The "Muk" is short for "Nessmuk" and is named after the knife's designer George Sears "Nessmuk". It was one of a handful of self-designed tools he used to go camping for months at a time--the others were a double-sided hatchet, a two blade folder, and a birch bark canoe. Sears was the grandfather of today's ultralite camping.

The Muk or Nessmuk or Nessie is a skinner, camp, or general utility knife. It is a simple design that has endured for over 100 years.

That, and it just looks cool <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />