Mandra FG

although knowing it is a small knife, I still was surprised holding it in reality. I had a simular feeling with the Raud M when I received that, but it became my most used knife. Seems that the Mandra FG moves, for me, in the same direction. I use it every day at home to get used to it and it is a dream preparing food with this FG version! So sharp and smooth and easy to handle.
Only thing is that the sheath has a quite loose fitting. Something I never encountered with Helle sofar. Nothing to worry about because of the strap holding it safe in place though.
I think I'm gonna enjoy this knife a lot and I hope that Helle will make more FG versions of their knives (starting with the Raud M, please)

I recently received this wonderful, small knife. It is very sharp, its ideal use is cutting food on a hike, or when picking mushrooms, etc. I am sure that it will cope with cutting chips for starting a fire to cook food. But I have another knife from Helle, Alden, for making chips for a fire. This is my third knife from Helle, I definitely recommend Mandra FG as an additional, separate knife for cooking on a hike in nature, it is ideal for this.

Jeg fikk endelig anledning til å gi kniven en ordentlig test. Den var med på en kort bål-tur, som involverte grilling av pølse på pinne og tilbereding av løk og tomat som tilbehør. Det er en liten kniv, åpenbart primært tiltenkt matlaging, og alt i alt fungerer den godt til dette, men det er noen små forbedringer som lett hadde gjort den enda bedre.
Skaftet har det største forbedringspotensialet. Med mindre du har veldig små hender så får du ikke et komfortabelt hammergrep. Det er fordi skaftet er lite, men også fordi pommelen har et skarpt nebb som gnager i lillefingeren. Når skaftet er så lite, så er det bedre å ha en mer nøytral form på det, slik at et tre-fingersgrep også blir noenlunde behagelig. Se på Mora Eldris for et godt eksempel. Siden kniven først og fremst vil bli brukt til matlaging i et klypegrep, så er ikke pommelen en kritisk feil, da er den skarpe overgangen mellom skaftemnene og knivbladet mer irriterende. En 45 graders avfasing hadde vært en stor forbedring her. Det siste forbedringspunktet er sliren, som ikke passer kniven særlig godt, men jeg ser ikke helt hvordan den kan utbedres på en enkel måte.
Kniven blir nok med i sekken på flere turer, men den har fått meg til å lure på hvor mye praktiske tester det er i Helle sin designprosess.

I’m really impressed with this knife. Very lightweight, yet incredible versatile. As expected it is perfect for food prep, but I was pleased to find out this flat grind also is quite good for wood carving. It’s easy to make very fine feathersticks. It does not have a perfect 90 degrees spine for ferro rod, but will be easy to set up. Edge seems durable. The only thing I would like, is to have the handle length increased by 1-2 cm, but it is big enough to work well for medium to large hands, even though I’m not able to perfectly fit all fingers on the handle. Still very good.

I happen to like small knives. This is the best. The Mandra FG is so well made, easy to carry, is balanced, very sharp, great in hand, and has a blade shape conducive to multiple uses. It’s full flat grind make it quite the slicer. Its leather sheath fits well on my belt for easy access and even in pocket. This quality knife is a pleasure to own.