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Helle Didi Galgalu

  • Last updated: 12/12/2024
  • Review
Helle Didi Galgalu

For anyone who likes a large, chunky, substantial knife, the Didi Galgalu is the perfect tool. This ‘beefed up’ knife is designed for heavier tasks, and the substantial blade is very impressive.

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Strange name
Designed in conjunction with the Voetspore exploration team of South Africa and to withstand the hardships of transcontinental safaris across Africa, the knife is named after the Didi Galgalu Desert in northern Kenya. It was one of the very first Helle knives constructed with a full tang design, and in 2021 it was upgraded with a new type of wooden handle.
The full tang construction is extremely strong, and the Kebony wood handle is secured with three rivets to add to the durability of the knife. The front two rivets are solid brass, while the rearmost pipe rivet acts as a lanyard hole. At 135mm long and 3mm thick, the 12C27 stainless steel drop-point blade has a Scandi grind and is supplied razor sharp.
The large wooden handle has a nice light-coloured grain, which is very well finished, and dark-coloured liners between the scales and the tang, which really make it stand out. The handle has a simple profile and is shaped to naturally sit in the hand. Your fingers find their place automatically, giving a very firm hold and preventing any slippage towards the blade. At the rear of the handle, the wood flares out on both sides. This wider section acts as a stop to prevent your fingers from moving rearwards. It also adds a really nice look to the knife.

In use
Despite its size, this is a great knife to use for heavy work, fine cutting, and slicing. The depth of the blade makes it perfect for filleting fish, with barely any drag at all, and its thickness allows you to use it to cut and split wood without causing any damage to it.
Although it is bad practice to hit the back of a blade when using it to split small lengths of timber, it is a good test of durability. The Didi Galgalu passed with flying colours. The edge retention is also very good, just like all Helle blades, and if you do need to re-sharpen it, then the profile of the edge is very easy to work on.
The plain black leather sheath holds the knife securely, by friction, and the double-stitching is very neat. On the front, an outline of the African continent has been embossed into the leather, which is a nod to the co-designers of the knife, and overall, the sheath is very good quality.

Conclusion
As is always the case with Helle, the knife is very well presented. It comes in a tubular box with a cleaning cloth, and the whole knife is extremely well-finished. The blade is polished to a superb finish and no matter how closely you look, you cannot find any faults or flaws. For either collectors or knife users, this is a great item.

  • Helle Didi Galgalu - image {image:count}

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  • Helle Didi Galgalu - image {image:count}

    click on image to enlarge

  • Helle Didi Galgalu - image {image:count}

    click on image to enlarge

  • Helle Didi Galgalu - image {image:count}

    click on image to enlarge

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  • Name: Helle Didi Galgalu
  • Price:: £254.95
  • Contact: : Whitby & Co. Ltd - www.whitbyandco.co.uk
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