Ostap Hel has a new knife called the G Frame on the way, made with frequent partner in crime Real Steel Knives. The G Frame is a revised, locking version of Hel’s first slipjoint release from several years ago.
By 2019, Hel had already established himself as a name to watch, thanks to his series of collaboration models with Real Steel. His focus on finding the point where form and function meet, and his determination to approach that point through unusual inspirations, made his knives stand out. The Gslip came out in the fall of 2019 and was Hel’s first slipjoint, packing all of his characteristic flourishes and in a mid-size, non-locking format.
Now, with the G Frame, it looks like Hel returned to the Gslip concept and “lockified” it. The G Frame carries forward the fuller’d drop point blade shape, and keeps the length at 3.46 inches. It’s a nice in-between size married to an all-arounder blade shape, obviously every day carry-capable, but also ready for heftier chores and even some outdoors cutting – things that hugely benefit, of course, from the presence of a lock. A ball bearing flipper makes the G Frame a one-hand opener, and the steel has been switched up, changed from VG-10 to N690Co – a lateral move from one good mid-range steel to another.
Yes, the G Frame is, indeed, a titanium frame lock; both scales are made from titanium in fact, and while they’re as linear as those on the Gslip, their shape is a little thinner, more angular than those on the slipjoint predecessor. Another interesting difference between the G Frame and the Gslip is that, despite the inclusion of a locking mechanism, the G Frame is actually lighter, with weight of 2.61 oz. compared to the Gslip’s 2.75 oz. weight.
The G Frame is launching at the end of this week, May 20th.
Knife in Featured Image: Real Steel Knives G Frame
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