kamagong
Gold Member
- Joined
- Jan 13, 2001
- Messages
- 10,940
I received a fine example of the kami's craft today. Approximately 17" long and 27 ounces, this knife is what a khukuri should be. It is faithful to its historical predecessors with its standard bolster and lack of cho creep. It is a very manageable size and weight compared to its more overbuilt counterparts. I am not worried though; this is still a very large and strong knife and it is only because of my previous experience with khukuris that I think this knife has a strangely thin spine.
This knife is one of the best I've received from HI. The knife has excellent fit and finish and the fullers are well-defined. The buttcap does have some burrs, but that's taken care of easily enough. This knife is not perfect, but I didn't expect it to be. It was handmade with basic tools in difficult conditions and some imperfections are to be expected. Plus, these "character marks" in no way affect the knife's function or beauty.
This is a very beautiful khukuri. It is wider and has more belly than I'm used to, but its lines appeal to me for some reason. It sports a rakta chandan handle. This is my first knife with this species of wood. I like it. It doesn't have the vibrant color of chandan or the interesting figure of saatisal, but it's good. I'm glad that this knife came with wood and not horn. At first I preferred horn, but my experiences over the years have me favoring wood more and more. Wood feels much warmer and IMHO is less prone to crack. Recently one of my favorites khukuris, a 20" sirupati by Sanu, suffered a bad case of horn shrinkage. Keep in mind that this knife is already six years old, but the slabs have shrunk considerably because of this prolonged heat wave. I now have to go to the store to pick up some epoxy and coarse grit sandpaper; otherwise I will suffer from blisters and cuts the next time I use my sirupati.
Going back to the original topic, this knife is sharp and has the best looking edge of any I've received. It is straight and well formed and doesn't have any burrs. The karda and chakma are really good too. I doubt I'll utilize them often, but they are of a very useable size. You really should see the karda, it has such well formed bevels that at first glance I thought I was holding a puukko.
The handle on this knife is a strange thing. I consider its length perfect, about 4 3/8". However it is a handful and is the fattest khukuri handle that I've ever held. In order for me to use it safely and efficiently I'll have to sand it down because at present I can't get a very good grip around it. I hesitate to do that though because this is such a beautiful knife and I already have enough using khukuris as it is. I'll get around to it eventually though, probably around the same time that I beat on it to check its soundness. In the meantime I want to keep this knife pristine and without scratches.
I'm very satisfied with this knife. It's the first I've gotten from HI in a long time and I'm glad to see that everything is going well. It's hard to believe that I've been buying khukuris from HI for almost a decade. 20 khukuris and eight years later I still get excited whenever I receive a triangular box in the mail.
This knife is one of the best I've received from HI. The knife has excellent fit and finish and the fullers are well-defined. The buttcap does have some burrs, but that's taken care of easily enough. This knife is not perfect, but I didn't expect it to be. It was handmade with basic tools in difficult conditions and some imperfections are to be expected. Plus, these "character marks" in no way affect the knife's function or beauty.
This is a very beautiful khukuri. It is wider and has more belly than I'm used to, but its lines appeal to me for some reason. It sports a rakta chandan handle. This is my first knife with this species of wood. I like it. It doesn't have the vibrant color of chandan or the interesting figure of saatisal, but it's good. I'm glad that this knife came with wood and not horn. At first I preferred horn, but my experiences over the years have me favoring wood more and more. Wood feels much warmer and IMHO is less prone to crack. Recently one of my favorites khukuris, a 20" sirupati by Sanu, suffered a bad case of horn shrinkage. Keep in mind that this knife is already six years old, but the slabs have shrunk considerably because of this prolonged heat wave. I now have to go to the store to pick up some epoxy and coarse grit sandpaper; otherwise I will suffer from blisters and cuts the next time I use my sirupati.
Going back to the original topic, this knife is sharp and has the best looking edge of any I've received. It is straight and well formed and doesn't have any burrs. The karda and chakma are really good too. I doubt I'll utilize them often, but they are of a very useable size. You really should see the karda, it has such well formed bevels that at first glance I thought I was holding a puukko.
The handle on this knife is a strange thing. I consider its length perfect, about 4 3/8". However it is a handful and is the fattest khukuri handle that I've ever held. In order for me to use it safely and efficiently I'll have to sand it down because at present I can't get a very good grip around it. I hesitate to do that though because this is such a beautiful knife and I already have enough using khukuris as it is. I'll get around to it eventually though, probably around the same time that I beat on it to check its soundness. In the meantime I want to keep this knife pristine and without scratches.
I'm very satisfied with this knife. It's the first I've gotten from HI in a long time and I'm glad to see that everything is going well. It's hard to believe that I've been buying khukuris from HI for almost a decade. 20 khukuris and eight years later I still get excited whenever I receive a triangular box in the mail.
