Coming soon: Official Survivorman knife

[sergemaster]

Amici,
I just recieved an interesting email from the Les Stroud official site that I am a subscriber too. It seems that Les will be partnering up with Helle to design an official survivorman knife based on a Nordic design so my apolisies to those who hate the Scandi grinds. Here's the details:


http://www.helle.no/Default.aspx?tabid=8457&language=nb-NO
Cheers,
Serge

[Sazabi]

I've never heard of Helle before, but that's not unusual, given the vast number of companies out there.  Here's to hoping it's better than the Barely Grilled knife, and hopefully more than just a rebrand of one of their current knives (I'm looking at you, LMF II/USK).

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

Now there's a celebrity tool I can genuinely get excited about

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

You've got me agonizing over one of these again now

http://www.heinnie.com/product.asp?strParents=&CAT_ID=0&P_ID=4050&strPageHistory=search&numSearchStartRecord=1

[Gareth]

I've never heard of Helle before, but that's not unusual, given the vast number of companies out there.  Here's to hoping it's better than the Barely Grilled knife, and hopefully more than just a rebrand of one of their current knives (I'm looking at you, LMF II/USK).

Well respected brand AFAIK, though I don't own one myself, I've heard good things about them.

Amici,
I just recieved an interesting email from the Les Stroud official site that I am a subscriber too. It seems that Les will be partnering up with Helle to design an official survivorman knife based on a Nordic design so my apolisies to those who hate the Scandi grinds. Here's the details:


http://www.helle.no/Default.aspx?tabid=8457&language=nb-NO
Cheers,
Serge

Thanks for the heads-up Serge, I'm certainly interested to see what they have come up with.

[Sazabi]

Looking on their website, at least the fixed blades are a good price, being south of $100.

[jzmtl]

I've never heard of Helle before,

Helle is like more upscale Mora, better craftsmanship and leather sheath, but otherwise quite similar.

[sergemaster]

Amici,
Scandi grinds as well as Scandi blades aren't too bad, especially if you're into the minimalist scene where primitive fixed blades seems to be all the rage in woodcraft.

Here's a pic of my Finnish Puukko that I picked up earlier this year from Nordica Heat. It's a small package, but it packs a serious bite, weighs about 3 ounces, and feels just great in the hand.

Since Les seems to be jumping onto the primitive cultures bandwagon with his latest survivor series, I can definitely see Les going this route but having enough sense and experience to select the best of what early cutlery has to offer.

I'm actually thinking of upgrading the sheath by getting a kydex sheath made and use it as a neck knife especially during the winter months so not to have to deal with fumbling or unzipping any outerwear to gain quick access to a sharp blade especially in a pinch.

Plus I think it would look really cool!

Cheers,
Serge
 

[Grant Lamontagne]

I am surprised he doesn't do a signature Leatherman or SwissTool since that's what he used most often on his show.

Def

[thebullfrog]

I'll take this over the Grylls stuff any day of the week. Les even does whoring out his name better than Bear. Les-2 Bear-0

[Gadget Guy]

I love scandi grinds!   

[sergemaster]

Amici,
I think Les came to the conclusion that despite how much we all love and use  MTs and SAKs here, they can only do so much in the bush with the majority of the tools considered by many an outdoorsman dead weight compared to a decent fixed blade.

I am speaking simply for the when one finds themselves stuck in the bush where despite how great one considers their MT to be, in all honesty it can't really compare to a fixed blade for most chores. The fixed blade is fixed, meaning no moving parts or weak spots to contend with unlike the MT.

The best approach is a balance and rely on BOTH as Les has done in the past especially in his last season of Survivorman, and as many of us do when we find ourselves out in the bush with the lions, tigers, and bears, oh my!

Cheers,
Serge

[Grant Lamontagne]

Yes and no- I agree with you for the most part, but I have to ask how you ended up in the woods?  Did your car or ATV break down?  Did your plane crash?  Did you smash the prop on your boat motor?

It seems to me that having basic tools like a few screwdrivers would help with things like equipment repairs and jury rigging things.  I'm reminded of the scene in the movie The Abyss, where the bathyscape was leaking from a hole behind a control box.  It was a small, easily patched leak except that the panel was in the way, which again wouldn't have been a huge problem except that they had no wrench, which meant that even the fairly small leak was impossible to fix.

Ok, so that's a movie, but imagine that you stumble across some hunter's camp, which is fully stocked with many different canned foods- are you willing to starve because you only have a knife?  Or, you are trying to turn the power on so you can call for help, but the panel is closed with a screw, and the scredriver is in the owner's truck bed. 

These are more realistic situations, and can make the difference between surviving and not surviving.  Give me a good SAK or multitool any day- the extra weight over a knife isn't significant enough for me to only carry a blade.

Def

[BIG-TARGET]

Why couldn't Leatherman just make a Wave with Les's autograph on it??

[SlackOne]

Why couldn't Leatherman just make a Wave with Les's autograph on it and an awl in it??

Fixed! 

[sergemaster]

Amici,
Well it's official, let us all welcome the Tamagami, designed by Les Stroud and produced by Helle.. Sorry for those of you who hate Scandi grinds but that's what it is..

Cheers,
Serge

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

No that does look a great bit of kit

[MTguy]

Thats a great looking knife. I like scandi grinds on fixed blades this size, there just so easy to sharpen.

This knife is listed on les' website for preorder at $179.99, too steep for me but it does look very nice.

[darkhawk]

Why couldn't Leatherman just make a Wave with Les's autograph on it and an awl in it??

Fixed! 

LOL
and no mini screwdriver (i hate that dam-thing)
sold

[Gareth]

Looks excellent.   

Just did a quick money conversion and $180=£113.45, that's a lot more than most Helle knives go for here.

Given the choice I'd be more likely to buy an Eggen at half the price.  Though in fairness we'll wait and see what it actually retails at here.

[BIG-TARGET]

That is a nice little knife.  A bit pricey though

[Medic82]

What’s wrong with our grinds? And I am not surprised that the price is pretty steep for you guys, Norway is not a cheap country to make stuff in. But Helle makes some awesome quality knifes that are mostly handmade and comes with a lifetime warranty to back it up also, you are paying for quality.

Damned, now I want a new knife also.

[ducttapetech]

Thats a sweet blade.

[Poncho65]

Very nice lookin knife It does seem a bit high But I know of many other knifes that are endorsed by ppl that are much higher Hopefully it can be had for less when it hits mainstream

[sergemaster]

Amici,
The reason for the steep price is because it will have good old Les's John Handcock on it plus his official endorsment as an official "survivorman" survival blade which as time goes by should go up in value if you plan to purchase one and put it aside as an addition to the collection.

Personally it seems to resemble the Nordic version of the Pathfinder fixed blade blade as used by Dave Canterbury of "Dual Survival" fame. One can easily pick up a similiar scandi via ebay from sellers like Nordicaheat and the like for about half the price.

Cheers,
Serge

[Gareth]

Amici,
The reason for the steep price is because it will have good old Les's John Handcock on it plus his official endorsment as an official "survivorman" survival blade which as time goes by should go up in value if you plan to purchase one and put it aside as an addition to the collection.

Personally it seems to resemble the Nordic version of the Pathfinder fixed blade blade as used by Dave Canterbury of "Dual Survival" fame. One can easily pick up a similiar scandi via ebay from sellers like Nordicaheat and the like for about half the price.

Cheers,
Serge

They're both very reminiscent of a lot of 'scandi' style knives.  To me the Stroud knife looks very much to be a heavier tang version of Helle's own Eggen (with several other little tweaks). 

[sergemaster]

Amici,
I totally agree, also would you say that the tang is of the rat tail style? If so, are they any less stronger than the tradition full length tang?

The construction and width of the tang has always been a reason why I have been slightly wary of Nordic blades and submitting them to any hard use like batoning. I was never quite sure they could stand up to the task.


Cheers,
Serge

[Gareth]

I won't say you couldn't break a stick tang, but I can say I never have.   In fact I split a pile of branches while out hiking at new year using my Marttiini Lynx, not worried once while using it.

[sergemaster]

Gareth,
That's great to hear you have put my mind at ease in the batoning department.

Since we're on the survivorman knife topic, here are shots of my primitive two, as well as their accompanying mulittools when out and about in the bush..

Cheers,
Serge

[jzmtl]

Yeesh, I think I'll stick with my $15 Mora.