For a long time I have been considering the Helle range of knives, the biggest problem that I had was no local dealer where I could actually get my hands on some to make my choice, as you all know there is a lot of very positive information on the web regarding this make, so that leaves me to make my choice from an on line retailer, but which model? That really did cause me a problem, where do you start, well after a lot of reading I decided on the Harmoni, it really did tick all the right boxes with its 3.5 x 1/8th scandi ground, tri-laminated blade of a high carbon steel inner sandwiched between the stainless outers make for a superb configuration of edge retention, ease of sharpening and rust resistance. This knife was shaving sharp straight out of the box, it passed the feather stick and tomato test with flying colours.
I have done a lot of work with it over the past few weeks and it is still as sharp as when it first arrived. it really makes me wonder that if Helle can do this why cant other manufactures do the same. I was very pleased with the back of this blade being sufficiently sharp enough to give very good results with a fire steel.
The handle is 4.5 long and made of curly birch, which I love and rosewood with black and red fibre spacers, a wonderful combination which is not only practical but very pleasing on the eye, there is a stainless bolster ground to the same size as the handle which offers great protection to the handle, especially when battoning, something that this knife excels at. It has a small finger guard which is something that was a must, just big enough to do the job, but not too big to get in the way, I have quite large hands and I find that this is a really good size for me.
The sheath is of good quality leather, maybe a little soft for my liking, but that could easily be remedied.
Overall I am very pleased with this knife, the fit and finish of all of the parts is very good for a knife of this price, £54. It has a good weight, heavy enough to install confidence, but light enough to ensure comfortable use and to make it a prime contender for conversion to neck carry, it even came with its own polishing cloth. I will defiantly be adding more from the range to my ever-increasing knife collection.
The biggest problem I had was sourcing this model in the UK, as it was very new in the range, a friend of mine told me of the sole UK distributor, a company that I had never heard of before, Crosscut Ltd, unfortunately no web site at the moment but you can call on 01978-264716, superb service and quick delivery, I was surprised at the range of product names that they deal with, and I must say that they are now on my suppliers list.
