I have just picked up a 'Douk-Douk' knife for my birthday.

This is an interesting knife with an unusual history. It was one of the first mass-produced 'buck knife' style of knives. They were specifically designed for the African market. It's a cheap knife with a high qualitiy blade. In many parts of Northern Africa the word 'douk-douk' is synonymus with 'knife'. Different tribes in Africa use 'Douk-Douks' differently. The blades can be made so sharp that the bedouins use them as strait razors. Since it is a folding knife, some desert tribes hammer the knife just below the axe to make a rigid handled knife which they hide in their lapels for self-defence purposes. Pygmies would break off the tip and use the knives as a chisel.

The knife isn't a lock-back, it has a spring to keep it open. This makes it difficult to open but makes the knife universally legal. Douk-douk knives that were used in South America tend to have a flourescent coloured handle of yellow or orange so that they are easy to see. These knives are great utility knives that are usually tossed into a first aid kit or the cockpit of a plane to make it complete.

The knife has the words 'Douk-Douk' on the blade as well as an engraving of a strange-looking 'chicken man'. This character is a 'Douk-Douk', a polynesian Sorcerer and member of a secret society. He takes his name from the polynesian god of Doom and destruction.