Review: Helle/Les Stroud Temagami - carbon steel blade. Updated w. field test!

[JEEP]

Time for another knife review! This time it is a knife that is a lot more up my alley; the Temagami, designed by Les Stroud (known from Survivorman and Beyond Survival) and produced by Helle in Norway; http://helle.com/Default.aspx?tabid=8564&language=en-US
I actually bought this knife before I knew anything about Les Stroud. I bought it because I am quite fond of Helle's laminated carbon steel, of which only three models are available currently: The Viking (which I have had for some time), the Ny Fjording (which I have in order) and the Temagami.
I ordered the Temagami because I, from pictures and the price tag, expected it to be a somewhat nicer knife than the Viking and Ny Fjording, both which are nice, but fairly simple in design and finish.
The Temagami is available in both laminated stainless steel and laminated carbon steel. Though Helle's laminated stainless steel is very high quality, I find their laminated carbon steel to be even more so – actually; my Helle Viking is among the best blades I have ever used!

First impressions:

Packaging:
The knife comes in a nice cardboard tube, printed with the Helle logo, Les Stroud's signature, a classic shot of a Norwegian fjord with mountains in the background and a long text vividly explaining the qualities of Helle knives.
The idea of packing the knife in a tube is imho, very classy and innovative – and will certainly add to the collector's value of this knife.
My only gripe about the tube is the fact that the ends are not very sturdy and very loosely glued on. On my example both had gone loose during transport, a shame really.

Contents of package:
-Knife
-Leather sheath
-Maintenance-/storage cloth
-Small pamphlet containing guarantee and maintenance information

The knife:

Measurements (my own): Weight (knife); 147 g. Weight (knife + sheath); 205 g. Blade length; 11 cm. Blade width; 2,7 cm. Blade thickness; 3 mm, Overall length: 23 cm.

Appearance/aesthetics:
This knife is best described as a marriage between a classic Scandinavian knife and a British bushcraft knife. The grind and handle material is traditionally Scandinavian, while the shape of the blade, handle and the half enclosed full tang is more in the way of the classic Bushcraft knife.
The overall design is very nice and quite harmonic as is the finish – the proportions, especially the handle, is larger than most Scandinavian knives.
Personally I prefer traditional Scandinavian stick tang knives, but I suspect the half enclosed full tang of this knife will have a broader appal to bushcrafters Worldwide.
I will comment on the details below.

Blade:
Classic carbon steel drop point blade with no sharpened upper/back edge (making the handle less hard on your baton) and Scandinavian grind – a classic bushcraft blade, very similar to the Ray Mears Woodlore/Bushcraft Knife, Rod Garcia Skookum Bush Tool as well as numerous clones of these.
The back of the blade has three notches filed in at the middle, originally intended to have two functions: 1. As a place to put your index finger, and prevent it from slipping, when skinning and preparing game. 2. To work as a striker for firesteels. The first function has no use for me (yet) and the second, as discovered by many and confirmed by testing it on several of my firesteels, does not work as intended. The metal of the back of the blade is simply too soft to throw a spark. Helle is aware of this and has announced it on it's homepage; http://www.helle.no/Default.aspx?tabid=4978&newsid10372=2294&language=en-US I was aware of this before I bought the knife, as I prefer to strike my firesteels with a striker, I really do not mind. The notches do not take anything away from the overall appearance of the knife – and once I get my hunting licence, I may even come to find the feature useful.
The blade, which is finished with Helle's near mirror polish, with some minor tool marks, is etched Helle Norway, Temagami and Carbon on the blade.
Some would maybe consider a blade thickness of 3 mm to be rather thin for a bushcraft knife like this, personally I find that a thicker blade would make the knife too heavy – and I have never had any problems with any of my other 3 mm thick blades.
Like all Helle knives I have ever handled this one comes hair popping sharp out of the box (I now have several bald spots on my left forearm to prove that) – it also cuts paper like it is nobody's business.

Handle:
Curly birch with a comfortable matte oiled finish. The tang is half embedded in the handle and secured with two brass pins and a brass lined lanyard hole. According to Sami tradition a traditional Scandinavian knife must contain at least one element of brass, or else it will loose its magic. Aside from that; brass goes well with curly birch :)
The handle is shaped with a finger guard. An unusual feature for a Scandinavian knife – and for a classic bushcraft knife even. But, never the less; a well thought of feature and one I am growing to like quite a lot.
The handle is rather substantial, more so than any of my other similar sized knives, but it is surprisingly comfortable as well. I suspect it to quite comfortable for prolonged use, more so actually than many of my knives with smaller handles.
The wood itself is, I must admit, a bit of a disappointment. It is nowhere as nice as the wood of the knife shown on the Helle homepage – and I have much cheaper knives with significantly nicer curly birch handles, like my Eräpu 202 and Helle Viking. The handle is by no means ugly, I had just expected a lot more from looking at pictures and considering the price. Either Helle has deliberately chosen an extra nice example for photographing – or I have been “unlucky” and gotten one of the “less nice” pieces of wood. Either way, I would be lying if I said that I was fully content with it.
If examined carefully the handle is not fully symmetrical and the handle and tang does not align completely everywhere. This is normal for a Helle knife however.

The sheath:
Traditional Scandinavian sheath in a rather old fashioned (even for a Scandinavian style sheath) back stitched “ambidextrous” design. The advantage of this particular design is that the knife can be worn on either the right or left side. The sheath being a traditional Scandinavian one, the knife sits deeply and firmly in the sheath, preventing loss – as there are no attachments to secure the knife further. Though, I have yet to loose a knife from a deep Scandinavian sheath like this.
The sheath is made in a fairly thick full grain leather which has been stained dark brown. The sheath has a simple decoration at the lower part and around the top of the sheath, I personally like simple decorations like this.
The belt loops is riveted in place and aligns with the top of the handle. Personally I prefer a dangler type belt loop and a knife that hangs lower than this. I may have to modify this later.
Inside the sheath is a plastic insert, which protects the sheath from being cut. A non traditional feature that I, over time, have come to prefer, from having seen a few too many sheaths, without such an insert, being cut open, by the point of the knife, in the hands of overly eager knife users.
The sheath came with some tool marks and some scratches/rough parts, but a good coat of leather grease took care of that.
I like this sheath, but I feel that maybe a more classic bushcraft type sheath, like the one that comes with the Ray Mears Bushcraft Knife, would suit this knife better.

So far the initial impressions: This is definitely one of the nicest knives I have ever handled, when it comes to design – and I fully suspect that field testing will prove it to be an excellent user. Especially because I know that the Helle laminated carbon steel is excellent.
The finish is what I have come to expect from a Helle knife, which is, considering the price of the Temagami, maybe a little less than I had expected form this particular knife. The quality of the curly birch of the handle does not live up to my expectations, I am very fond of curly birch – so this bothers me somewhat.
The Helle Temagami is about twice the price of the very similar Helle Eggen. I must admit that I am having somewhat of a hard time seeing why that is really – no doubt the Temagami is stronger than the Eggen, due to the full tang construction, and the Temagami is available in laminated carbon steel, but does that really justify paying twice the amount of money? I am not so sure.
I am a big fan of Les Stroud's work, both his survival shows and his music. I have a great deal of respect for the honesty in the way he produces his survival shows. Considering that, I am not really that content with the thought of having paid, what could be considered an overprice, for a knife, simply because it is designed by Les Stroud. It seems, at least in my point of view, to be less in the spirit of Les' work.

If the weather holds up, I will field test the knife tomorrow, putting it through it's paces. Otherwise I will get it done asap...

[AdrianRose]

Excellent review.

Thank you so much for taking the time to put all of this together for us.

I would be interested to hear more of your views on the jimping on the spine of the blade. I've never really been a fan of jimping, especially that far down the spine. It usually reserved for the first inch or so forward of the handle.

Also, have you any idea why they have made the tang partially hidden. Is it for a purpose or purely aesthetic do you think ?

Thanks again

Ade

[JEEP]

The jimping is to add as a safe place to put your index finger when doing precision work with the plade. I will make sure to incooperate some precision work into my feld testing.

I suspect the tang is partially enclosed in order to have as little metal exposed as possible, while still utilizing a full tang. Exposed metal in a handle is especially an issue in sub zero temperatures.

[RobbC]

Another great review Jeep, cant wait for the field testing :)

Robb

[survivalgirl]

best review yet thanks Jeep T^

[treefrog]

Thanks for the great essay, Jeep. As for being overpriced, I agree with your point; it is twice as expensive as the eggen or the fjellkniven, so is it
twice as good? The reason the knife caught my attention in the first place was the name. As you probably know, Temagami is in northeastern Ontario,
and it's a place where I have gone on several moose hunts and fishing trips. Honestly, it is one of the most beautiful wilderness areas in the world, and
one of my favourite outdoor adventure destinations, so I thought how cool is it that they named a knife after this awesome place.
Looking forward to your field test.

Jack

[JEEP]

Second part; field testing!

The weather was terrible today; heavy rain and the occasional hail storm. But, I decided on going to the open camp site at Brigsted anyway, to carry out the test. There is a shelter there, where I could get out of the rain.
The photos for this test, aside from the last one, are taken inside the rather dark shelter. That has somewhat affected the quality of the photos I am afraid.
I did not sharpen the knife prior to – or during – this test btw.
In order to give an all round impression of the capabilities and quality of the knife and accessories, I have put it through two basic camp chores:

1. Preparing firewood/kindling; batoning, chopping and feathersticking
2. Making a basic tent peg, utilizing basic cutting techniques, as shown in this video: http://www.naturalbushcraft.co.uk/camp-craft/how-to-makie-a-tent-peg-bushcraft-basics.html

Preparing firewood/kindling

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e259/Jakobeep/Knive/IMG_7925WWW.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e259/Jakobeep/Knive/IMG_7937WWW.jpg

Batoning and chopping: This knife is an absolute monster when it comes to batoning! Nothing much more to say about that really; this knife handles any log that the 11 cm blade can bite over. The construction of the handle makes batoning quite comfortable, as long as you do not place your thumb of directly on the tang, which will cause you to feel the impact quite heavily.
The rather soft outer layers of the laminated blade got some rather substantial scratches from the batoning, but they are purely cosmetic and will most likely polish off.
When it comes to shopping this knife does the job, but it is nowhere perfect for it. The short blade and relative light weight (two things that I like for other reasons) makes chopping a time consuming and rather tedious task with this knife – which is fully to be expected, so it is hard to hold against it. If I need a chopper I will bring my leuku.
Chopping with the assistance of a baton went much faster and was a lot more comfortable – this is the method I will recommend for this knife.
When batoning the jumping on the back will bite into your baton, more than I had expected actually. This is not a big problem though, if compared to the damage done by many other blade shapes, especially the ones with a sharpened/tapered back edge to the point.

Feathersticking: I am not a very skilled feathersticker, but I found the task to be fairly easy with this knife. I always test the knife's ability for feathersticking after batoning/chopping, to test edge retention. This blade was still hair popping sharp after making a pile of kindling and small fuel for my Bushcooker!

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e259/Jakobeep/Knive/IMG_7941WWW.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e259/Jakobeep/Knive/IMG_7960WWW.jpg

It was really cold, wet and windy. Getting the Bushcooker to burn properly was a pain. Someone had decided to take most of the firewood, chop it, try to light a fire, give up and leave all the split firewood out in the open to get absolutely soaked. Some people..! :(
But, I eventually managed to get the Bushcooker going, boiling water in my billy can, so that I could heat myself up with a nice cup of cocoa before continuing to the whittling part of the test.

Making a basic tent peg:

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e259/Jakobeep/Knive/IMG_7953WWW.jpg

Push cut with a stop: Whittling with this knife is a joy! The substantial handle with the shaped guard is very comfortable and safe to grip. The razor sharp drop point blade/scandi grind blade really bites into the wood – while being easy to control at the same time.
The back of the blade is broad enough to be comfortable when you place your thumb on it. I tried incorporating the jimping into the test, but it is simply to far up the blade to be of any use here.

Lever cut: Same story as above; this knife simply performs; both in the efficiency and the comfort departments!

Conclusion, practical test:
I can only repeat myself; this knife is a joy to use! It is a strong performer as well as being very comfortable to use, for both rough and finer tasks.
The handle has no “hot spots” or sharp edges. I suspect that I should be able to work with this knife for a prolonged period of time, with a minimum of fatigue and without blisters and sore hands.
The sheath btw, is a lot more comfortable an practical than I had initially expected, I will refrain from modifying it and leave it as it is.

Summary:
Les Stroud can be proud of this knife! Like Les himself, this knife gives an impression of being rugged, reliable and well thought over. This is a highly successful design – and there is no doubt I will be carrying and using this knife regularly in the future.

Fit and finish is everything I have come to suspect from a Helle knife. But, as said before, I had maybe expected a little more in the materials (wood) and finish departments, considering the price of the knife.
Yes, I really feel the need to address the issue of the price again. Imho. this knife simply is too expensive when compared to other Helle knives. A shame really; if this knife was priced around £60-80, it could easily become the to-go-to knife for bushcrafters wishing to “upgrade” their plastic handled Mora for something nicer looking yet equally capable.
Below is a photo of my Helle Temagami and my Eräpuu 202. The Temagami is priced around £ 120 while the 202 cost around £40! Granted; my 202 was hand picked for me – and it may have a slightly nicer handle than most 202's, but not so much actually, when I look at photos of other 202's.
There is no doubt the laminated carbon steel of the Temagami is somewhat superior to the rather standard black blade of the 202, but nowhere near enough to validate a £80 price difference! The scabbards that comes with the two knives are very similar and equally nice btw.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e259/Jakobeep/Knive/IMG_7963WWW.jpg

Out of ten stars, I rate this knife:
Design: ********* (one star off, because of the jimping that was intended to work as a striker, but doesn't)
Quality: ******* (if the handle had lived up to the pictures on Helle's homepage, this would have been a clear 10)
Performance: **********
Accessories (scabbard, etc.): ********
Price: ***** (being around twice as expensive as other Helle knives, this knife gets only half the stars)

Overall: 7,8 stars out of 10

Will I recommend this knife: Yes, especially if you can find it cheaper than the MSRP.
I will recommend that you buy this knife at a shop, where you can pick between a few examples, picking the nicest handle – as it seems there is a big difference in quality of the wood used.

[CanadianMike]

A good little article (pages 26-27) here I came across about Lake Temagami, with the classic picture of a guy fishing with his beer. Reminds me of a trailer hitch cover I recently saw that says "Life is too short to fish without beer". So true!

http://content.yudu.com/Library/A1sfcw/BounderMagazineSumme/resources/index.htm?referrerUrl=http%3A%2F%2Ffree.yudu.com%2 Fitem%2Fdetails%2F341351%2FBounder-Magazine-Summer-2011

Excellent review Jakob, excellent pics too, keep it up! Someday I'll have to send a knife your way to test out and beat up. ;)

[bushcraftboy]

Nice review, I might buy a new knife soon, my 840MG is good but I want to thick and wider blade.

[Ben Casey]

I always like your reviews :)

[JEEP]

Excellent review Jakob, excellent pics too, keep it up! Someday I'll have to send a knife your way to test out and beat up. ;)

I would very much like to review one of your knives. PM sent.

[rossbird]

Another good review Jeep.
All the info needed to make a decision on trying the knife.
Look forward to the next one:D

[JEEP]

Another good review Jeep.
All the info needed to make a decision on trying the knife.
Look forward to the next one:D

Thank you. This will be the last review for a while though, reviewing knives is an expensive hobby :)

I am considering getting a Ray Mears Woodlore/Bushcraft Knife and/or a Skookum Bush Tool, with the puprose of reviewing them. I like the ideá of doing a "full circle" of knives designed by famous bushcraft/survival celebrities. But, I will have to hoard some cash before continuing, as all three knives are quite pricy.

[rossbird]

Thank you. This will be the last review for a while though, reviewing knives is an expensive hobby :)

I am considering getting a Ray Mears Woodlore/Bushcraft Knife and/or a Skookum Bush Tool, with the puprose of reviewing them. I like the ideá of doing a "full circle" of knives designed by famous bushcraft/survival celebrities. But, I will have to hoard some cash before continuing, as all three knives are quite pricy.

Know what you mean regarding the expense.
Would love to see your review of the Bush Tool, last time I looked there was a long waiting list, is that still the case?

[JEEP]

I am not even sure the SBT is still avaiable. Last time the homepage was updated was in 2009.

[JEEP]

Anders Haglund, Sales & Marketing Director, Helle Fabrikker, has joined Naturalbushcraft.co.uk, after I e-mailed Helle a link to this review. I have just revieved a PM from him.

Anders is the person who, together with Les, designed the Temagami; http://www.helle.no/Portals/helle_english/THE%20TEMAGAMI_PRESS.pdf

I'll expect him to chime in on this thread soon.

[Helle Anders]

Hi everyone, I’m Helle Anders, just joined the forum.

I’m not going to add anything to this debate right now. I’m flying to Norway tomorrow to work on a very exiting project. Unfortunately I can’t tell you more about this right now.

I will be online again on Monday. If you have any specific questions I will try to answer them then.

[JEEP]

Hi Anders, welcome to NaturalBushcraft.co.uk

We will be looking forward to hearing about the new project.

[CanadianMike]

Welcome Anders, hope you enjoy the temporary insanity of NBC! :)

[Ben Casey]

Hi from me to Anders :)

[Howling Dingo]

Excellent .!!!!

[jus_young]

Thankyou for joining Helle. Its is a pleasure to have a representative from a company take the time and effort to visit this humble forum. Greatest admiration.

[Tony1948]

:welcome:Anders to the forum nice knife.Great review Jeep........Thank:rock-on:

[dog.breath]

Very nice review. I've wondered about this knife a number of times - in fact there a few from Helle that have caught my eye. Thanks!

[Helle Anders]

I know I promised to get back to you with some exiting news on what I am up to right now. That will have to wait for at few days. Right now this is a more important matter to focus on. Please have a look at this link.

This is the area Les named the knife after.

http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1100528

[Helle Anders]

http://www.earthroots.org/index.php?option=com_wrapper&view=wrapper&Itemid=172

[markal17]

nice looking bit of kit mate

[JEEP]

http://www.earthroots.org/index.php?option=com_wrapper&view=wrapper&Itemid=172

Petition signed.

Sad to see how this seems to be happening everywhere at the moment.

[rossbird]

Job done.
lets hope it has the desired effect.

[Helle Anders]

Help us spread the word. This area needs to be saved!

There is no time to loose....

[Ben Casey]

Signed does it work tho from the UK?

[jus_young]

Hope so as I have sent the fax. Another case of human greed over the well being of nature. As Jakob said this is a sad situation that seems to be happening everywhere, makes you wonder just what is going to be left for the kids.

[CanadianMike]

Sadly, this is another example of our brain-dead provincial Liberal government either ignoring issues or ignoring promises made during election campaigns. These are the creeps that in 2003 got voted in after signing a legal document promising to not cut taxes, nor to raise them either, and within a couple months started the first massive tax increase in the province's history, claiming it was a "health care premium" and not a tax, until loopholes were found by various unions that they and the company would have to pay for 'premiums' and not the workers under them, so therefore they were exempt from paying it, which lead to our premier admitting it was in fact a tax and that everyone would have to pay between $300 and $900 each year. So a petition makes you feel good, but this government has caused so much hardship on people, lied so much, been caught in so many scandals (upwards of a billion dollars each), they ignore anything tat might be considered a voice of the people, and do what they will. Heck, they are on the verge of bankruptcy here, and our provincial debt is higher than that of all provinces combined, and even higher than that of Greece right now, yet they continue to spend like crazy and don't care what happens. Is a shame that the opposition parties here are so badly mananged that we recently got stuck with a third term with these assclowns, albeit in a minority situation (two less seats from majority). So we have a socialist government that infringes on the rights of Ontarians, in opposition we have a very soft progressive Conservative party who is more concerned about being politically correct than of any use to the populace, and a more socialist party that wants to tax everyone more regardless.

Things are in sad shape here, and no one in office seems to care........ at least things are pretty cool federally though, be better to pressure them regarding this issue than the Ontario government.

[wescobts]

Excellent review ! well thought out and with fine pix. I appreciate you doing the feathering after the battoning, i find that most important. Although twice the price as other Helle knives, still cheaper than other brands and certainly less expensive than customs. thx

[Helle Anders]

http://www.nrk.no/nyheter/distrikt/nrk_sogn_og_fjordane/1.7926366

This is the adventure I have focused on instead of writing about the Temagami. I have spent the better part of the last month planning and working with Les and his team in Norway. Yesterday we spent in the Helle Factory. 3331
Les and Jan Kåre sharpening a Temagami while NRK is filming. NRK = Norway news.

[Helle Anders]

http://www.nrk.no/nett-tv/indeks/291627/

[JEEP]

Quite awesome T^

[JEEP]

Having had and used this knife for a while now, I would like to add the following observations to my review:

1. I have batonned a ton of wood (ok, maybe not a whole ton) with this knife and done a lot of other camp chores and woodwork with it. I have yet to sharpen it, it is still almost as sharp as the day I popped it out of the packaging the first time! It is only after todays batoning, that it no longer shaves hair of my forearm.

2. Of all my knives, this one is the one I grab, nine out of ten times, when packing for a ramble or an evening with the scouts!

[bikebum1975]

Good write up jeep I have seen it on a few sites and am not usually one to wanna buy something with another persons name on it this is one of the few things I would. Especially after reading this about it

[Helle Anders]

Hi, We made some changes on the Temagami. Just posted the new design on our website and on Facebook. We worked on the new knife when Les was in Norway visiting the factory in December.

[JEEP]

Seems to be very well thought through changes T^

[JEEP]

Just a quick follow up on my Helle Temagami: As stated before this knife has been my main user since I got it. It seems that this is the knife I automatically grab when packing my gear for a ramble or an evening with the scouts. Consequently this knife has seen quite a lot of use - as well as a few sharpenings.

But, I have one major issue with this knife: I have noticed that the blade is getting some very heavy scratches when batoning and when striking a firesteel. The edge is holding up fine - yet when sharpening the knife, I can feel that the steel is very soft. This is something I noticed from the start, but paid little attention to - now it is starting to worrry me.
I have never had any of my 40-60 other knives (I collect Scandinavian knives) get scratches like this from batoning or striking firesteels - I have another Helle; a Viking, it's blade seems to be a lot harder.

I did a google search, to see if other people has similar experiences - but I have so far to find any. Which has led me to suspect that my blade may have a faulty tempering, being too soft.

I have contacted Anders from Helle about the problem.

[CanadianMike]

That sucks......doubt your new Scout would have the same issues, except for scratching the bluing. ;)

[JEEP]

Doubt that too, none of my other knives has had this issue, that is why I suspect it to be a fault in the tempering.

[CanadianMike]

Likely. Thing is, if it was a tempering flaw, aka. tempered at too high of a temp (making it too soft) after heat treating, the entire batch would have been affected and they'd hear about it.

BTW, what steel is it? It's the laminated blade I recall.....

[JEEP]

It is the triple laminated stainless steel version.

I am having a very hard time accepting a knife that is so soft that batoning wood can cause deep scratches in the blade. The spine is so soft, that it is almost impossible to strike a firesteel with it - and doing so leaves even deeper scratches in the blade.

[CanadianMike]

Ya, very questionable right there, be understandable if just scratches from batoning on the side of the blade, but on the spine? Seriously, the steel no matter the type, should be harder than wood...

[JEEP]

The spine is only scratching up from the firesteel, not from the batoning. But, the scratches on the sides of the blade are quite deep - that is what worries me.

[paulthefish2009]

Jakob, sounds like you either need to send this back and/or get it hardness tested,I have access to hardness testing gear if you want it. Paul

[JEEP]

Tanks for the offer. I may take you up on that :)

I have contacted Anders from Helle Knives, to hear how I should proceed.

[JEEP]

I recieved a very kind answer from Anders today: The scratches are to be expected, du to the softness of the spine and outer layers of the blade.

Not really sure how I feel about that.

[Martin]

I suppose the ultimate question is, how sharp an edge can you get and how long does it stay sharp for? After this, the scratches are just cosmetic aren't they?

Martin

[JEEP]

It's ultimatly about whether I trust my knife. The scratches go pretty deep into the metal. The knife may hold up just fine - on the other hand; scratches this deep may eventually compromise the integrety of the blade. I don't know, as I have never had this issue with any other knife.

[Helle Anders]

I think cosmetic is important for some, and not for others. More information would have been the best answer to this question. If Jepp had known about this then he would have expected scratches and treated the knife differently. Or not depending on what is most important.

[FishyFolk]

There are a lot of complaints that the Tamagami is soft metalled, so soft that fire steels don't work with it. Helle says so in a statement as well I believe, but have not bothered looking it up right now as I am hungry, tired and generally fed up....

[JEEP]

A few quick snaps of my Helle Temagami Carbon in it's current state - after a heavy polishing with Autosol:

4905490649074908

Aside from the scratches on the sides and spine of the blade, the blade is also starting to bend. Had one of my customers shown me this knife, I would probably have regarded is as a case of abusive/inexperienced handeling and use. Thing is; I am the only one that have ever used this knife - and I do not abuse my tools :)

I have shown these photos to Anders from Helle. He has been very pleasant to deal with through this whole process. The end of this is that Anders has offered me to send me a new knife (which will be the new model Temagami CA) - in exchange for me continuing to test my current Temagami, to see whether the issues are purely cosmetic or whether they actually will affect the durability of the knife. As well as my thoughts on the changes on the new model, which I will of course share here.

[CanadianMike]

Now THAT is awesome customer service!!

[JEEP]

Indeed!

[paulthefish2009]

After re-reading this thread i think that you need to accept that a lamenated blade wont work with a fire steel due to the spine being the soft part of the lamenate. As for the bending, the use of lamenate is to enable the use of a hard steel for edge retention not to resist bending ( i bet if you got it x-rayed you would find the hard core has cracked). Jakob in no way am I saying that you have abused the knife and sorry if I have offended in any way but this knife is clearly not suited to the tasks you use it for. Paul (this may read as complete nonesense if so please ignore !)

[rossbird]

I agree with much of what Paul says above.
I wonder if the bending could be due to the hard core being a little on the thin side?

[JEEP]

Not offended at all :)

I have pretty much reached the same conclusions. Though I do feel that any knife marketed as a bushcraft knife should stand up to the level of use I have put this knife through.

Though I do feel the need to point out that I own and use several knives with laminated blades, including another Helle, without experiencing similar issues with any of these.

[paulthefish2009]

Not offended at all :)

I have pretty much reached the same conclusions. Though I do feel that any knife marketed as a bushcraft knife should stand up to the level of use I have put this knife through.

Though I do feel the need to point out that I own and use several knives with laminated blades, including another Helle, without experiencing similar issues with any of these.
I totaly agree with your first point and after reading your second point then there must be a quality issue. Paul

[JEEP]

To be fair though; none of my other laminated knives, aside from maybe my Mora Bushcraft Triflex, has seen near the amount of use my Helle Temagami has seen.

[JEEP]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jY4m1OSREA&feature=player_embedded

T^

[jus_young]

Thats my preconceptions blown out of the water. There was me thinking of high tech modern factory mass producing these knives with the input of a 'personal touch' so that they could be called hand made.

Lesson learnt again.

[CanadianMike]

Makes my way of knifemaking look primitive!

[FishyFolk]

Make me proud that my country has room for this kind of production. Won't complain so much about prices next time I stop by a sales point to drool at their knives....lool

[Helle Anders]

Thank you, This is how most people react when they visit the Helle factory. Also my own reaction on my first visit about 6 years ago.


Thats my preconceptions blown out of the water. There was me thinking of high tech modern factory mass producing these knives with the input of a 'personal touch' so that they could be called hand made.

Lesson learnt again.

[Helle Anders]

When you look at clip next time I hope you have a look at the drive to the factory. This is the road leading from Førde Kommune to Holmedal. Have a look at google map. This is where the Factory is located.

[JEEP]

https://maps.google.dk/maps?q=as+helle+fabrikker+N-6982+Holmedal,+Norway&hl=da&sll=61.355755,5.181347&sspn=0.001723,0.006539&t=h&hq=as+helle+fabrikker&hnear=Holmedal,+Sogn+og+Fjordane,+Norge&z=16

Looks to be a beautiful place!

[happybonzo]

Fascinating video: Many thanks for posting it

[JEEP]

Fascinating video: Many thanks for posting it

A lot of Scandinavian products are made on this scale, this is one of the factors that has made "Scandinavian design" a mark of quality all over the world.

[DaneSwede]

Jeep,

Very well done review.

I have taken an interest in this knife.

Did you receive the new 2012 model Temagami? If yes, how does it compare to your original?

Thank you, TR

[JEEP]

Not yet. The carbon version is in backorder.

[DaneSwede]

Jeep,

Thank you for the update.

TR

[Helle Anders]

Survivorman 10 days is now on Discovery channel world in Sweden, Norway and Denmark. It's on tomorrow Saturday at 9:55 PM if you are the one in charge of the remote.....

For Swedes:
I Sverige har Discovery döpt om programmet till Överlevnadsexperten.

[si]

Did you ever put the replacement through its paces?
Apologies to dig up an old thread

[midas]

Did you ever put the replacement through its paces?
Apologies to dig up an old thread
Hi SI,nip on to the "INTRODUCE YORSELF section of the forum,so we can all welcome you aboard,n find out your interests,location etc.all the best.M.

[JEEP]

Not yet I am afraid. I am awfully busy atm.

Aside from hunting, I do not get to spend much time outdoors.