Helle Knives for all aorund woodcraft?

RescueRiley

RescueRiley

Joined
Mar 22, 2006
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Just read a few nice reviews on the helle eggen and harding, I was wondering if any of you had any experience with them, and what your thoughts would be on them sufficing as a all around woods blade, I'm looking for something simialr to a mora in wieght and size. but perhaps a little more robust with a through tang..somethng capable of batoning with in reason, though I don;t intend for it to be used that way,. ( the classic moras now being produced no longer have a through tang) Thanks
 
I have the Helle-Eggen. I can't report on any field experience, but I did want to mention that the guard feels quite thick against my index finger and effectively shortens the grip at least a quarter-inch. The butt digs into the heel of my palm a little as a result.

The material and finish are excellent, including the sheath. It's a lovely knife, and the handle is only a problem in some grip positions.

However, I'm buying the Helle-Viking to experience a similar knife with utterly no guard.

Bear
 
I'm fond of my Brusletto Troll - about the same weight as a Mora but with a through tang. The barrel-shaped handle can't be beat for comfort. It's a thick blade - definitely not a kitchen slicer. Stainless but it's got a rustic looking heat treat finish on it. About the same price as a Helle Eggen on ragweed if you don't get the fancy tooled sheath.

http://www.ragweedforge.com/BruslettoCatalog.html

troll.jpg
 
My Helle Eggen is possibly the sharpest production knife I ever received NIB, it came able to shave individual hair. The edge has held up to moderate use, I won't be batonning with mine, but I have used it for wood prep and to whittle notches for practice snares. Never had a problem with mine and I would trust it for the outdoors.

Have a Troll as well, I whittled some sapling wood with it and noticed that the edge got chipped. I presume this was from improper heat treating and not abuse on my part.
 
My friend had a Helle Eggen. He loved it until he batoned and it bent pretty bad. The handle even cracked where it bent. Come to find out it only has a stick tang. I know, Mora is the same way, but for some reason it didn't make the cut.
 
Gave my Helle Eggen to a deserving nephew, a Scoutmaster in Texas, but I liked that blade a lot. Very light (great for backpacking), superb cutter (it had the old style laminated blade, with a core of high carbon steel sandwiched by 18/8 stainless). This type of blade will bend before it will break. But Helle knives are made for cutting, not batoning. Use it as it's intended and it will likely outlast you.
 
I have a Helle Fossekallen (sort of a cross between the Eggen (handle) and Fjellkniven (blade). I'm really a fan of the shaped birch handle and while it might be a little small wearing gloves, I think the inclusion of a guard is important considering how ridiculously sharp the blade is and the fact that having that added bit of safety might help the knife be a bit more versatile (e.g. the ability to safely make draw cuts and push cuts).

The tang on mine does go all the way through the handle where it is peened over at the end, but it's not "full tang" where the blade stock is sandwiched between the handle scales. The knife is, however, quite stout and very sturdy and I've never felt like I had to be extra careful with it and it seems like it would take a lot to break anything. That said I think it's sort of a nice knife to go smashing through blocks of wood and I've heard that the blades can be bent with too much torque (the outer steel laminate is very corrosion resistant, but soft).

For its intended purpose, I love it. Functional and beautiful, and the Fossekallen sheath includes a keeper strap attached with a snap. Seems to me like a lot of the blades would be on the short side for batonning anyhow, the majority being around 4". I couldn't recommend it enough for fishing/hunting, carving/whittling, and general use and they are very lightweight (it's probably around the same as my Victorinox Soldier) but for splitting wood, well, I'd hate to break or bend mine.
 
CWL said:
Have a Troll as well, I whittled some sapling wood with it and noticed that the edge got chipped. I presume this was from improper heat treating and not abuse on my part.
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I had some issues initially too - edge rolling in really hard woods. I've taken a lot more material off since then and haven't had a problem - a lot of knives are like that, you have to remove some metal to get to the good stuff. Are you still having edge failures on your Troll?
 
The Helle knives are gread for cutting,wood carving etc.But since they have quite soft tangs,they're not good for batoning - they will bend :) But for processing game and fish,they reaaly are awsome - that laminate steel can get crazy sharp ;)
 
SouthernCross said:
Has anyone used theirs' yet on seasoned, fair dinkum hardwood? :D
Kind regards
Mick
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I have an Eggen that came very sharp & holds its edge well. I batoned it through a relatively seasoned oak branch in my yard to carve a spoon.

A small chunk of the handle (~1 or 2 mm) above the spine (where the blade meets the handle) split out as a chip. Otherwise, it did great. I didn't notice the chip until after I was done.

The blade still seems straight and solid with no play, but I wouldn't baton it again.
 
I have the Harding and I believe it is the only knife I own that I've removed material from the handle to try to make it more comfortable.

It is a beautiful knife and the laminated blade gets ridiculously sharp very easily (and seems to hold up well).

The one little thing about this knife that bugs me (and compromises my trust in it as a survival tool) is the poor fit of the bolster to the blade. It doesn't come all the way forward to butt against the full height of the blade, leaving a tiny bit of the tang showing beyond the bolster. To me, this screams "weak spot!" although it's probably not a real problem. Thing is, I'd prefer not to find out at an inopportune moment, if you know what I mean....

I keep the Harding in the center console of my car for auto duty. I have Dan Koster and Brian Andrews bushcrafters (3V and O1) that I think make a much tougher all-around woods knife with just a slight weight penalty compared to the Harding or a Mora. I've batoned with the Brian Andrews knife in some very hard wood with no problems at all. It's a tank, while my original Dan Koster is more svelte, but every bit as rugged.

These are the scandi ground knives I'd choose for a "one knife" carry.

Stay sharp,
desmobob
 
Go straight to the Kellams..the are the best in my opinion. I like the looks on the Helle's, but they never felt solid like a Kellam. I EDC a Kellam wolverine with my Mora 510 in my go bag. I dropped it in a JRE bushcraft sheath, and it is good to go.
 
My scandi knives have no problem with hard wood now they have a microbevel.
When did the mora classic cease to have a through tang?
 
gunknifenut said:
Go straight to the Kellams..the are the best in my opinion. I like the looks on the Helle's, but they never felt solid like a Kellam. I EDC a Kellam wolverine with my Mora 510 in my go bag. I dropped it in a JRE bushcraft sheath, and it is good to go.
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Not to hijack this thread, but how do the Kellams compare to the Rosellis if you or anyone else here knows?
 
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