Up to date opinions on Helle's quality control

[Lonewolf44]

Hello guys,

I immediately fell in love with Helle knives - handmade, great steel, and beautiful traditional wooden handles. Knifes are quite affordable too. People are usually very satisfied in reviews (some point out that they broke Helle knife while batoning but why would You do that with hidden tang knife anyway), however the issue I stumble upon frequently is quality control. Few times I saw people reporting they bought bent or chipped knifes. Some guy even said he received another broke knife as a refund, and after posting pictures to Helle's fan page they blocked him. Are this opinions outdated? Did You ever encounter anything like that? Is it safe and worth it to buy a Helle (as there are no similar "classic" trapper looking knifes in that price range) or should I contact some custom knife maker?

 

[MartiniDave]

The only Helle I have experience of is my Eggen, which I've had for 12 years or more. I have had no problems at all. I takes and holds a truly wicked edge. If I lost it I would replace it with another.

 

[Tor helge]

Helle is as "handmade" as other Production knives. I`ve seen some that I wouldnt have bought, due to IMO bad antler quality.
Helle usually replace broken knives (at least they did. My earlier boss is on his Third Hunter). Didn`t know they had a fan page?
Most People take contact With Helle directly.

www.helle.no/contact/

 

[Lonewolf44]

Well currently I'm waiting for my custom knife much based on Helle Gaupe, so I won't buy any right now, but Helle is still my favorite-by-looks brand along with Karesuando, so any opinions are welcome. Especially from people that bought a Helle knife in last 3 months.

 

[John Fenna]

I have had a few Helles in my time and never had a problem....

 

[Osprey]

Been very happy with the Fjellkniven I've had for the last 12 years.

 

[PiterM]

Helle is good! One of my most used outdoor knife actually. My Utvaer:

 

[Toddy]

I have a Helle Polar, and it's a really lovely tool. It's had a lot of use and it's still sound, and I do batton with it.

http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=39163

The previous one delaminated, no one had ever seen such a thing from a Helle before and Helle replaced it pdq, all the way from Scandinavia to Scotland in a couple of days. No fuss, no bother, and I have no complaints
I also have a Helle Tomiliten (sp ?) and it's an excellent wee knife too

M

 

[dannyk64]

I have a Helle Harding knife, found the quality fantastic and the sheath very good (has a piece of leather that snaps over the pommel of the knife to stop it falling out!). Always sharpens up nicely and retains a good edge. Nice sized knife ideal for carving. I only baton kindling with it. cant complain with the quality.

 

[Leshy]

Helle is good! One of my most used outdoor knife actually. My Utvaer:

That is one sexy knife...
*Drooool*

 

[Ferret75]

I have an Utvaer and Temagami, they are both extremely sharp, keep their edges very well and need minimal maintenance. I have never battoned with either, not because I have concerns about them, it's just because I prefer an axe for this particular task. I would happily recommend either. I have never owned one of their other knives as they are usually not a full tang, so can't really make comment.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

 

[Muskett]

If you like some knife buy one.
I have no idea about Helle but suspect they try to make the best knife they can for the market they supply. Every knife they make the best they can at a respectful price. Same goes for all the long term manufacturers.
Remember every knife has some luck built in. Every maker tries to build in as much luck as they can by doing a good job of it. Make enough knives then something is going to get through without any luck. Try to push the boundaries and how much luck is difficult to gauge. Keep to good practices then no reason a blade shouldn't hold a lot of luck.
Trouble with the internet is one bad bit of luck can be reported and ruin the reputation of all those knives that a manufacturer has made that have plenty of luck. Its on reputation. Your call at the end of the day but I'm pretty sure Helle knives are plenty good.

What is annoying recently is the fashion to test knives in a way that doesn't reflect how the knife should be used. There are knives made to baton, to pry, to gouge with, but not every one please. Most of the time I just want a knife to cut and a sharpened pry bar is poor at that.

 

[NoName]

Very good knives!
I had three, Eggen, Gobben and some other

One can chooce a model with different tangs: Rat-, half, full...
Fully agree with Muskett