Mora of Sweden

The town of Mora in Sweden has been a center of knife making for many centuries. The naturally superior Swedish steel, combined with skilled craftsmanship, resulted in knives that became famous for their ability to hold a superior edge and sharpen easily. The smiths in Mora developed a basic functional style that became a classic, known simply as the “Mora Knife.” Until recently there were two remaining large companines in Mora, KJ Eriksson and Frosts of Mora. They have merged into "Mora of Sweden", now known as "Morakniv". But some stock may be marked with the previous names.

Mora knives place function before style. But the simplicity of functionality has a beauty of it's own. The quality and prices are great, and they're one of the best knife bargains around. They have the flat Scandinavian grind that goes cleanly to the edge, and come from the factory very sharp. This style of grind is easy to sharpen without jigs or gadgets.

Carbon steel blades are hardened to 58 - 60 on the Rockwell scale, stainless blades to 57 - 58. A specialty of Mora is the laminated carbon blade. This is a three part sandwich, with a core of high carbon steel protected by sides of tough lower carbon steel. The core of the laminated steel blades is hardened to 58 - 60 on the Rockwell scale. Normally, I prefer carbon steel over stainless steel, but I have to admit that the stainless Mora knives take and hold an excellent edge. They are made of Swedish Sandvik 12C27 steel, hardened to 56 - 58 on the Rockwell Scale. For use around water, especially salt water, stainless may be the better choice.

The classic Nordic knives come without a guard (like most kitchen knives). This enables you to make cuts you could not do otherwise, but you do have to be careful not to cut yourself. Once you are accustomed to it, it isn't a problem. I've been using them for over 50 years, and don't ever recall cutting myself because of a lack of a guard. Be careful though, they are really sharp!

One exception to this suggestion is hunting. When cleaning game your hands may be wet and slippery. When cleaning large game you may need to reach into the body cavity. If the point of the knife catches on a rib the knife can slide in your hand with nasty results. I strongly recommend a finger guard for a hunting knife. The Companion Line has a bit of guard molded into the handle. The is about the minimum I'd recommend. The new Basic and Pro series have a more pronounced guard.

Some of the older models come with sheaths that have belt slots intended for very thin belts. It seems the wide and thick American style belt is not used in Europe. Many also have a slot for fastening to a button, such as a coverall button. This is very tradtional in Scandinavia, and modern coveralls as well as the folk costumes often have a button for the purpose. It's easy enough to open up the belt loop if you prefer. The sheaths are thermoplastic, which means they get soft when warmed. If you warm the belt hanger, and insert a piece of wood or even a ruler, it will keep the new shape when it cools. See the images.

I now have a selection of leather sheaths that will fit many of the Mora knives. They are made here in the US, and are shown at the bottom of the page.

Are you a dealer? I can wholesale these knives. E-mail ragnar@ragweedforge.com for details.

Click on the images for an enlarged view.

 ** As you will notice, There is no longer pricing for these on this website, Information only, Please visit https://ragweedforgestore.com/collections/mora-1 For Purchases and New models**

There are many styles of Mora knives. I stock more than one hundred models. Some of them are very similar, and serve similar purposes. Often this is a result of new models being introduced while the old models are still available. This allows you to look for fine differences to suit your exact purpose. I've sorted them into groups, and added an index, to help make sense of it.

Index

New from Mora!