Ostap Hel Works on a Wharnie with Kansept Arcus

Prolific designer Ostap Hel’s latest piece is arriving now, courtesy of Kansept Knives. It’s called the Arcus, a mid-sized everyday carry knife that plays with long lines and narrow dimensions.

Hel is known for his attention to detail. From the very beginning his designs have benefited from rigorous attention to proportion, and a penchant for building out each knife from a central, initial idea. The idea with the Arcus seems to’ve been Slimness, with every element of the design being pared down and reduced in profile. Hel gives us a very narrow wharnie blade here, exhibiting plenty of modern attitude with its elongated point and decorative fuller. At 3.43 inches long, the cutting edge can be used for many things, both big and small; the narrow profile doesn’t affect the performance so much as impart a dressier, more artistic flavor to the entire knife.

All versions of the Arcus are opened via flipper, and most of them come with the same steel. That steel is a returning champion, S35VN. A good benchmark for powder metallurgy steels in general, S35VN gives you solid edge retention, great stain resistance, and a straightforward, unfussy sharpening process. Kansept also produced two versions of the Arcus with Damascus steel, that sacrifice some performance for added visual beauty.

Thin blade, narrow handle: that’s what’s on offer with the Arcus. There is just a slight bend to the frame, which is made primarily from titanium that’s complimented by front and back inlays. You’ve got a slew of different materials to choose from for those inlays, including patterned carbon fiber and lime green G-10. The sculpted titanium clip continues the streamlined, elegant styling, and the Arcus hits a very respectable EDC weight of 2.68 oz.

This is the latest, but not the first, Kansept knife designed by Ostap Hel. He has contributed both fixed blades and folders before this, beginning back in 2021 with the Kratos, a knife inspired by the Greek kopis sword and, presumably, named after one of the angriest dads in video games.

Knife in Featured Image: Kansept Knives Arcus

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