Key Specs:
Brand: Helle of Norway
Model: Kletten
Price: $199
Availability: Fall 2019
Unique Features: Curly birch handle scales, three-ounce weight
Upshot: Helle, a Norwegian knife brand that’s been in operation since 1932, is releasing its smallest knife ever, the Kletten. The folding pocket knife has a 2.1-inch drop-point blade made of Helle’s triple laminated stainless steel and a handle made of curly birch wood, and it weighs just three ounces.
Who It’s For: Everyday knife users who don’t mind paying a bit more for a blade with a crafted aesthetic.
Insight: Throughout its 87-year history, Helle has focused primarily on fixed-blade knives that can be used for more survival-oriented outdoor tasks. The Kletten is the company’s third folding pocket knife, and it’s the smallest of the group by over an inch in the blade and an ounce and a half in weight. That might seem insignificant, but it illustrates how a brand rich in heritage and tradition is adapting to the modern knife user by creating a small, pocket-friendly EDC tool that can be used not just in the outdoors but also in everyday life. (And, even if you only use it to open packages, there’s still a reminder of the forests of Norway in its gorgeous wood handle.)
