bulge protecting index finger, then tapers towards ricasso with no guard or ferrule. A brass 1 matching rivets would be pretty but functionally superfluous. The dark brown side-seam leather sheath is well made but, well, different. With belt loop attached to D-ring mounted sideways at upper front edge, the rig dangles tip-forward at 45° angle when hung on belt at right side. If you're a right-hander like I & prefer strong-side carry, that hand will likely smack the rig every step. To prevent this annoyance, you can insert sheath tip in right trouser pocket, but that won't work with Western jeans. However, rig works fine with little interference if hung from belt on left, weak side for right-hand-dominant "cross-draw" carry. The concealed metal within sheath certainly prevents loss, but it's so tight it's very difficult to withdraw this puukko. I braided dark rawhide laces looped thru tang's pommel hole to make this easier. Finally, FINALLY, the Firesteel: Its stained curly-birch handle perfectly matches the knife's, slips unobtrusively into sheath's seam-side slot, & stays securely there by looping dark leather lace threaded thru hole in handle over slot's bottom end. An avid puukko collector, this my 43!, I recommend this Roselli R42 with aforementioned reservations, docking 1 star for 4 out of 5.
