Ostap Hel’s Fourth Bouquet Knife is the Bihai

[Correction 2/24/23: We stated the Bihai was non-locking, when it is in fact a liner lock. The article has been updated to reflect the actual spec.]

Spring is just about here in the northern hemisphere, so it’s appropriate that Ostap Hel and Bestech have just revealed the latest flower-inspired knife in their Bouquet line. This one is called the Bihai, and it translates the shape of the red palulu into a small knife with some unusual work potential.

The red palulu (scientific name heliconia bihai) is an herbaceous plant recognizable by its red, talon-shaped leaves. To Hel, who constantly finds inspiration for his knife design in the larger world, the red palulu looked like a ready-made blade shape. He made a 2.15-inch, 14C28N hawkbill blade, opened with either front flipper or thumb hole and secured with a liner lock. The hawkbill is an unconventional shape for EDC but one with a surprising amount of capability, particularly at this size. Hel tells us that an early tester for the Bihai highlighted another, less common category of use for the knife. “One of my friends mentioned it actually might be a pretty useful tool for gardening, because the curved blade shape’s cutting action pulls in material,” Hel says. “Cutting small twigs or opening bags of soil should be pretty easy.”

The handle scales come in several different colors, including a red G-10 that brings heliconia bihai’s hue to mind while also serving a secondary function in that backyards knife role. “The bright handles colors also make it easy to find when accidentally dropped into the grass,” Hel explains. He goes on to say that keeping this handle compact, while still capable of housing all four fingers, was one of two major design challenges with this knife. The other challenge was actually finding space on the Bihai’s tiny, narrow blade for the Bestech logo. “Besides that blade is pretty small, it also has a significant opening hole in it, so there is actually no space to put the manufacturer logo there,” Hel reveals. “That’s why for the first time we decided to engrave the Bestech logo on the main pivot.”

In 2021 Hel grew the Tulip model, the first Bouquet knife, with the release of a budget-oriented version with G-10 scales and 14C28N blade steel – the same materials the Bihai is made from. Will there be a premium version of this knife someday? Maybe, but there’s another variant Hel wants to see first. “We are considering it. But first we would like to focus on providing the non-locking version to the market,” answers Hel. He also sowed the seeds for the next Bouquet knife. “You will be able to check the prototype of the new ‘flower’ in Persian style at the upcoming IWA 2023 show in Germany,” he reveals. “And hopefully get the final production version at Blade Show Atlanta in June. It will be the largest collaboration model we’ve done so far.”

Knife in Featured Image: Bestech Bihai

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