Hultafors Group AB is proud to introduce five new Swedish designed knives for outdoor, camping and survival to the North American markets. Debuting at the 2017 Outdoor Retailer Winter Market, the new designs draw on the brand’s 125-years of experience developing tools synonymous with precision, craftsmanship and safety.

Hultafors knives are based on classic Nordic fixed blade designs known for functional style and supreme utility. The blades feature a Scandinavian flat grind for superior sharpness, versatility and easy maintenance. Each knife blade is hardened to 58–60 HRC and sharpened in several steps with attention paid to the grinding, honing and stropping. Both handle and holster are made from super-durable polypropylene (PP) plastic, and the handle is designed to provide a safe and comfortable grip.

Interest in fixed blade knives continues to grow among survival, bushcraft and outdoor enthusiasts. Knife users are seeking an affordable, high performance tool that feels safe and comfortable in hand with properly treated steel that stays sharp and holds up to hard use.

“A well-made fixed-blade knife is the most trustworthy, easy-to-use tool you’ll ever own” says Hakan Carlson, commercial manager at Hultafors. “Our Nordic style knives are top quality, competitively priced and represent a great overall value.”

Lets take a closer look at the Hultafors Expedition Knife. This survival knife is purpose built to handle tough situations in austere environments. The Expedition blade will dispatch game for food, process wood for fire and is fine enough for carving tasks.

The first thing I noticed when unsheathing the knife was the handle. The handle is fitted with a Santoprene friction grip for extra control. I can already tell this knife would be extremely secure in the hand during use in cold, wet and muddy environments.

The blade itself is a scandi grind. The scandi grind offers an extremely durable edge as well as easy honing and sharpening.

The spine of the blade is set to a 90 degree angle for use with striking ferro rods or magnesium blocks. The sharp 90 degree spine is also useful for scraping fine fibers off wood when prepping tinder to get a fire started. The blade is also protected with a black protective electrophoretic deposition coating (EPD). This coating will repel rust and corrosion when in the field for longer periods of time.

The sheath is an extremely simple design. The sheath material itself is a very basic thermoplastic sheath that is extremely durable. The sheath comes with a nylon belt loop attachment that slides over the sheath to allow you to belt carry the knife. The nylon attachment also includes an elastic loop to secure a ferro rod for fire starting.

The sheath is even designed with a small thumb ramp, making unsheathing the knife an easier task. It the small attention to detail features that I like about this package.