14" Tirtha Pen Knife

[Qeth]

Processed some firewood (about 2 hours worth) for the fireplace. Used the Pen Knife, it's not warranted for the harder stuff, but this thing feels redonkulously solid for a "lightweight". Its belly gives it a nice forward weight, but today I did more batoning than chopping.

Surprised at how well the edge held up. I've done similar chores with various other kukris by other kamis, and they are normally on the softer side and dull too quickly (at worst, rolled too easily), with the exception of one that was too hard and chipped quite a bit and now has a rather toothy grin. Gotta give it to Tirtha, looks like he heat treated this one spot on. There were a couple of minor rolls, but I used this knife harder than I normally would to see how it would fare. Them rolls are congratulatory marks

Big belleh!

Various edge angles:

Back in the sheath.

Made some tinder and fatwood shavings with no problem, this one is a "small" knife. I would be VERY interested in picking up a 3/16" Tirtha kukri. I think a lighter Pen knife in the same size would make it an even better camp knife.

 

[Karda]

The Pen Knife is warranted for chopping wood.

 

[Qeth]

Awesome! I was pushing it harder than normal too, to see what its limitations are, and it just grinned and asked for more. Thought it weird that it wasn't warranted for that kind of work, glad I was wrong on the warranty

 

[sweetcostarica]

Did it say, "Thank you sir. May I have another". That's one tough knife Qeth. Looking at the edge, is that a secondary bevel or is your Pen knife convex grind? If it is not convex then putting that grind on your knife would reduce the rolling of the edge quite noticeably.

 

[bargs]

them pen kukri are cool,love the big blade,if possible can someone tell me how much that critter weighs.

 

[Qeth]

Did it say, "Thank you sir. May I have another". That's one tough knife Qeth. Looking at the edge, is that a secondary bevel or is your Pen knife convex grind? If it is not convex then putting that grind on your knife would reduce the rolling of the edge quite noticeably.
View attachment 267117

I started to put a convex edge on it. i use a Work Sharp Belt Sander, it's relatively low speed so I don't mess up the temper.

them pen kukri are cool,love the big blade,if possible can someone tell me how much that critter weighs.

About 19.3 oz.

 

[Yangdu]

Great picture and review, glad to hear the Tirtha PK survied.
Thank you for sharing

 

[bemo]

Wow Qeth, love that kydex for it. I haven't convexed mine yet because I don't have an appropriate sheath for it. Did you do that yourself?

 

[Qeth]

Wow Qeth, love that kydex for it. I haven't convexed mine yet because I don't have an appropriate sheath for it. Did you do that yourself?

I wish I had that talent!

No friend, it's done by Eric Lind of Mashed Cat Outfitters. His forum handle is Grandsuave. The kukri sheathes with butterfly retention are great, the ambidextrous opening gives it more versatility and wear options. I highly recommend them:thumbup:

 

[7rip13a]

Nice photos and sheath Qeth, the Pen Knife is a lovely khukuri. Compact, but it hits hard; an ideal replacement for a hatchet. I was also lucky enough to grab one, also by Tirtha.