- Joined
- Jul 2, 2000
- Messages
- 1,494
HI,
I received my "12 in." AK villager yesterday and thought I do a quick review.
Specs: 13 OAL, with a 8.5 blade. Thickness at the spine is a tad over 5/16ths. Sorry no scales to do the weight. Maker: Kumar.
Size comparison with 16.5" WW and Kabar.
15" AK and Villager
Villager with AK and WWII.
Observations: This is my 3rd khuk by Kumar; and with apologies to the Kumar fans , his blades really dont speak to me as some of the other kamis work do. The first two were; a 15 villager, that went to Iraq with a Marine buddy and a Chitlangi that my neighbor is very proud of. Great gifts, those two are very well made blades that found their own homes. The baby villager may or may not change this trend.
The butt cap is very pointy and at first I thought it might need to be rounded off some. Now, after handling it a while, I hardly notice it. The edges of the cap are flush with the handle, no sharp lip. The handle is very well executed with some of the most well done rings on any of the khuks I own. The handle is fairly smooth, just right for me, without any finish. Initially, it was the same hue as the kardas. Speaking of kardas; thats what it came with, two kardas. This is not a problem, as I used the spine of one to burnish the edge and it proved quite hard with no marks left on it.
Good news; the blade is ground pretty close to convex with only a few flat spots. The edge was a little thick, but should have sharpened up by hand quite quickly. I put it on the slack belt and had it shaving sharp in a few. The sword of Shiva is well executed on both side of the blade. The finish on the blade is somewhere between 400 and 320 grit. Both these clean up marks and blend in well with the rest of the finish. Hardness seems to be right on. It would still grab hair after chopping through mop handles, some 3" dia. poles and a couple of excursions into hard packed soil. (see photo.)
The only (slight) negative, and probably of no concern, was on the bolster (by the way both butt cap and bolster are steel.). The brazed joint just seems a little wide to me and has a couple of pin-size holes, that probably wont go anywhere and last 100 years.
The sheath is the usual nice work. Tight fit over the last inch of travel when inserting. There were a couple of small holes (one caused by the wood where the karda and chakma go) that were easily filled with super glue. I dont miss the chape at all, great idea. (sewn shut as it comes)
This is a nice knife and I will keep it around for a little while before deciding whether or not to send it on
to my brother. It slices well. Its comfortable for food prep, especially if you work close to the edge of the counter where your hand can be below the level of the cutting surface. Very comfortable this way. I also like the angle and point position if you were to need to thrust into something with it. It will chop (within reason; not in the Trailmaster class but better than a Kabar/Bushranger) , just takes more whacks or a better chopper than me (I claim no expertise here) to catch up with its bigger brother.
Regards,
Greg
Please note that the butt cap still has some grease on it,
thus all the black stuff.
I received my "12 in." AK villager yesterday and thought I do a quick review.
Specs: 13 OAL, with a 8.5 blade. Thickness at the spine is a tad over 5/16ths. Sorry no scales to do the weight. Maker: Kumar.
Size comparison with 16.5" WW and Kabar.
15" AK and Villager
Villager with AK and WWII.
Observations: This is my 3rd khuk by Kumar; and with apologies to the Kumar fans , his blades really dont speak to me as some of the other kamis work do. The first two were; a 15 villager, that went to Iraq with a Marine buddy and a Chitlangi that my neighbor is very proud of. Great gifts, those two are very well made blades that found their own homes. The baby villager may or may not change this trend.
The butt cap is very pointy and at first I thought it might need to be rounded off some. Now, after handling it a while, I hardly notice it. The edges of the cap are flush with the handle, no sharp lip. The handle is very well executed with some of the most well done rings on any of the khuks I own. The handle is fairly smooth, just right for me, without any finish. Initially, it was the same hue as the kardas. Speaking of kardas; thats what it came with, two kardas. This is not a problem, as I used the spine of one to burnish the edge and it proved quite hard with no marks left on it.
Good news; the blade is ground pretty close to convex with only a few flat spots. The edge was a little thick, but should have sharpened up by hand quite quickly. I put it on the slack belt and had it shaving sharp in a few. The sword of Shiva is well executed on both side of the blade. The finish on the blade is somewhere between 400 and 320 grit. Both these clean up marks and blend in well with the rest of the finish. Hardness seems to be right on. It would still grab hair after chopping through mop handles, some 3" dia. poles and a couple of excursions into hard packed soil. (see photo.)
The only (slight) negative, and probably of no concern, was on the bolster (by the way both butt cap and bolster are steel.). The brazed joint just seems a little wide to me and has a couple of pin-size holes, that probably wont go anywhere and last 100 years.
The sheath is the usual nice work. Tight fit over the last inch of travel when inserting. There were a couple of small holes (one caused by the wood where the karda and chakma go) that were easily filled with super glue. I dont miss the chape at all, great idea. (sewn shut as it comes)
This is a nice knife and I will keep it around for a little while before deciding whether or not to send it on
to my brother. It slices well. Its comfortable for food prep, especially if you work close to the edge of the counter where your hand can be below the level of the cutting surface. Very comfortable this way. I also like the angle and point position if you were to need to thrust into something with it. It will chop (within reason; not in the Trailmaster class but better than a Kabar/Bushranger) , just takes more whacks or a better chopper than me (I claim no expertise here) to catch up with its bigger brother.
Regards,
Greg
Please note that the butt cap still has some grease on it,
thus all the black stuff.
You're the man.
