The Facon is the national knife of Argentina where the Gauchos made it famous as its large and simply shaped blade proved ideal for everything from dispatching game and livestock to repairing tack and saddles to cooking and eating the evening meal. With a blade that resembles an oversized chef knife the Facon can trace its roots back to the 14th century where it was widely used and carried by just about everyone, from peasant and serf all the way up to the landed nobility. In fact, it was so popular it jumped the Atlantic Ocean with the first European immigrants and became established through out North and South America. Now Cold Steel is delighted to present our version of this iconic knife. Forged in the classic shape from 1090 high carbon steel with a wide, thick blade it measures a full 12” long and offers extensive hand filed “jimping” along the “spine”. The handle of our Facon is also hand carved in traditional fashion out of exotic Malaysian Sal Wood and is capped fore and aft with a nickeled steel bolster and pommel. Even the scabbard of our big Facon continues to follow Argentina’s tradition by being molded out of thick black leather that is sewn with a center seam and equipped with a fancy nickeled steel chape.