Härkila Oder hunting knife
The Härkila Oder. The shape of the blade is a light drop-point.
The Härkila Oder hunting knife
The Danish Härkila company has been a reputable supplier of hunting apparel for a long time, but strangely enough never had its own knives – that is, until now. The Härkila Oder is their first product and a very good one.
Text and pictures: Roberto Allara
Hunting is not just about shooting an animal to eat it. This is only the final part of the hunt, but by that time everything has already happened. Hunting is about being in the wild - for hours or days on end if need be. Hunting is trusting your instincts and your gear enough for you to enter an almost trancelike state, become one with nature and realize that nothing else really matters.
In Härkila, they know this. In Scandinavia, where a number of devoted hunters founded Härkila, successful hunting and respect for nature is vital to survive the demanding Nordic climate. Being passionate hunters, they know exactly what one needs to survive in the woods, no matter the climate. They have done it for long time, the Härkila family has more than two centuries of experience. They remember exactly what was useful, what was necessary and what was useless. They understand that the weight of useless gear quickly becomes detrimental to hunter.
Having produced excellent hunting equipment for decades, Härkili this year faced the challenge of another indispensable tool for hunters: the knife. The company introduced five models, of which two have a gut-hook while the other three are variation on the Loveless’ drop-point. These three have different sizes, with blade lengths of 15 cm, 12 cm and 9 cm respectively. While the smallest does not lend itself well to the European large size game, the longer blade reminds me of a quote by Bob Loveless: “Never give a man more knife than he needs”. The mid-size one seems to be a general-purpose knife for the European hunter, so the Oder knife is the one we chose for review.
The Danish Härkila company has been a reputable supplier of hunting apparel for a long time, but strangely enough never had its own knives – that is, until now. The Härkila Oder is their first product and a very good one.
Text and pictures: Roberto Allara
Hunting is not just about shooting an animal to eat it. This is only the final part of the hunt, but by that time everything has already happened. Hunting is about being in the wild - for hours or days on end if need be. Hunting is trusting your instincts and your gear enough for you to enter an almost trancelike state, become one with nature and realize that nothing else really matters.
In Härkila, they know this. In Scandinavia, where a number of devoted hunters founded Härkila, successful hunting and respect for nature is vital to survive the demanding Nordic climate. Being passionate hunters, they know exactly what one needs to survive in the woods, no matter the climate. They have done it for long time, the Härkila family has more than two centuries of experience. They remember exactly what was useful, what was necessary and what was useless. They understand that the weight of useless gear quickly becomes detrimental to hunter.
Having produced excellent hunting equipment for decades, Härkili this year faced the challenge of another indispensable tool for hunters: the knife. The company introduced five models, of which two have a gut-hook while the other three are variation on the Loveless’ drop-point. These three have different sizes, with blade lengths of 15 cm, 12 cm and 9 cm respectively. While the smallest does not lend itself well to the European large size game, the longer blade reminds me of a quote by Bob Loveless: “Never give a man more knife than he needs”. The mid-size one seems to be a general-purpose knife for the European hunter, so the Oder knife is the one we chose for review.
The knife fits in the sheath like a Puukko.
First impression
In the USA, they say that there is no second chance for a first impression, and in this case the first impression is already very good. The packaging is luxurious, it features an expensive rigid box that contains the knife and its leather sheath which are placed within the special recesses cut into the foam and are both wrapped in a transparent cellophane. Inside the sheath there is a long thin sheet of paper, folded several times, it is purple with stylized drawings of flowers, clearly modified pictures, with no further explanation.
The leather sheath can be clipped onto a belt in various ways. The knife goes deep into the sheath, almost like a Puukko. The blade is made from AUS-8, a Japanese stainless steel with molybdenum, nickel and vanadium that can be hardened to 58-59 HRC. To place this in context, butcher knives are hardened to 53 HRC. The AUS-8 can have a very sharp edge and is comparable to AISI 440B; the edge can easily be restored. It gives a very good balance between durability, strength and sharpness. The knife has a full-tang construction but is not an integral one, even if it may appear to be so at first sight. The soldering of the guard is so well done that I managed to see it only by putting the knife under a very powerful lens, at 30x magnification!
The handle is 12 cm long and made of resilient, durable Pakkawood, an engineered wood/plastic composite material commonly used in knife handles and other objects that see rough wear. It can closely resemble conventional wood, or come in a range of bright colors. The handle, which is fixed with three rivets, has a slight shaping that can hardly be seen but becomes apparent by gripping the knife. The entire outline of the tang has been designed to imitate custom filing work; it helps to prevent the knife from turning in the hand. The sheath has the logo of the company, which is also featured on both sides of the guard.
Data
Company: Härkila (Denmark) https://harkila.com/
Model: Oder
Blade material: AUS-8
Blade length: 12 cm
Overall length: 24 cm
Blade thickness: 3 mm
Handle material: Pakkawood
Sheath: Leather
Weight: 193 g
MSRP: 179,00 Euro
First impression
In the USA, they say that there is no second chance for a first impression, and in this case the first impression is already very good. The packaging is luxurious, it features an expensive rigid box that contains the knife and its leather sheath which are placed within the special recesses cut into the foam and are both wrapped in a transparent cellophane. Inside the sheath there is a long thin sheet of paper, folded several times, it is purple with stylized drawings of flowers, clearly modified pictures, with no further explanation.
The leather sheath can be clipped onto a belt in various ways. The knife goes deep into the sheath, almost like a Puukko. The blade is made from AUS-8, a Japanese stainless steel with molybdenum, nickel and vanadium that can be hardened to 58-59 HRC. To place this in context, butcher knives are hardened to 53 HRC. The AUS-8 can have a very sharp edge and is comparable to AISI 440B; the edge can easily be restored. It gives a very good balance between durability, strength and sharpness. The knife has a full-tang construction but is not an integral one, even if it may appear to be so at first sight. The soldering of the guard is so well done that I managed to see it only by putting the knife under a very powerful lens, at 30x magnification!
The handle is 12 cm long and made of resilient, durable Pakkawood, an engineered wood/plastic composite material commonly used in knife handles and other objects that see rough wear. It can closely resemble conventional wood, or come in a range of bright colors. The handle, which is fixed with three rivets, has a slight shaping that can hardly be seen but becomes apparent by gripping the knife. The entire outline of the tang has been designed to imitate custom filing work; it helps to prevent the knife from turning in the hand. The sheath has the logo of the company, which is also featured on both sides of the guard.
Data
Company: Härkila (Denmark) https://harkila.com/
Model: Oder
Blade material: AUS-8
Blade length: 12 cm
Overall length: 24 cm
Blade thickness: 3 mm
Handle material: Pakkawood
Sheath: Leather
Weight: 193 g
MSRP: 179,00 Euro
A kind of file work on the blade’s tang.