I remember not too long ago some discussion here about plug cutters, vintage and antique ones, more available modern substitutes etc. I am certain someone mentioned Alaskan ulu-s. After trying a variety of unsatisfactory other knives and kitchen gadget substitutes, on a whim, I threw an ulu with matching cutting bowl on a gift-suggestion list for this past xmas. Lo and behold, one materialized. I've been using it for plugs, cakes, flakes, ropes, "broken flakes" etc for several weeks now. I gotta tell y'all I AM REALLY IMPRESSED!! A little more practice with the wrist-use technique on my part, and I've got my go-to multipurpose tobacco processor! I superiorly recommend it! What's amazing me is that with this thing, I've gone from any of the above tobacco formats to exactly how I like to pack and smoke it in 5 to 10 seconds with the ulu and bowl, as opposed to several minutes before. And the bowl is a fantastic and attractive tobacco accessory... black walnut alternating with birch... gorgeous. AND, for those of you who appreciate this maybe as much as I do, the right ones are Made In The USA! I may actually have to get one for the kitchen. Bon tabac, fellow pipe-ists!
Not only was the whole setup beautiful, artistic and functional, I was most intrigued by the fact Rolando made his own steel blades. They looked like the quality you see in those xxthousand dollar Japanese chef knives. If anything would make short work of a dried out Peterson 3P hockey puck, I bet his would.
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