1st Khuk advise

Gator97

Gator97

Joined
Apr 10, 2000
Messages
3,794
Hi All,

After collecting knives for 5 or 6 years I've finally decided to get Khukuri. I've been reading HI home page and this forum for last week, lots of reading nothing to say :)
So far I'm deciding between these:
1) 16.5 chiruwa
2) WWII 16.5 inch.
3) British Army Service.

Any recommendations for the novice? Or your personal preferences, in short opinins, advices, comments are highly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
 
You've done your homework! Step to the head of the class. Any one of the three are best choices for your FIRST, but not LAST. :)
 
All great choices, you won't go wrong with any of them. Grab whatever one comes up as a UBDD first.
 
I have a 16.5" Chiruwa AK and love it. If you have REALLY big hands, you may want to go for the WWII or BAS, but the Chiruwa is a great little workhorse, too. Some have said that the full tang AK is a little uncomfortable vs the standard models, but I haven't felt that. Maybe in very cold weather, it would be different.
You won't go wrong with any of them.
 
My first HI, not my first khuk was a chiruwa model by Kumar. It is a good choice for the first but so are the other choices. If you are interested in the military tactical side of things the Chiruwa is the best tactical in the world.
 
Tell him what you will be using it for, your size and strength etc.
And the Master will pick out a life-companion for you.

Welcome
 
Thanks guys.
Yvsa, may be I am missing the point, but I thought Chiruwas and Ang Kholas for that matter were quite traditional looking/design, wrong?
 
Gator, my first was a BAS and I have found it to be the most useful around the house/yard. I took down a 4 inch diameter Chinese Elm in about 30 seconds...no kidding. Now for some serious chopping it's the AK. And you know, what everyone says is true; it won't be your last. If I had the money, I would own one of each model. There's just something about these blades. Back to the point, the BAS is a very good reference point from which to start...not too big, not too small.

Ben
 
Welcome to the Cantina. If you watch the specials, before too long one will call your name.
 
Originally posted by Gator97
Thanks guys.
Yvsa, may be I am missing the point, but I thought Chiruwas and Ang Kholas for that matter were quite traditional looking/design, wrong?
Click to expand...

Gator I'm a great fan of the AK's, I just detest the chiruwa handles.:barf:
Give me a traditional stick tang any day no matter the khuk!!!!:D
 
Ok, I'll be asking :)
One thing though, on this picture Chiruwa handles look same as the rest of the AK line handles, or it's just me and the pic?
 
Originally posted by Gator97
Ok, I'll be asking :)
One thing though, on this picture Chiruwa handles look same as the rest of the AK line handles, or it's just me and the pic?
Click to expand...

Gator, it's you.
The 3rd khuk down is a chiruwa handle, see the two rivets in the handle?
The rest are the stick tang khuks which is the real traditional way of making them and IMO superior to the chiruwa tang.
The chiruwa tang is a full tang khuk in that the steel in the tang comes out to the edge of the handle and then slabs are riveted on.
Both wood And horn can and usually does shrink. When it shrinks on a chiruwa style handle the slabs can become bowed and/or shrinks away from the edge leaving the steel tang sticking out a bit.
This is not acceptable for me. There's several reasons other than that that cause me to detest the chiruwa handles.
The heavy stick tang is just as strong and IMO is less tiring to chop with due to the lack of vibration I get with the slab handles.

Do a search on chiruwa and you will find more pros and cons than you want to read about.
 
OK, the difference is that traditional handles have a heavy stick tang running thru the center of the handle, and the laha ( Nepali version of cutler's resin ) of beeswax mised with tree sap and other stuff forms what Uncle called "himalayan epoxy. The near boiling laha was poured between tang and handle. Then the butt is capped and the tang peened over the keeper. In essence it's a very heavy duty version of a rattail tang, covered with "epoxy" and then the handle material, so little of the vibration is transferred to the hand from a chop.

The Panna Butta or Chiruwa is a full tang with scale handles rivetted on. Steel is thus in contact with your hand both at the top and bottom of the handle.

I have one khuk on which the top spine is 3/4 inch thick. You think it matters in strength which kind of tang is used? 3/4" is thick. 3/8ths is normal on the dinky 12" khuks. 7/16th is common on 15" khuks, and the bigger ones can go half inch and up for spine thickness. I've even got a 12" long AK 1/2" thick at the spine. The kamis overbuild everything they can get away with, because thier roots are in being the village blacksmith. You do it right the first time so it doesn't get brought back.

The guy who got a kothimoda for his first khuk probably doesn't yet realize that yes, the HI kothimoda is built to hang on the wall. But it is bigger and thicker and better tempered than other shop's kothimodas, because the kami told the boss, "but what if it has to be used? This is an HI khukuri. It shouldn't break!"

I'm with Yvsa, I go for the traditional, and the even older styles. But I accept the scale tang on the M43 cause that's the way they were made then.
 
Originally posted by stripey357
I have a 16.5" Chiruwa AK and love it.
Click to expand...

Me too. The 16.5" Chiruwa is just the right combination of size, weight, and strength. Ya can't break it.

Of course, your mileage may vary. And the expert opinions in the above posts are expert opinions because they know what they are talking about from experience.

In summary, you won't go wrong with any HI khukuri. :cool:
 
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