kellam knife quality?

forestnomad

forestnomad

Joined
Jan 9, 2009
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i was thinking of purchasing a kellam knife, but i haven't had any personal experience with the company. does anyone know what sort of abuse they can take? my friend has one that looks beautiful, but idk how puukko or leuku style knives hold up to batoning or anything like that. any input would be much appreciated. :)
 
I have a Kellam Pukko.. It's pretty tough..good steel..it will handle a baton depending on what you are splitting... If you going to attack a knotted stump than maybe not.. but for kindling it should be fine... If you;re concerned with strength but still want a scandi production knife look for the Enzo trapper....and Welcome
 
A stick tang knife,if made properly can take some pretty serious abuse.Batonning isn't a problm even with a Mora from the Classic series and they have one of the narrowest tangs i've ever seen... ;)
 
Well,

This issue is complicated by the fact that Kellam sells knives from a bunch of different manufacturers and custom makers....

Two production examples....


Their R Line is Roselli....

Roselli at Ragweed Forge.... http://www.ragweedforge.com/RoselliCatalog.html
Roselli at Kellam... http://www.kellamknives.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1_33_54


Their S Line is an unknown manufacturer in Finland...

Sold under the Ahti name at Ragweed... http://www.ragweedforge.com/AhtiCatalog.html [look about half way down]
S Line at Kellam... http://www.kellamknives.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1_33_83_85

If I was from Finland, I could probably tell you which custom makers makes the Kellam high end stuff, but I cannot.

Oh yeah, they sell knives made by Dean Hazuka [i think] and Murray Carter, and J Marttinni

Near as I can tell, their is no 'Kellam' knife, as in a knife that is made in a factory or shop with the sign 'Kellam' on the door.

Not to say that any of it is bad, because I think they sell some really great products.

But, it is to say, that you have to specify which 'Kellam' knife you are speaking of, for our comments to be accurate.

Oh yes, we can give you generalities, but that will be it.

You said.....

i was thinking of purchasing a kellam knife, but i haven't had any personal experience with the company. does anyone know what sort of abuse they can take? my friend has one that looks beautiful, but idk how puukko or leuku style knives hold up to batoning or anything like that. any input would be much appreciated.

1. My experience with Kellam has been first rate, and I have never heard of any negative feedback on them. I have an S Line, and I quite like it. I had an M Line All Purpose Knife, which was really a J Marttinni M571, which I regret selling.

2. I think it is irrelevant what abuse they can take, because you should not abuse your tools, and if you are headed down that road you should look at products from manufacturers like Busse and Fehrman. Though I would say that they will happily withstand the tasks for which they were created. But, that can vary to quite some degree based on the particular knife.

Puukko are primarily designed as wood carving knives, and excel at that, and less rigorous tasks like skinning and steaking present them with no challenge. See Wikipedia for a bit more info... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puukko

Leuku are basically the same tool, but larger, less suited to fine carving, and more suited to butchering of reindeer and shelter-building. See Wikipedia for a bit more info... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leuku

I have yet to find a quality knife that will not stand up to judicious batoning. I have even heard of crap kitchen knives being batoned cross-grain to cut a Christmas tree down to size, with a hammer, with no serious ill effects, other than the roast tasting like Bactine. It seems to me that some people have misunderstood this technique to mean wailing on the knife, or really lacing into it. When in fact, it just means hitting, which in many cases, with good wood selection means tapping. Some hold that batoning is abuse, but it is not. One of the real voices of the puuko and leuku style of knife, being the tools of woodcraft in the spruce and moose country all around the top of the globe, Mors Kochanski, routinely uses this technique.

Anyway, I have probably went too far afield, but I hope it was helpful.

Marion
 
I wouldnt recommend a puukko for batoning. Some light batoning, like splitting a 2" wide piece of wood for tinder is ok, but other than that, you risk ruining your knife. Like RescueRiley said, EnZos are great for this kind of use.
 
I've used my Mora Classic #2 for battoning some 3'' pieces of hardwood a numer of times.It's fine.A good puukko should be even stronger.
 
ZombaiO said:
I've used my Mora Classic #2 for battoning some 3'' pieces of hardwood a numer of times.It's fine.A good puukko should be even stronger.
Click to expand...

I think the mora steel is a bit softer than a forged puukko blade, and doesnt break as easily . I've actually snapped one puukko blade by batoning... it was a "hirvipuukko" made by Hakkarainen. Most puukkos will propable be ok for battoning, but with an expensive one, I wouldnt risk it.
 
If you want a Kellam, and plan to use it hard, I'd get one of the differentially tempered knives. I have read that they can take a lot of tough use.
 
The actual Kellams are a great and well made knife
 
Agreed that actual Kellam's are great knives. I've got an original Kellam Puukko and a Kellam Tracker that I swear by for any and all woodcraft. I've batoned the longer (more of a leuku I suppose) Tracker model through 1.5 to 2" firewood, but haven't yet batoned it through a log. I'd probably grab my GB mini hatchet for that.

Either way, I personally think the Kellam-brand knives are some of the best for the money available. Mine hold an edge incredibly well, and were undoubtely the sharpest knives out of the packaging I've ever purchased.

Something about the simplicity of them truly appeals to me too. Great sheaths also.

Professor.
 
Marion David Poff said:
Their S Line is an unknown manufacturer in Finland...

Sold under the Ahti name at Ragweed... http://www.ragweedforge.com/AhtiCatalog.html [look about half way down]
S Line at Kellam... http://www.kellamknives.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1_33_83_85
Click to expand...

Many of the Kellams are Ahti knives. The Ahti knives are made by puukkosmith Reino Kamppila in the traditional puukkomaking area of Kauhava (Ahti is a very small family business, not a factory).

He uses carbon vanadium steel. Good stuff, I have tested them to be a good solid steel. I have three of his knives and like them a lot. I like the handles, quite ergonomic and I like the looks. They perform great on wood due to their traditional puukko grind but can suffer from edge deformation/bending if used on hard materials or very heavy handling. In those cases a microbevel is recommended(by me based on my experience with them).
 
PatriotDan said:
Many of the Kellams are Ahti knives. The Ahti knives are made by puukkosmith Reino Kamppila in the traditional puukkomaking area of Kauhava (Ahti is a very small family business, not a factory).

He uses carbon vanadium steel. Good stuff, I have tested them to be a good solid steel. I have three of his knives and like them a lot. I like the handles, quite ergonomic and I like the looks. They perform great on wood due to their traditional puukko grind but can suffer from edge deformation/bending if used on hard materials or very heavy handling. In those cases a microbevel is recommended(by me based on my experience with them).
Click to expand...

Thank you for that tidbit, I always love it when a mystery is solved. Ahti makes that Finman slash S Line knife?

Marion
 
Marion David Poff said:
Ahti makes that Finman slash S Line knife?

Marion
Click to expand...


Glad to be of help :thumbup:

No, the Finman utility puukkos are made by "Laurin Metalli Oy" (Lauri's metal), also in Kauhava. Laurin Metalli Oy is the same factory that makes knife/puukko/leuku blades (and protective blade sleeves and other knife parts) that are popular for making scandis. Perhaps more commonly known as Lauri blades. especially the zone tempered PT blades are very good for high performance cutting. My favourite puukko has a Lauri PT blade. You got to love a puukko blade in 63 HRc... just love it :)
 
PatriotDan said:
Glad to be of help :thumbup:

No, the Finman utility puukkos are made by "Laurin Metalli Oy" (Lauri's metal), also in Kauhava. Laurin Metalli Oy is the same factory that makes knife/puukko/leuku blades (and protective blade sleeves and other knife parts) that are popular for making scandis. Perhaps more commonly known as Lauri blades. especially the zone tempered PT blades are very good for high performance cutting. My favourite puukko has a Lauri PT blade. You got to love a puukko blade in 63 HRc... just love it :)
Click to expand...

Thank you ever so much.

Marion
 
I have a Kellam Wolverine, it is the one with the differentially treated blade. It has held up to regular use in the field, and while I have used it to baton firewood, puukkos are not meant to be used that way.

I liked my Wolverine so much that I made my own using a Lauri PT blade. -Used spalted walnut because I have never been able to find birch burl as nice as the ones that come on a Kellam.
 
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