Survivorman knife...

ROCK6

ROCK6

Joined
Feb 8, 2004
Messages
4,172
I know Les Stroud was working on a collaboration with Helle, but I never saw the final product. Just browsing Ragweed Forge and saw the first blade was Les' collaboration:

temagami.jpg


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

Nothing suprising (except the price), but I do like the hand-filling handle. Any thoughts on this one?

ROCK6
 
The design of the knife is fabulous, but the price is way beyond ridiculous. People think that Gerber trying to capitalize on Bear Grylls name is silly? I think that this is even worse. I'd never buy it in a million years at that price. Heck, you could have one of the makers on here produce a knife to your specifications for the same amount of money, or just a little more.
 
cramsey3006 said:
The design of the knife is fabulous, but the price is way beyond ridiculous. People think that Gerber trying to capitalize on Bear Grylls name is silly? I think that this is even worse. I'd never buy it in a million years at that price. Heck, you could have one of the makers on here produce a knife to your specifications for the same amount of money, or just a little more.
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I agree...it seems the price point of Helle has gone up quite a bit the last few years. At the asking price, you could get close to a domestic custom that would fit the bill. Even for Les, I wish the price point was lower just to make it more available for users. You're going to pay more for a collaboration, but unfortunately that's pushed it outside the range for a factory outdoors blade.

ROCK6
 
The only hands-on review I have seen was complimentary about everything but the fit and finish.
 
I have one. Haven't used it yet but it is a beautiful knife. I picked it up on the secondary market. It's beefy.
 
I agree that the list price is very high, but I found a place on line that is selling them for a lot less then the minimum advertised price. I was a little hesitant to order but did and got it today. I haven't had a chance to play with it but I saw one locally and it seemed very nice.

Chad
 
It looks like an amazing mora or any of Helle's other birch handle knives. Its a shame that the price point is where it is for this knife. Helle should have demographed the market to see what knife this would be competing with. I dont have a spyderco bushcrafter, but I would guess that is what Helle was comparing the Temegami too.
I guess Helle figured these knives would sell off of Les's name alone. I have a lot of respect for him; but I dont see myself buying this knife.
 
Even with the price, is hands down the best looking and most functional looking of any of the guru colab knives. 169 isnt too bad for a good knife. I love how folks get their undies in a wad over a higher priced Scandi, but will shell out much more money for a spraypainted prybar without batting an eye.
 
"The carbon steel blade is laminated, with a layer of hardened steel in the center, and softer sides for toughness."

This might explain the high price... laminated blades are more expensive to make, I think. Im personally not willing to pay any extra for a name on the blade, though.
 
j williams said:
Even with the price, is hands down the best looking and most functional looking of any of the guru colab knives. 169 isnt too bad for a good knife. I love how folks get their undies in a wad over a higher priced Scandi, but will shell out much more money for a spraypainted prybar without batting an eye.
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Yeah, I don't buy TOPS, Busse or any of the kin either. :D
 
I have a Helle Taiga and really love the thing. The Taiga has the Brakar blade and as I understand it, this new Helle has the same blade as the Brakar, but it's a full length, partial width tang. The 5" long blade at .120" thick is the perfect sized blade for general bushcraft use, IMO. The tri-laminate steel blade on mine holds a razor edge like no other knife i've ever owned. If Helle gets the price on this new one down in the range of $125.00, I'll buy one.
 
j williams said:
Even with the price, is hands down the best looking and most functional looking of any of the guru colab knives. 169 isnt too bad for a good knife. I love how folks get their undies in a wad over a higher priced Scandi, but will shell out much more money for a spraypainted prybar without batting an eye.
Click to expand...

I do agree this is one of the more functional looking collaborative knifes. One thing I didn't see is gaudy signature marks all over the blade...that was a good decision. Helle knives just seemed to have gone up in price the past few years (or it's just me); I have no issues with their construction as the couple of Helle knives I own are functional and well built. I would like to have seen the price a little lower, but considering what some price points are for some knives...it's not too far off being unreasonable in my mind. Regardless, it looks like a well-designed, functional outdoors blade; Kudo's to Les and Helle for nice and common-sense collaboration.

ROCK6
 
If you search for helle temagami in Google shopping you can find it for $125.

I'll try and get some pictures of mine posted tonight.

Chad
 
The helle eggen is the exact same knife just not the fancy marketing. I would go for the eggen instead.

I also wanted the survivorman knife when I first heard of it but eventually learned of the similarity to the eggen.

That being said any helle knife is awesome and are great camping knives.
 
Might not the price of Helle knives be more reflective of the falling dollar rather than an increase in price? It's a nice knife, but I think I'll wait for the dollar to strengthen a little. I'd give a hundred for one, but not much more.
 
Here are some pictures of my knife. I had read that there were gaps between the handle and the blade on the first knifes but on the carbon steel one I got and the stainless one I looked at in a store the fit was very good. On my knife there were two little blemishes on the blade that were just cosmetic. The one I saw in the store was spotless. It comes in a cardboard tube with a leather sheath and a Helle marked cloth.

I still haven't had a chance to use it but so far I think it's a nice knife.

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Chad
 
I like the looks, but I really don't see it as worth over $110-$120. Now, I am not the biggest person into Scandis, but if at some point this is in that range and I have some spare money, I will be getting one.
 
Nice looking knife Chad,I can see why Les would like it over his Buck 119,and the laminated blade makes it one tough survival knife.
 
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