Up to date opinions on Helle's quality control

  • Hey Guest, Early bird pricing on the Summer Moot (29th July - 10th August) available until April 6th, we'd love you to come. PLEASE CLICK HERE to early bird price and get more information.

Lonewolf44

Member
Jan 11, 2017
26
0
Poland
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 Are this opinions outdated?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

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Aug 29, 2003
2,355
130
62
Cambridgeshire
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

Settler
May 23, 2005
737
44
55
Northern Norway
www.torbygjordet.com
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

Member
Jan 11, 2017
26
0
Poland
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.
 

PiterM

Tenderfoot
Jul 7, 2009
85
7
49
Poland
Helle is good! One of my most used outdoor knife actually. My Utvaer:


helle_utvaer_sun1.jpg
 

Toddy

Mod
Mod
Jan 21, 2005
38,937
4,570
S. Lanarkshire
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.

IMG_8975.JPG


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 :D

M
 

dannyk64

Full Member
Apr 1, 2015
106
17
Nottingham
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.
 

Ferret75

Life Member
Sep 7, 2014
446
2
Derbyshire
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

Forager
Mar 8, 2016
131
3
East Sussex
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

Settler
Apr 9, 2012
522
4
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
 

BCUK Shop

We have a a number of knives, T-Shirts and other items for sale.

SHOP HERE