Real Steel Outfits Ostap Hel Metamorph with Button Lock

Real Steel Knives is continuing its stream of summer releases and reveals. Recently we wrote about the Pathfinder, a bushcraft folder from returning longtime collaborator Ivan Braginets; now we’re seeing the company’s latest project with Ostap Hel, which sees the designer returning to one of his early production knife successes, the Metamorph.

These days, Hel is a well-known and prolific designer in the production knife world; but back in 2017, when the original Metamorph released, he was just picking up his first head of steam. The Metamorph helped establish Hel’s reputation for knives with a strong visual identity that evokes real world referents but still stands apart with a distinct, original aesthetic.

“Slender slicer” is how we described the original back then, and we stick to that description now even as the knife has seen a Mk. II iteration in the intervening years. The 3.45-inch blade length is plenty big for everyday carry, and in fact allows the Metamorph to do things that smaller EDC blades aren’t ideally suited to, such as food prep.

We mentioned the Mk. II above, a direct sequel, and while that was the biggest expansion since the original release, the Metamorph has endured in the RSK catalog even as Hel continued whipping up designs for RSK and other companies. Now it will be leading the charge for what Real Steel says is its second series of button lock knives. The button lock mechanism itself is quickly becoming a major trend that, like front flippers, cleaver blades, or MagnaCut steel, needs no introduction thanks to its growing popularity. But if you’re new around here, here’s how it works: once the blade is in the open position, the depressing the button disengages the lock, allowing the blade to fall freely back into the closed position.

In a notable twist, the Button Lock Metamorph actually uses a thumb stud, rather than a front flipper mechanism like previous Metamorphs. Surprising as it may be, despite the intervening six years the steel remains the same here: 14C28N, a reliable European recipe with solid marks across the board, and a great stainless alternative to the omnipresent D2.

So far, all we have to go on with the Button Lock Metamorph is a handful of teaser images. There is no release date given at this time, but RSK usually runs a pretty tight ship, so we expect to hear more soon, if not see a release sharpish.

Knife in Featured Image: Real Steel Knives Button Lock Metamorph

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