New guy here on the forums, looking to purchase my first nice fixed blade for camping/fishing/hiking and narrowed it down to the Helle Harding or Gaupe. I know the Harding gets lots of love having been around for 30 years but I don't see a lot of feedback about the Gaupe, being a more recent design. Most comments seem to be in passing, confirming ownership of one but not much beyond that. From pictures, the Gaupe blade looks a bit more substantial but not to a fault. Can anybody add to the discussion of the Gaupe?
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Helle Gaupe
- Thread starter guyinzona
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- Jun 30, 2005
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- 4,242
Last year at BLADE I handled both at the Helle booth. Both were nice, but the Harding felt slightly better in my hand. Main thing that stopped me from getting the Harding was the metal stud on the butt of the handle. The indecision kept up & then I spent my money elsewhere.
screened porch
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I'd probably go with the Gaupe for the longer handle and to avoid the multi-part handle of the Harding.
Thanks for the replies. Even though my hands are about average in size, the slightly fatter handle on the Gaupe just seemed to fit me better. Probably tough to go wrong either way but a hearty blade and a solid one-piece handle seems like a good combo to start out with.
Thought I would wrap up my post-purchases thoughts here in case anybody else finds themselves in a similar position. I ended up ordering a Gaupe, Harding, and Fjellkniven for in-hand comparison before making a final decision.
I found the Harding to be the smallest in terms of both handle and blade. My grip didn't quite feel comfortable with the it while the blade size is OK.
The Gaupe was on the other end of the spectrum with a larger grip and blade. As I said before, the handle felt great and I liked the slightly larger blade.
I found that the Fjellkniven fell in between the other two. The handle was of a similar size to the Gaupe but the blade was nearly the same as the Harding.
Once again the larger blade won out and I stuck with the Gaupe. Plus my college mascot was a Bobcat (close enough to a Lynx) and I took that as a sign.
I found the Harding to be the smallest in terms of both handle and blade. My grip didn't quite feel comfortable with the it while the blade size is OK.
The Gaupe was on the other end of the spectrum with a larger grip and blade. As I said before, the handle felt great and I liked the slightly larger blade.
I found that the Fjellkniven fell in between the other two. The handle was of a similar size to the Gaupe but the blade was nearly the same as the Harding.
Once again the larger blade won out and I stuck with the Gaupe. Plus my college mascot was a Bobcat (close enough to a Lynx) and I took that as a sign.