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- Oct 25, 2004
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No, that's not a typo. A 40" Ganga Ram Special. Consider the implications of that for a moment. Let it sink in, then read on.
Today a package arrived via the USPS, one that I wasn't expecting. Upon taking delivery of it I realized that, in addition to being fairly large, it was also quite heavy. I took a look at the label and realized that it was from HI. What could be in it?
A 40" Ganga Ram was in it, with a scrimshawed elk handle. The crescent moon identifies it as Bura, although his initials aren't in English. I was amazed. Several hours later and I'm still amazed.
I really have a hard time describing something that's this hard to describe, so I'll be relying heavily on my (poor) pictures.
First of all, let's go over some basic numbers. The khukuri itself is just about 40.5" wide, with a 32" long blade. It weighs around seven pounds. The spine is a hair under 3/4" thick. Center of balance is 11" forward of the bolster. (Not habaki.)
Still with me? Good. The karda is 16" long, with a 10" blade. It weighs about 18 ounces. The chakmak is slightly longer at 17", with the steel portion being 9" long. It weighs 16 ounces. The entire rig - khukuri, scabbard, accessories - reads at about ten pounds on my bathroom scale. This is a khukuri with presence.
Yes, the karda that came with it is larger than some khuks. So is the chakmak, for that matter.
Here is the rig, with my Foxy Folly for comparison:
Khukuri, karda, chakmak, and Folly:
Chakmak and karda alongside the Folly:
Let's look at the beautiful (and very large) handles.
The GR:
The chakmak:
And the karda:
The GR itself features a peacock and a sun rising over the mountains on either side; the chakmak and karda feature just the sun and the mountains. I enjoyed seeing pictures of the scrimshawed pieces showing up but it really does look even better in person. The lines are very clean.
Now, I'm a bit on the large side (6'2) and I'm no stranger to carrying heavy loads, but this one may be just a bit too large for a belt carry. The chape is nearly touching the ground and I have the belt hiked pretty high. This thing is longer than my leg is.
I normally have a problem with making khukuris look small. No problem with this one:
It makes me look small.
Swinging a khukuri of this size is an experience. It's considerably heavier than any of my swords, even the two-handers, and handles more like a splitting maul. (But without the benefits of a wide grip.) The handle is simply enormous, almost too large even for me. It's easy to fit both hands on it and both hands are pretty much a necessity with this beast. This is not made to be used one-handed.
Forget speed - there's none. Just lift it up, get it going, and make sure not to get in its way. I'm not a stranger to larger/heavier khuks but I can honestly say that I can barely control (and can't restrain) this one. Which is just as well...40" is overkill for any task that I can think of.
I get the impression that this is more of a display piece than anything, but you know me...
A cardboard carton gets the axe:
http://www.wordzz.com/Dave/baseball.wmv
As I'd guessed, lighter targets get knocked nearly into the next zip code, whether you cut them or not. This khukuri imparts tremendous amounts of energy.
It does a good job of splitting wood, not surprisingly. Just make sure that this doesn't happen: (Warning: mild profanity)
http://www.wordzz.com/Dave/split.wmv
That's the second chopping block that I've destroyed with an HI product. I'm beginning to notice a trend here.
When I first started buying khukuris, I was intrigued by the larger models; after all, if 16.5" is good, 20" must be better, right? And so on and so forth. I worked my way up the scale to the 30" sirupate, then back down again. I grew to appreciate the 15"-16" khukuris the most for their conveniance and portability. The large khukuri jones never really left me, though; I knew in the back of my mind that I'd have to own a monster khukuri one day...just because.
Someone else settled the matter for me without my having even asked them to, and I now own the largest, heaviest, most intimidating khukuri that I've ever layed eyes on. I expect that it will be a while before the shock wears off.
Thank you, Yangdu. This is special. I am as grateful as I am astonished.
Today a package arrived via the USPS, one that I wasn't expecting. Upon taking delivery of it I realized that, in addition to being fairly large, it was also quite heavy. I took a look at the label and realized that it was from HI. What could be in it?
A 40" Ganga Ram was in it, with a scrimshawed elk handle. The crescent moon identifies it as Bura, although his initials aren't in English. I was amazed. Several hours later and I'm still amazed.
I really have a hard time describing something that's this hard to describe, so I'll be relying heavily on my (poor) pictures.
First of all, let's go over some basic numbers. The khukuri itself is just about 40.5" wide, with a 32" long blade. It weighs around seven pounds. The spine is a hair under 3/4" thick. Center of balance is 11" forward of the bolster. (Not habaki.)
Still with me? Good. The karda is 16" long, with a 10" blade. It weighs about 18 ounces. The chakmak is slightly longer at 17", with the steel portion being 9" long. It weighs 16 ounces. The entire rig - khukuri, scabbard, accessories - reads at about ten pounds on my bathroom scale. This is a khukuri with presence.
Yes, the karda that came with it is larger than some khuks. So is the chakmak, for that matter.
Here is the rig, with my Foxy Folly for comparison:
Khukuri, karda, chakmak, and Folly:
Chakmak and karda alongside the Folly:
Let's look at the beautiful (and very large) handles.
The GR:
The chakmak:
And the karda:
The GR itself features a peacock and a sun rising over the mountains on either side; the chakmak and karda feature just the sun and the mountains. I enjoyed seeing pictures of the scrimshawed pieces showing up but it really does look even better in person. The lines are very clean.
Now, I'm a bit on the large side (6'2) and I'm no stranger to carrying heavy loads, but this one may be just a bit too large for a belt carry. The chape is nearly touching the ground and I have the belt hiked pretty high. This thing is longer than my leg is.
I normally have a problem with making khukuris look small. No problem with this one:
It makes me look small.
Swinging a khukuri of this size is an experience. It's considerably heavier than any of my swords, even the two-handers, and handles more like a splitting maul. (But without the benefits of a wide grip.) The handle is simply enormous, almost too large even for me. It's easy to fit both hands on it and both hands are pretty much a necessity with this beast. This is not made to be used one-handed.
Forget speed - there's none. Just lift it up, get it going, and make sure not to get in its way. I'm not a stranger to larger/heavier khuks but I can honestly say that I can barely control (and can't restrain) this one. Which is just as well...40" is overkill for any task that I can think of.
I get the impression that this is more of a display piece than anything, but you know me...
A cardboard carton gets the axe:
http://www.wordzz.com/Dave/baseball.wmv
As I'd guessed, lighter targets get knocked nearly into the next zip code, whether you cut them or not. This khukuri imparts tremendous amounts of energy.
It does a good job of splitting wood, not surprisingly. Just make sure that this doesn't happen: (Warning: mild profanity)
http://www.wordzz.com/Dave/split.wmv
That's the second chopping block that I've destroyed with an HI product. I'm beginning to notice a trend here.
When I first started buying khukuris, I was intrigued by the larger models; after all, if 16.5" is good, 20" must be better, right? And so on and so forth. I worked my way up the scale to the 30" sirupate, then back down again. I grew to appreciate the 15"-16" khukuris the most for their conveniance and portability. The large khukuri jones never really left me, though; I knew in the back of my mind that I'd have to own a monster khukuri one day...just because.
Someone else settled the matter for me without my having even asked them to, and I now own the largest, heaviest, most intimidating khukuri that I've ever layed eyes on. I expect that it will be a while before the shock wears off.
Thank you, Yangdu. This is special. I am as grateful as I am astonished.
