One Helle of a knife...

[Copaup]

Out of curiosity I ordered my first Norwegian blade. It is a Brakar from Helle of Norway. This is bar none the sharpest knife I have ever handled, much less owned. It is a five inch blade of laminated stainless that has a Scandinavian grind down to a zero edge. It was scary sharp when I took it out of its packing tube. After 5 passes per side on the ultrafine rods on my brand spanking new sharpmaker it is now truly terrifingly sharp. It seems to frighten hair out of its way before it even touches it. I'm now spoiled. I feel the compulsion to buy more Scandinavian type blades. This thing is seriously nice. Comfy wood handle, light weight, and a thin sharp blade. I can't think of anymore that I could ask for. How is Helle's track record in regards to durability and such? There has to be a negative here, but I just can't find it.

 

[nozh2002]

Letme add some pictures:

I have also Fjellknven (mean MountanKnife?)

They are very popular among hunters in Russia. And for sharpness it is like benchmark to measure other knives to.

Only cons. I know is that it is eazy to scratch, because sides are softer (18-8 kitchenware steel), but is is also eazy to polish it back, for same reason.

Thanks, Vassili.

 

[Esav Benyamin]

You are off to a good start. Helle are excellent. I also like Finnish knives from Marttiini and Jarvenpaa.

 

[Quiet Storm]

How is Helle's track record in regards to durability and such? There has to be a negative here, but I just can't find it.

The rather fragile stick tang most Scandinavian knives have is a negative point, but this is not a big issue since the blades aren't suited for prying, digging or similar abuse anyway.
Another disadvantage is that IMO they could make less compromising light to medium duty utility knives if they just put higher grind lines on their products.

Please note that I think that these Scandinavian blades are among the best traditional utility knives on the market, I merely listed their drawbacks.

 

[nozh2002]

The rather fragile stick tang most Scandinavian knives have, but this is not a big issue since the blades aren't suited for prying, digging or similar abuse anyway.

I don't know about all Scandinavian - don't think it is right about carbon steel blades, but Helle more likely bend then break - they are not fragile, especially tang. I made few knives out of scandinavian blades - Helle has soft tang I can bend even by hand, but Keresuando with Sandvic 12C27 - no way, very hard. Most likely under high pressure it will bend and you'll be able to bend it back.

Thanks, Vassili.

 

[Ebbtide]

Another disadvantage is that IMO they could make less compromising light to medium duty utility knives if they just put higher grind lines on their products.

I'm sorry, but I don't understand.
Wouldn't higher grind lines mean even thinner edges, (since the grind line you see is the actual edge bevel)?

The Helles are great knives.

(Knives.
The things one uses to cut stuff
)
The scandi grind really shines when woodworking.
Point a stick or sharpen a pencil with your new knife, Copaup
Better yet, make a feather stick
Here's mine, the Jegermester (with his 2 best friends)

 

[Quiet Storm]

Wouldn't higher grind lines mean even thinner edges, (since the grind line you see is the actual edge bevel)?

Yes, that is my point. If you make a knife with a stick tang (and no matter how tough their steel is, a thin stick tang doesn't lend itself to prying etc) and a rather thin blade that's otherwise perfect for utility cutting, why not give the blade a very acute angle?
The flat material behind the grind is more or less wasted - yeah, it does make it a bit more resistant to failures resulting from lateral stress, but you shouldn't subject such a blade to that kind of abuse anyway.

 

[Grover_Cephas]

I'm sorry, but I don't understand.
Wouldn't higher grind lines mean even thinner edges, (since the grind line you see is the actual edge bevel)?

Yup. And thin edges are a good thing.

I have four scandinavian knives, and I love 'em. But not _one_ of 'em hasn't gotten a few moments of "man, I wish the bevel wasn't so low" while I was using it. In fact, my first major experiment with rebevelling (very mixed success) was on a cheap, plastic-handled Mora.

If they made more of those beautifully handled knives with properly ground carbon steel blades, I'd never see my paycheck again.

 

[DGG]

That's a great looking hunting knife.

I like the sheath (no little snappy things to come lose when hiking about).

I really like the little guard they put on the handle. If you have never gutted, skinned, and quartered large game you have no idea how messy it is and how easily it is to slip off the handle, especially working blindly inside the body cavity. Even though they probably wear heavy gloves when using such a knife in Scandanavia I would sure hate to accidentally slip my hand or fingers onto that very sharp blade. Better keep needle and tread handy if the chance of that exists.

My guess is that this knife is used more in a pulling stroke than a pushing stroke. Anyone have real experience with these?

Functional design, sharp edge, and good looking to boot! What more can you ask for?

 

[puukkoman]

As you can see, many of us are fans of the scandi's.

If someone has actually used one, I think you'll find they only have positive remarks.

Helle knives are great cutters, as are most Finnish and Scandinavian knives in general (Iisakki Järvenpaa and Martiini, for example, as Esav said). They might not be prybars, but their design comes from a time before the mall ninja and the basement commando, when a knife was a serious cutting tool.

Peace.

 

[shaldag]

I love those knives. They are just the right size for a walk in the woods or camping trip. I dunno about the prying, not something I usually use a knife for. Their edges hold up pretty well, considering that my cutting board in the woods is usually a flat rock.

they are a helle of a lot of knife for the money.

 

[StuntDouble]

I have a Fjellkniven like Vassili's. It's probably the sharpest fixed blade I own, even though has a rather short grind. I actually abused mine quite a bit cutting some branches off a tree. I used another branch as a baton, and pounded it through the junction. When I got the knife home, I realized that the blade now had a slight but noticeable bend in it. So I fastened the blade to a table, and straightened it back out. It still feels solid as ever.

Thanks to Vassili's pics, I think I need a Brakar now..

 

[nozh2002]

This is Futura from Vyacheslav (Irkutsk)

He test it on freshly catched perches on his Baykal fishing trip. He count fishes (200-300 gramm each) he prepared with this knife - fishes have scales, bones etc... and perches scales is specially hard. He lost his count on 150-180 while all other knives stop cutting best at 45.

http://playground.sun.com/~vasya/hellefutura.html

Thanks, Vassili.

 

[Beftus]

Helle knives are cool. Got a Trofe myself, a nice combination of curly birch, leather and reindeer antler. Still lusting after a Harding and an Eggen.

 

[Thomas Linton]

First, I love Scandinavian knives for cutting.

I have a "passel" of knives made in Scandinavia, including five Helles at present. (But nothing from Denmark. ) Each and every one came out of the box with a small secondary bevel. No magnifiction is necessary to see them.

When BushCraft UK tested knives for bushcraft, they rated most highly an IIsakki. They also noted that it came from the maker with a secondary bevel. (Which they immediately removed. I mean what would IIsakki know?)

The supposed benefit of the "Scandi edge" (no secondary bevel) is that it shines when woodworking. I collect knives used by professional U.S. and European woodworkers. I am up to 47. (I started with the knives used by my wife's grandfather, who was a woodworker from Germany who worked for years at Pullman Corp decorating Pullman cars for big shots.) They all have a secondary bevel.

I am thinking of a book: The Myth of the Scandi Edge.

 

[Esav Benyamin]

I have the carbon steel Iisakki Jarvenpaa leuku and puukko combination. I got it secondhand, so I don't know if the first owner reground it, but it doesn't look like it. No significant secondary bevel.

I don't think it changes the basic concept if the knife has a very narrow secondary bevel, more or less to avoid a wire edge effect. In any case, the basic blade shape and effective heat treat and sharpening are what seem so characteristic of these knives. Even the customs stay close to a utilitarian, working pattern.

 

[kevtan]

Love my brakkar!! Its a helle'a durian knive. Other knives just dig into the seam fault to pry open the seams but the brakkar just cut the durian like a sword cutting a watermelon!! Its my preffered durain knife!! The natural wood handle looks n works but i kinda wish that they stabilized them... The weakest point in the brakkar system i must say wud be the sheath. With the edge so sharp , 1 wrong angled insertion is all it takes to destry the sheath.

I convex modded the scandi grind by rebevelling the maingrind to 13mm from edge on the straight edge tapering to 8mm for the tip.

There are gaps n voids where the blade slots into the handle that traps bits of cut materials, so careful cleaning is a must if used to cut food.

 

[nozh2002]

Separate topic just remind me that I found that magnetic holder doesn't hold Helle knives.

Thanks, Vassili.

 

[Ebbtide]

Scandinavian Stealth Knives...


Yoikes!

 

[Thomas Linton]

I just tried a magnet on my Helle's. It sticks to all of them.

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