20" Sirupati

kamagong

kamagong

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Jan 13, 2001
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Here's another old one. 20" sirupati with a chiruwa horn handle. It's a handful at 36 ounces.

This came from the period when the kamis started introducing their "improvements" to HI's khukuris. If you take a close look at the following picture you'll quickly notice the habaki bolster along with the infamous cho creep. Worst of all is the concave ground edge.

hisirupati.jpg


I held on to this knife because despite its heavy weight it has an incredible feel in hand. I attribute this to the chiruwa handle. The increased weight in the handle makes this khukuri more neutral in balance.

Unfortunately I inadvertently put this knife away wet when I moved a few years back. After I unpacked it I was horrified to find the tooled sheath with a few growths of mold. It was even worse when I pulled the blade out. The beautiful blade had several orange rust spots. I cleaned it up the best I could, but as you can see the rust went deep and left pitting behind.

hisirupatiblade.jpg


This next picture illustrates why I no longer buy khukuris with horn handles and lament the fact that HI now ships so many chiruwa knives. The beautifully striped horn scales have shrunk a bit over the years, leaving the tang proud. It's not a issue as I don't really use this knife. Still it's a problem I would rather not have.

hisirupatihandle.jpg


While part of me wishes this knife was in better condition, I don't really have any regrets. This khukuri is one of my bump-in-the-night blades, and I keep her in my daughter's bedroom. Imperfections aside, this is still one hell of a knife.
 
Really nice blade. Wish I had one!

Is that you mean the concave edge is not as strong as the convex one?
 
hunglvq, concave versus convex. Think about a cross section of the blades there is less metal behind the edge on the concave(hollow grind) blade. The edge width is thinner and cuts a hair more aggressively but it also makes it more prone to bind in the cutting material than the traditional convex edge.
hunglvq, after seeing your bolster I'm really wishing the habaki bolster would start to fade too.
 
Thanks Oldschool for your info. I need a blade for clearing springy and a little chopping i.e clearing place to set up the tent, then the concave edge seems to fit with the job. I'm thinking of a custom order to Autie on a 18" Siru.

I'm really impressed with the 02 old blades that Kamagoong posted. The other one is the BGRS. I feel a lot of "depth" in it. The shapes, the curves, the finishing are amazing. Later blades tends to be heavier.

I'll try to draft out a bolster tutorial for you. hope I'll finish it soon.

Cheers,

Hung
 
I'd like to give special thanks to kamagong and others for posting pictures and details about the older blades. I feel, haven't the experience to know, that there has been a slow progression from more traditional and agile blades to the bomb proof, warranty proof thick spine'd monsters we seem to be currently seeing. I'm all for leaving the CAK's and AK's bigger and badder than Busse's:p But lets please have a Renaissance back to the old ways on the other style knives? Or at least a few sprint runs of "as authentic as they can be made" khukuri's handle size, blade profile, handle shape, all details no exceptions.
Somewhere out there probably in the back of a Kami's mind is my perfect balance light vegetation/moderate chopper. Or as Bura feels up to it politely ask him if he would make or direct one of the youngsters to make an old one.
hunglvq looking forward to the tutorial we're getting cooler weather here so running a torch and hammering and making mistakes won't be as physically oppressive as it was a month ago.
 
Not trying to be a jerk but I have a number of very old horn handles that haven't shrunk a bit. All they need is a bit of love. Some Hooflex (is what a lot of folks use), Neatsfoot Oil (what I use), or mineral oil anointed to the horn yearly (or more depending on your climate) is all it takes to keep them nice and plump. I also find that if you put Renaissance Wax on them it will seal them and really bring out a rich luster in them that you cannot get out of wood.

Still love wood handles but I also like Horn and it seems that many folks have simply got it in their heads that horn is inferior when I think they are about equal. Both need lovin' to keep them looking good and to avoid having them dry out and crack. Some horn pieces are just as sweet looking as nice wood too with wonderful swirls and subtle hints of gray.
 
oldschool45 said:
... I feel, haven't the experience to know, that there has been a slow progression from more traditional and agile blades to the bomb proof, warranty proof thick spine'd monsters we seem to be currently seeing. I'm all for leaving the CAK's and AK's bigger and badder than Busse's:p But lets please have a Renaissance back to the old ways on the other style knives? Or at least a few sprint runs of "as authentic as they can be made" khukuri's handle size, blade profile, handle shape, all details no exceptions.
Somewhere out there probably in the back of a Kami's mind is my perfect balance light vegetation/moderate chopper. Or as Bura feels up to it politely ask him if he would make or direct one of the youngsters to make an old one.
Click to expand...

:thumbup: My wishes exactly. :thumbup:
Now that the "unconditional warranty" has changed and no one in their right mind expects his khuk to be a sharp pry-bar, lets have some really "wearable" models...like the Nepalese have.
I would love to see an 18" YCS in the 22oz range again:thumbup:
 
This khukuri's no lightweight. It was made by Sanu and sports a 7/16" thick blade. As I mentioned it's over two pounds in weight. That's part of my frustration with this knife, there is an incongruity in its construction. Why make a sirupati so thick and overbuilt only to give it a concave edge instead of the stronger convex?

oldschool45, HI has been trying to strike a happy balance between thick and thin blades for several years now. The kamis go in cycles, for a while they'll make the really thick prybars and then they'll swing the other direction. I have a FF that I picked up after I got this sirupati, and it has a thinner blade.

warty, I know how to take care of knives. I use mineral oil on the handles of my knives, whether they be wood, buffalo horn, bone, or stag. The problem is this knife came during the "green horn" period when HI had trouble finding a source for properly cured horn. Some of the horn from that time was used before it should have been and many of the handles experienced shrinkage and cracking. No amount of hooflex, mineral oil, or neatsfoot oil is going to fix that. The handles on this piece have stabilized now being almost a decade old, but as anyone can see they are no longer flush with the tang creating hotspots that would be bothersome during extended use.
 
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warty, that was a careless mistake on my part. I don't know you from Adam, but I don't want to cause any trouble when that was not my intention.

I'm not the guy you think I am. I don't even have a CETME, ARs are my EBR of choice.
 
then it is all good. nothing like being left for dead at a range to change the way you feel about people.

;)
 
You've done an excellent job cleaning up the rust. Character marks and all that.:) Thanks for sharing pictures, a 36 ounce Sirupate is definitely something I wouldn't mind having next to my bed.

Regarding it's concave edge, would you think it'd be too much to reprofile enough steel to make it convex?
 
I never thought about it actually. I still sharpen my knives by hand and it would take too long to reprofile the blade to convex. Plus it would ruin this khukuri's pleasing lines and take off years off this blade's life. Unnecessary IMO because this knife's primary purpose is martial in nature.
 
7rip13a, short answer yes re-profiling a concave (hollow grind) to a convex edge would remove way to much material. The other way isn't really a problem. It sounds like more of an aesthetic issue than anything else.
 
Makes sense, hopefully you'll never have to use it for it's intended purpose.

oldschool45 said:
Somewhere out there probably in the back of a Kami's mind is my perfect balance light vegetation/moderate chopper.
Click to expand...

Ray, hopefully I have some time today to get some action pics of my Foxy Folly. Fairly thin spine, beautifully broad dui chirra blade.

Apologies for the slight off-topic veer. Now resuming normal schedules.
 
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