Helle Knives?

[Spydiefan04]

Nearly all of my fixed blades are at least 3/16" thick, even the short ones. Thing is I pretty much just use knives for utility purposes (to cut) and am wanting a thinner fixed blade of 3-5" long. I have already decided I'm going to buy a Mora based of reputation and because I can get one so cheap. My question is are the Helle knives worth the price difference, I've only seen pics of them on-line and think they look great, also I don't know much about scandi-grinds but the bushcraft people are wild about them. Any Helle knowledge would be appreciated.

 

[Hawkings]

In terms of function, no they are not worth the price difference. In terms of looking a lot nicer then a mora, only you can decide.
But if you want to try the scandi grind, go for a mora first. The design of the knife and grind are made for each other. unlike a lot of other scandi gring knives.

 

[Bob W]

Yes, Helle are much more expensive than Mora but the overall level of finish and aesthetics are much higher as well. Simply, Helle are fancier and you pay for that. My Helle is a "Millstone," and I've purchased the Symphoni for gifts. All have been beautiful and well-made.

If you want something a little higher end than the basic Mora brand but balk at the price of Helle , there are several in-between brands to choose from. Lapin Puukko, Järvenpää, and Ahti come to mind and have nice knives in the $50 range. Marttiini are well known for their plastic handled and fillet knives, but they make an excellent basic knife (Lynx models) as well, and for not much more than a Mora.

Good luck deciding. If you're like me, you'll end up with one of each eventually anyway.

 

[Spydiefan04]

Wow, the plot thickens I had only heard of Mora and Helle, didn't realize there were that many companies making scandi grinds.

 

[Poez]

Scandi grind is not that rare and in fact not so spectacular. So get a cheap knife, try it on and then decide if you want more of the same...
Brusletto is another one worth mentioning.
Helle has very nice choice of models. I like their designes. They have got laminated blades, with outer layers made of quite soft stainless - it gets scratched in no time. That is OK in general, but considering that buying Helle you are paying extra for nice looks it might be quite disappointing.

 

[Thomas Linton]

That depends upon what you mean to communicate by "scandi." If you mean no secondary bevel ("Lay flat on stone to sharpen."), that is quite unusual. I have a number of knives made in Sweden, Norway, and Finland, some custom, and all but two came with a secondary bevel or were convex-ground. Scandinavian custom makers have pointed out on the British forum that a small secondary bevel is the norm, but legends have great power. One common response is to say that a small secondary bevel does not count, so the knife is still "scandi" - like only a little pregnant. Since the idea is a knife that can simply be laid flat on a stone to be sharpened, I don't get the logic, but YMMV.