15" Sirupati

J

JAY H

Joined
Mar 10, 1999
Messages
397
The 15" Sirupati is one I don't have. Is the BAS scabbard similar in size? -- And Rusty, can you tell us more of your opinion of the Sirupati compared to the BAS khukuris? I have the 20" Sirupati, so I always wonder what the 15 incher would be like.


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I remember hearing you were more into martial arts, so let's start out this way, but remember that all my training in defense has been with firearms, not empty hand, knives, or impact weapons. The attitude's the same at least, if not much else

Nevertheless, I'm learning that the khukuri is superbly ergonomic for me. I suspect that at 5'4" I'm closer to the average Nepali than the average American in size, and this may have a lot to do with it. The bent blades of a khukuri allow a relatively small twist and/or cocking of the wrist to translate into a large amount of change of edge direction and angle at the deep part of the blade toward the front. I don't know of any other single-edged fighting knife that can equal this (but of course I don't know very much in this area). This means that any weight differences in the front half of the blade have a disproportionate effect on handling qualities.

The 12" Sirupati is roughly the size of an Ontario Spec Plus Fighter w/ both having 8" blades. The Sirupati's spine is much thicker though, so you would expect it to move more slowly. Instead it feels far faster, and makes me think of a couple of straight razors welded together crookedly. It moves like lightning. The 12" Sirupati I have also has a smaller size, thinner, slick horn handle that I can move my hand around on very easily but still grasp strongly.

The 15" BAS and 15" Sirupati are quite close except in blade shape. I haven't weighed them. The Sirupati seems a bit lighter, not much. It *ought* to move quicker than the BAS but my BAS has a slick horn handle somewhat larger than the 12" Sirupati's, while the 15" Sirupati has an oak handle left a bit oversize, also not finished (stained and sealed). The horn handled BAS thus feels better to me and moves more naturally and about as fast for me as the bigger more "tacky" wood handled Sirupati despite it's lighter blade. For right now that is. When I get it back from Cliff, I'm sizing the Sirupati handle to fit me and sealing and slicking the handle. Once that's done, the 15" Sirupati should move faster than the BAS. It won't be the all around knife the BAS is, but will still do well. If you want a fighter, the Sirupatis are it. If you are a smaller guy, drop the 20" Sirupati for the 15" and go for the speed. I think of my 20" as a light general purpose tool because it's too heavy for me to move fast enough as a fighter.

((Keep in mind though that my choice of a shotgun for defense is a 20 ga. Browning Auto-5 w/ 18.5" bbl, though have 12 ga. auto and pump riot guns on hand, strictly because I can shoot the 20 ga. real fast compared to 12's even with tac buck. They're heavier and slower to get on target for first shot.))

The BAS scabbard is a different design from the usual HI. The Sirupati scabbard is standard HI style, but slimmer than the BAS due to the Sirupati's slimmer blade.

Hope this answered some of your questions. Again, my opinions are SWAG's so call the bando boys for the definitive answers.

[This message has been edited by Rusty (edited 29 March 1999).]
 
You know, Rusty, reading your post, I just figured that in recommending khukuri's to that first timer, we never bothered to find out about the persons size. Oh, well. Also, go check the TRAILMASTER/TUSK thread for a question from me.
 
You know, Rusty, reading your post, I just figured that in recommending khukuri's to that first timer, we never bothered to find out about the persons size. Oh, well. Also, go check the TRAILMASTER/TUSK thread for a question from me.
 
Cobalt, I've responded to the other thread.

Jay, a couple other thoughts on my earlier post.

A)
1) Diligentia, Celeritas, Vis
2) Alertness, Decisiveness, Aggressive-
ness, SPEED, Precision, Ruthlessness,
Surprise.
3) Mas Ayoob's comment that you may be
able to shoot your 44 mag faster than
the other guy can shoot his 357, but you'll never be able to shoot the 44
faster than *you* could shoot a 357.
B)
1) Having fought against evil until it destroyed my old self, and having been rebuilt with less ego and more
appreciation of the spiritual, I con-
centrate on nurturing and healing of
myself and others, not on injuring others. At the same time, I cannot ignore that there remain evil people
out there. So I must accept reality.
2) The healing powers come from the spirit, heart, soul, whatever, and not my mind. When a need arises, I've
learned to let my mind "go to lunch" and let the heart take over. This is
why a blade with a spirit is important to me. There's an old HI thread on the on KForum that speaks of the spirit doing more than
the self is capable of (in defense).
3) We tend to think of the Sirupati as a martial tool, but as has been pointed
out, it's the daily companion of the Rai and Limbu people, so it is a general purpose blade for them. What that constitutes in their environment
I'm clueless about. Maybe Uncle Bill or someone else can tell us how it differs from the environment of those
who live where they carry Salyan or Ang Khola style blades.

Finally, remember that 2 months ago I had seen exactly one junk Indian kukri when I was in my teens, and was not impressed. If I now know anything about khukuris it is due to this forum and the humility to learn from it, not any experience of my own. Had you not asked I would not have presumed to put my limited and still coalessing thoughts down. God I'm getting long winded.
 
Rusty, I don't know about everybody else but I am quite impressed with your posts here. I have another qualified tech advisor -- Rusty!
What excellent posts.

And a note: The Rai and Limbu people are mountain folks who are Eastern neighbors to the Sherpas. Less vegatation in the mountains. Salyan is more south, more vegetation. The Ang Khola is good for areas where there is heavy duty wood work to be done.

Thanks again for very infomative and thoughtful posts.

Uncle Bill
 
Thank You for your kind words, Uncle Bill, however...

Yesterday was Palm Sunday, and as I remarked to the congregation I'm president of: " This is a special day to me in the Church Calendar, since I get to celebrate a fellow jackass carrying the Master into the Kingdom."
 
Two more things, this time about the handle shape.

First, and I noticed this a few days back on the 18th Century model, the pure fighter: the butt cap is different, still eye shaped, but sharper at the tips. I'm sure this could be used as a striking tool, but what I'm noticing more is that the side of the pommel lies against the inside of my wrist with the tip point on the top indexing the blase angle for me by feel w/o looking. This applies to all the other pommels to a slightly lesser degree.

Second, the rear half of the handle behind the raised ring is considerably smaller than in front of the ring. I'm realizing that this lets me lock my pinky finger, and to a lesser extent, my ring finger on the grip while permitting my thumb, forefinger, and middle finger to hold or release the knife, freely moving them around to change grips. This applies more to the lighter knives, BAS and smaller for a little guy like me. I'd been doing this but just understood it this morning. What do you know, the knife is teaching me as I become more familiar with it!
 
OK, Uncle Bill posted the 15" Sirupati as about one pound ( 16 oz. ) and the BAS as one pound three ounces ( 19 oz. ).
 
Rusty, I had another customer, former Ranger Officer in Nam, who observed:

"the handle shape FORCES me to strike straight and true."

Uncle Bill
 
Rusty--Thanks for your personal insight on guns and khukuris. I think the sleeker 15" AK's my son and I have would be very good fighter's.The weight is the same as his BAS, but the lighter AK's are about 7/8" shorter. I like the looks of all of the H.I. khukuris for one reason or another, even the mighty 20" Ang Khola. I am not a knife or firearms expert but I enjoy mixing the khukuris with martial arts. As far as guns, the 5 shot 357's Mas Ayoob was testing are excellant, but I never fired one. I ended up with the Glock 26. I think my favorite is the North American Arms 22LR, 1&1/8" barrell. I use the Stinger's in it. I wanted a Mossberg 20 gauge pistol grip,( hard to find a good folding stock for that one) but have to wait. Can only afford a little at a time. Takes quite a while to get these cool things.

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Hi Jay,

I recall you mentioning using the 20" Ang Khola as a weapon. I am wondering how this is turning out for you and what techniques you are using. Do use use one hand or two hands to control the knife? Are you limited to blocking?

Will
 
Sorry Will -- I don't have the 20" AK yet. Kinda anxious myself about that one.

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Bill -- When I get a 20" Ang Khola , I will be glad to send some pix. I have some ideas brewing on how to handle it.

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JayH, I only used the gun analogies as that is where my experience comes from. I used to be able to shoot expert with full power 41 mags ( 4" bbl ) as quickly as most anyone else could shoot marksman with a 357, even if I bled a lot in doing so. The 44 mag ( 4" bbl ) with full power loads was more than I could handle. What man there was was manly enough, there just wasn't enough of him. But I could also shoot a 2 1/2" 357 with full power loads even faster than the 41's and shoot master level. And with a 4" 357 could shoot faster still and make distinguished master level scores.

The main point I tried to make was that for me, the 15" Sirupati or BAS is a combination of speed and power that I can handle quickly. You may have the strength to be able to move faster with a 20" Sirupati or even a 20" Ang Khola than I can with a 15" Sirupati, but you'll never be able to move as fast with them as you could with a 15" of your preference. For that matter, maybe I should keep the 15"ers and WWII for training to build up my strength and speed in practice, and get a couple more 12"ers to keep handy in case of real need. Come to think of it, I am getting a couple of 12" Ang Kholas made for me.
((Yikes, what am I thinking of... I'm a Nevadan! I'm forgetting the lessons of the old west! Handle it like the old timers did: If you know trouble's coming tomorrow, wait outside the saloon tonight til the guy comes out drunk as a skunk at 3AM, then shoot him in the back with a shotgun from behind cover without warning. Hey, that's more like it really happened than what they show on TV))

[This message has been edited by Rusty (edited 31 March 1999).]

[This message has been edited by Rusty (edited 31 March 1999).]
 
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