Sorry no pictures just yet, just a press announcement from Les Stroud. Helle knives are a higher end Scandinavian (Norway) knife made of laminated steel, wood/bone/leather handles and leather sheaths. They have several dealers in the US and one in Canada. For those of you who like Frost/Mora knives, you might consider this as well. It will be interesting to see Les's take on what constitutes a survival knife when it comes out.

Press Release http://www.helle.no/Default.aspx?tabid=8457&language=nb-NO

Examples of products http://www.helle.no/Default.aspx?tabid=4937&language=nb-NO

I've had a Fjellkniven (http://www.helle.no/Default.aspx?tabid=4954&language=en-US) for a number of years. It's a nice comfortable knife that has served me well. Although I have never been in a sitation where I would beat on it, such as splitting wood with a baton. The laminated blade stays sharp and the scandinavian grind makes it easy to sharen the edge by hand.

Thanks for the info Rory. I am a fan of Les Stroud and since the knife is going to be call "The Temagami" a place where I spend months each year, I look forward to its release.

Helle makes a very good knife now, this could be an excellent bushcraft version.

Mike

months in Temagami!!your ether a forest ranger or very -very lucky!
i get a month in the BW or Quetico,two weeks at a time.i'm not much on knives made for bushcraft/survival but if Helle is involved it could be more than just a play thing for wana-be's.

I too have a Helle Fjellniven model. Very well made, sharp and the handle is the most comfortable of any knife I own. It would be very easy on the hand if being used for hours.

Helle makes a variety of nice Bushcraft knives, I like the Harding and the Fjellniven. I can't say I have used mine much, I have a nice Ray Mears clone that I use which is rock solid and will take anything thrown at it. So, the Helle stays in the safe mostly.

I am interested to see what they come up with. Les is highly regarded by most other real survival experts and his take on a knife may be something to own.

I am sure with Les and Helle involvement the knife will be great. Pretty sure it will not be a mall ninja commando knife which seems to be popular lately!!

I drove through North Bay a couple of times, is that close enough?

Hey Roarmeister,

It depends if you were driving East/West on Hwy 17 or North/South on Hwy 11, Temagami is 100km north of North Bay, Ontario. It is a small tourist town of 934 full time residents that swells greatly in number during the summer months. Neat place due to the nearby remote canoe routes/hiking trails, youth camps, large many armed deep lake, fire tower overlooking town, Grey Owl Museum/Train Station and float plane base on the main street.

Temagami, Ontario

Good Guess Canoedogs.

Mike

Pictures have started to arrive. The knife was announced at the Shot Show and will be available shortly.
http://lesstroud.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/helle-1.jpg
http://lesstroud.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/helle-2.jpg

Les Stroud (aka SURVIVORMAN) to launch new signature knife The Temagami made by Norwegian knife company Helle at Outdoor Adventure Show Saturday, February 26th, 2011 from 1-3PM EST.
http://lesstroud.ca/news/les-stroud-launchs-new-signature-knife

Musician, filmmaker and outdoor survivalist Les Stroud will be at the Outdoor Adventure Show (Toronto International Centre, Hall 5) on Saturday, February 26th, 2011 for the world wide premiere of his new signature knife, The Temagami – a knife you can actually use in the wilderness. At 1:15PM EST, Les will host a Q&A at the Great Ontario Outdoor Adventure Theatre.

Designed in collaboration with Helle, an 80 year old knife producing factory in Holmedal, Norway, each knife is painstakingly hand crafted for the ultimate in quality and outdoor durability.

Only 500 limited edition carbon steel laminate knives will be available for sale at the Outdoor Adventure Show in Toronto. Buy yours at booth #501 Canada Outdoor Equipment or purchase online at www.lesstroud.ca after the show. Helle will release a second version with a laminated stainless steel blade in late February. Thereafter, both versions will be available for purchase world-wide.

The Temagami has a Curly birch handle that’s oiled with linseed and designed to fit snugly in your hand to prevent slipping. The leather sheath is fit to be used for both right and left side carry. Custom grooves on the back of the blade are fit to strike a better spark when using a fire steel.

Thanks Roarmeister, Nice knife, I did not see any mention of price? Mike

MIke:

The limited edition is available for pre-order ($179.00 CA) on Stroud's website here.

No mention yet on the price of the SS knife.

Thanks TH!

If you were going to purchase the Les Stroud knife would you pick Laminated Stainless Steel or Laminated Carbon, what are the thoughts of the forum? Mike

It depends on the level of care you're willing to give it.

Carbon steel tends to be easier to sharpen, more durable, and it gains a beautiful patina with age. However, it requires a bit of care to insure it wont start rusting.

Stainless steel is better for use around water, or if you aren't going to give the knife very much care (say, by leaving it in an airplane or boat survival kit year round).

Laminated stainless? What the ----?!?

I'll take the Carbon over Stainless!

Laminated steel is becoming increasingly more common. Typically they'll use a core of a steel that is less corrosion resistant, but has better edge holding abilities. This then gets surrounded by a steel with better corrosion resistance qualities. The result is an extremely durable blade with a combination of the better qualities of each steel.

It actually seems to work quite well. Fallkniven has been doing it for a number of years and their blades have been thoroughly real-world tested.

This is fairly common for a lot of Scandinavian traditional knives. Rust resistance may have entered the equation with modern steels, but the history I am told was that the laminated steel idea was all about strength. A lot of the "old" steels available suitable for making a sharp edge will not be very resistant to breaking or bending, so you envelope the "edge steel" with a more resilient steel.


Traditionally, the steel in the edge does not necessarily have good edge retention - you need to sharpen anyway, you might as well make that process easy and quick. The easy-to-sharp & poor edge retention compromise is surprisingly common in traditional Scandinavian knives.


These days, modern technology and knowledge gives a totally different control over the outcome and a vast array of steels for knife making that a traditional knife maker never could have imagined. Still, the laminated steel is a good design compromise in many circumstances.

All I can say is Thank Heaven for this new development in knives! There is a serious shortage of functional, well designed blades for those of us who get outdoors, probably no more than 1300 or so different offerings.

Assume a markup of about $50 or so for the autographed version so the knife will likely retail for about $129 which is in line with the other knives from Helle. I've never used a laminated steel knife before so I will get at least one of either the carbon or SS versions. I haven't decided on which though.
It is a simple profile knife built in the Scandinavian design with a typical single angle edge. I really like the handle, it is very attractive. Being full tang and rivited it is likely very strong. It is difficult to judge the length but I am guessing it is about 4" blade length. The only customization that I can see is the little bit of stimping on the back to aide in sparking a ferrocium rod.

I think Helle use VG10 to 59 HRC core stainless steel sandwiched between high corrosion resistant and tougher 18/8 stainless steel (Helle has a high polish for excellent corrosion resistance). So it provides a good compromise i.e. toughness with a excellent sharp edge (might chip out though if abused). The Helle Temagami signature knife looks to be an excellent knife. More bushcraft rather than tacticool style so may not appeal to everyone.

The Triple laminated Stainless steel will have the advantage of much superior corrosion resistance over the carbon steel version. The carbon steel version will most likely have little or no advantage over the stainless steel in terms off the ability to take an edge, ease of sharpening and toughness.

I am leaning toward the laminated stainless because I am in wet places often and do like the similar steel of my Fallkniven F1, but I really do not need another knife of this type.

Just for interest sake, I can tell you that the Town of Temagami was very quiet today, there is about a foot of snow on the ground and Lake Temagami is well frozen over with lots of snowmobiles and Ice Shacks on it. I drove through Temagami on Hwy 11 twice today.

Mike

The SS version will ship in late March, and it looks like it can be pre-ordered for the same price as CS. I like the fact that these knives have a long tang. Not quite a full tang, more like a rat-tail tang.

https://www.canadianoutdoorequipment.com/store/Helle-Temagami-knife.html

hikermor wrote:
< All I can say is Thank Heaven for this new development in knives! There is a serious shortage of functional, well designed blades for those of us who get outdoors, probably no more than 1300 or so different offerings. >

at least for once the shot show reviews aren't mainly about knives (obviously a technology so fast changing needs lots!) I know it's supposed to be the most important tool. But judging by the interest in knives on this forum you'd think it was the only tool.

Shame Les will now use the knife on his show to publicise it. I loved the fact he didn't even carry one; just a leatherman

Though in one episode he did have one which for the knife experts he referred to as 'a big ol knife'.
qjs

Our fascination with knives isn't too surprising, given that the first recognizable tools, at least 200,000 years old, had decent cutting edges. Stone tools cut very effectively and they are dirt cheap. It's just that the edge doesn't last very long and needs resharpening about every ten minutes or so when you are whittling on a mammoth.

The perfect survival blade for the ETS crowd would be the legendary Green River Knife, made of nondescript steel, but strong enough to decimate the beaver population and conquer a continent. By all accounts it was tough, versatile, and durable, rarely breaking. Of course, if you broke your GRK, you probably didn't get back to tell about it. Anyway, they were among the hottest trade items to Native Americans, speedily superseding stone tools.

End of the history lesson; there will be a quiz on Friday.

hikermore,

It IS Friday!!!!!

Jerry

OK - Define and give two examples of The Universe....

Okay, here goes:

The universe is either a really, really big place where you are really, really infinitesimally tiny and unimportant;

or, a really, really big place that is unquestionably your oyster, with you at the absolute centre, and you can possibly have your fairy cake and eat it too.

It all depends on whether you exit through the door or the window.

Some people live in one, and some in the other; and some switch back and forth. Regrettably, you can't live in both at the same time.

How'd I do, Teach?

Very creative - A+ . Have a nice weekend....

I just received the Temagami knife and decided to upload a few pictures for you and to write my initial review. The knife came shipped in a plain box but when I opened it, but then I had a welcome surprise. The knife came shipped in a cardboard tube imprinted with a picture and story about the company and a separate band with Les Stroud's signature. The box is a keeper - let's look at the knife.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=2129404&l=c30ad0f3b6&id=1500542538
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=2129405&l=623a9783b2&id=1500542538

Taking the tube top off reveals the knife in its leather sheath, a warranty booklet and a large cleaning cloth folded into case. Another review I've seen says it is a cloth bag. I pulled the knife out and then from the sheath in which it was wedged quite tightly. The blade had a light coating of oil that I wiped off for the pictures.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=2129406&l=d1876507b6&id=1500542538
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=2129407&l=b5af39b074&id=1500542538
As you can see, the knife is about 230mm (9") long by 27mm deep, the blade about 4 5/16" long with 4" of cutting length and about 3mm in thickness. The handle is birch, oiled in linseed. The tang extends all the way into the handle but does not go the full depth. The handle and tang are brass riveted into the handle with a third hollow rivet used for attaching a para-cord sized lanyard. The rivets give the handle the additional strength that is needed in the bush. Looking at and feeling the knife in my hand, the quality is evident but I admit it isn't a refined look. I like simple knives - I want it to be a workhorse not a mantle piece!
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=2129409&l=185423caad&id=1500542538

There are no rough or unrefined edges and the minimal guard is perfect; a really nice even balance unlike the forward heavy Mk3 The knife weighs 149gr (5.2 oz) and sheath is 54gr (1.9 oz) The sheath is full grain leather with a 1/2 length black plastic insert. The knife can be inserted either left or right handed but is naturally right handed. The plastic insert may need to be reheated and shaped to properly fit the knife left handed. The sheath is tightly sewn on the back side with a tiny hole at the bottom for drainage. The belt strap is riveted to the sheath with stainless steel.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=2129411&l=4e6c1e2924&id=1500542538
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=2129412&l=c289c47861&id=1500542538
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=2129413&l=42bdd02941&id=1500542538

The spine of the blade has 3 notches cut into it. This serves two purposes, first as stimping where the thumb can rest when you are using the knife for fine carving or to place the index finger when skinning game; the second is so that you can strike a ferrocium rod for fire making. However, according to Helle's website: "This striking feature is not working the way we anticipated but will still be on the knife to fulfill its primary purpose." On my hand, it doesn't work for thumb placement as it is too far to reach but it does feel proper for the index finger.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=2129408&l=8874a69bf2&id=1500542538
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=2129410&l=16dbea32be&id=1500542538

I ran my fingers across the knife edge, while it was sharp and ready for use there was one small area just behind the curve where the edge wasn't quite as even. A close examination of the blade will show the layers of steel however the camera didn't pick this up distinctly. I expect the layers will show a bit more after use.

The final photo shows the knife in comparison to my current favourite - a Frost 760 Craftsman. (90gr, 107 X 22 X 2.5mm blade). The edge shape and grind are similar but the back is straight compared to the Frost's angled tip. This should mean the blade is stronger all the way to the tip and easier to baton. The additional heft and blade depth feels really good in my hands.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=2129414&l=8574c28065&id=1500542538

Price was $179 CDN vs $11 for the Frost. I would have preferred that the knife retail for about $30-40 less. I got the laminated carbon steel (18/8 outer steel) as the laminated stainless steel doesn't ship until May.

" am leaning toward the laminated stainless because I am in wet places often and do like the similar steel of my Fallkniven F1"

Fallkniven makes beautiful knives. Those laminated blades are superb for taking an excellent edge, but their knives are not cheap these days. It's well worth owning one .. if you want a good knife that will last a lifetime.

If you look on the Cold Steel Web site you'll see that they list certain blades as "San Mai". That is also a laminated steel blade. Again a lot of them are expensive. But there are a few items there which are a bargain - for a laminated blade.

cheers,
Pete #2

Yup, I will stick with a $12 Frost(Mora of Sweden) well built survival knife or if I feel like spending a little more their $25 slightly heavier version. Nice pics.

Very nice review with pictures. Thank you for posting it.