A Khukris length to weight ratio

[wildmanh]

A lot of people have an ideal length to weight ratio when it comes to different khukri's, their styles and uses. Lets talk about this. I've been visiting the HI forum for over 9 years now and have hear people mention 1" per oz a lot. IIRC the 1:1 ratio works great for Sirupatis and slender light blades. Am I remembering correctly? What other ratios do you like? Lets talk about this and maybe we can help some newcomers choose their blades better. I'll start off:

Lisa (Sirupati) is 20" Long and weighs about 23oz. She's really fast and light, great for cutting brush, bottles/cans, even chopping. Ratio is 20:23 or .87 which is pretty close. Have heared that some people like a 1" per 1.5oz on choppers like AK's WWII's and the like. 1:1.5 or .66. My WWII is 16.5" Long and weighs about 21oz so it's 16.5:21 or .785. It's a nice blade but IMO for a chopper it could be a few oz heavier say 24oz instead of 21. Makes a good fighting and brush blade thats okay at chopping.

Now get a blade like Godzilla, he's 25" long and 80oz, Ratio is 25:80 (simplified; 5:16) or .3125. Godzilla is more of a specialty blade designed for heavy chopping around camp or possibly trail clearing when you can't use a chainsaw. It's the blade I'd want if I was making a cabin from scratch. He'd make quick work of cutting down and notching trees. Slices through a 4" thick green limb in one hit and makes huge chips when chopping bigger stuff. But he's not practical to carry on your belt.

So to sum it up I'm liking the 1:1 ratio for thin brush/martial arts types blades, 1:1.5 for general use choppers and a ratio around 5:16 for crazy big dedicated choppers. Everyone will have their own thoughts on the matter and I'd love to hear them.

 

[Cpl Punishment]

First of all, I would have done the calculations the other way -- to give oz/in rather than on/oz.

Other than that. . .

1:1 is a typical number I hear for tomahawks, so I guess it would be w good guideline for the kukri that are light, meant more for fighting, like you said, the Kobra, Sirupate, Chainpuri, etc.

For heavy choppers, my CAK runs about 2.85oz/in, so I'd guesstimate that 2.5-3 oz/in is the way to go for the real bruisers.

For ratios between the 1:1 and 3:1 extremes, the deciding factor would be the balance between light vegetation/fighting, and heavy work the user plans to do with them.

 

[PayetteRucker]

Khukris are not typical large blades. I find that they are most efficiently used by rotating the wrist and letting the blade's mass do the chopping, instead of your arm and stressing your elbow and shoulder. Short fast rotations. I think mass blade sweep and length affect this motion.

My 18.5 inch wwII is 26 oz. It has a pretty drastic sweep to it, by my standards. I'm not sure I'd want to go heavier, just out of personal preference, but I'm willing to bet if you have a similar blade of similar length with a similar grind and larger mass, it would bite deeper with the same amount of force put into the wrist rotation.

 

[heinlein]

I think this is a good idea; but in my opinion it would be better if you switched it around. Taking your examples Lisa's ratio would be 23:20 or 1.15 oz./in., your WWII 21:16.5 or 1.27oz./in, Godzilla 80:25 or 3.2oz./in..

Just my .02

Amended: I see Cpl Punishment already said it. Watching the Giants beat up the Rangers slowed me down.

 

[gga357]

Well 27 is the universal magic number. So .... I guess to make that fit ... 27oz per foot. Or 2.25oz per inch.

 

[heinlein]

I've just calculated the ratios for all that I've bought from HI. They range from .75 oz./in. for my Dhankute/Chainpuri to 2.11 oz./in. for my stunning Amar Singh Thapa Khukuri.

At .84 oz./in. for my lightweight Tamang it also fell under the 1:1 ratio. I understand some of the Tamangs come with much thicker blades than this one did.

 

[hunglvq]

Hi Wildmanh,

The length:weight ratio you mentioned is just for the khuk itself. It does not guarantee that the khuk fits the user. One fits you might not fits me as we have different body size and strength.

I think before we talk about length : weight ratio of the khuk, we'd better find out the right weight and length for a specific person. I have been finding that myself.

I read in a thread somewhere in this forum, a member recommended the magic number of 7. Like the body weight is 140 lbs, then divide by 7 you have 20. So a khuk with weight around 20 oz would fit that person.

I have another approach but still provide an almost similar result. If a person weight 60kgs, then 1% of his weight would be somewhere around the proper weight of the khuk, which is 600g.

For the standard overall length, my approach is to take the length from my elbow to the tip of my middle finger. This is for the neutral models like Chit, Gelbu,... with a balance between chopper and slasher. For the choppers like AK and slasher like Kobra, Siru,… your approach of indexing on a standard figure will work.

Cheers,

Hung

 

[PayetteRucker]

Good point Hunglvq, your body geometry also has alot to do with the effectiveness of a particular mass and length.

 

[wildmanh]

Hi Wildmanh,

The length:weight ratio you mentioned is just for the khuk itself. It does not guarantee that the khuk fits the user. One fits you might not fits me as we have different body size and strength.

I think before we talk about length : weight ratio of the khuk, we'd better find out the right weight and length for a specific person. I have been finding that myself.

I read in a thread somewhere in this forum, a member recommended the magic number of 7. Like the body weight is 140 lbs, then divide by 7 you have 20. So a khuk with weight around 20 oz would fit that person.

I have another approach but still provide an almost similar result. If a person weight 60kgs, then 1% of his weight would be somewhere around the proper weight of the khuk, which is 600g.

For the standard overall length, my approach is to take the length from my elbow to the tip of my middle finger. This is for the neutral models like Chit, Gelbu,... with a balance between chopper and slasher. For the choppers like AK and slasher like Kobra, Siru,… your approach of indexing on a standard figure will work.

Cheers,

Hung

Interesting idea, thanks for posting. I'm 6'5" tall, weigh around 170 pounds and like fast, light Sirupati's all the way up to Huge choppers. To me, this is all about helping someone find what might work for them so that they have a better idea going in.

Of course, for some finding the "right" blade is part of the fun.

Wonder if someone could come up with a formula that included Khukri type, Length to weight, and Personal size/hight. Just for fun of course. ;-) BTW Any and all discution on helping someone pick a Kukri based on dimentions/use/body type are welcome in this thread.

 

[DanSmithy]

Hi Wildmanh,
I read in a thread somewhere in this forum, a member recommended the magic number of 7. Like the body weight is 140 lbs, then divide by 7 you have 20. So a khuk with weight around 20 oz would fit that person.

I have another approach but still provide an almost similar result. If a person weight 60kgs, then 1% of his weight would be somewhere around the proper weight of the khuk, which is 600g.

Cheers,

Hung

Yep, I believe it was me that suggested the 7
Your way works pretty well too...for me at least.

Wildmanh-
As for suggesting the Length of a knife... I have another one...
not that will "fit" everyone's tests, but here we go:
To get the average overall length of a knife you would comfortably use
just add an 1 in front of your height in foot: 5.5ft tall = 15.5" OAL blade
result is in inches ofcoarse
This is in the middle of the scale of what you can wield easy.
This is not to say that you can't handle a longer blade.
Obviously you can add +1", +2" on top of the result if you feel comfortable using longer blades.
Works for me.
Some of my knifes are 18" OAL and I'm only 5.5ft but they require more concentration using them.

EDIT:

So to sum it up: (with exceptions)
5.5ft = 15.5" OAL knife
68kg = 680gr (hunglvq method of 1% body mass)
150lbs = 21.5oz (+/-600gr) (my method body mass / 7 = oz)
Type of blade should be considered here as is the application for it. Muscle strength too.
But, the above should give you a nice middle starting point.
Hope this helps someone.

DanSmithy

 

[moogoogaidan]

I might go out on a limb here, not by saying that I prefer larger khuks, but WHY I prefer them.

I view khuks as chopping tools. The very nature and balance of khukuris almost pigeonhole them to be purpose-built choppers. As such, I find extra weight and longer length a boon to this end. I try to keep my minimum length at 18". As far as weight goes, as long as it doesn't break the 50 oz. threshold, it's good to go; but I think anywhere from 32 oz. to 38 oz. is pretty ideal.

Oh, and I'm 5'4, 160 lbs. and lift intensively to balance strength and power.

 

[DanSmithy]

You're quite correct...as far as chopping is concerned - more weight does help...a lot.
My favorite is 18"-32oz...so far.
Perhaps, because the kamis overbuild them so heavily here, the khuks we see have been deemed as a pure-breed chopping tools.
However, I believe, khukris with their unique design are used extensively for many other applications (in Nepal at least). I think they are almost universal cutting tools, however, like any tool some will suit an application better than others.

 

[wildmanh]

I might go out on a limb here, not by saying that I prefer larger khuks, but WHY I prefer them.

I view khuks as chopping tools. The very nature and balance of khukuris almost pigeonhole them to be purpose-built choppers. As such, I find extra weight and longer length a boon to this end. I try to keep my minimum length at 18". As far as weight goes, as long as it doesn't break the 50 oz. threshold, it's good to go; but I think anywhere from 32 oz. to 38 oz. is pretty ideal.

Oh, and I'm 5'4, 160 lbs. and lift intensively to balance strength and power.

You're quite correct...as far as chopping is concerned - more weight does help...a lot.
My favorite is 18"-32oz...so far.
Perhaps, because the kamis overbuild them so heavily here, the khuks we see have been deemed as a pure-breed chopping tools.
However, I believe, khukris with their unique design are used extensively for many other applications (in Nepal at least). I think they are almost universal cutting tools, however, like any tool some will suit an application better than others.

Gentleman, thank you for posting your insights, thats what this thread is all about. Weight does help with chopping, but let us not forget the edge grind. A proper felling Axe has a relatively thin wide edge and blows through wood like no other, same thing works for Khukris like the Bone cutter. To thick of an edge on the Khukri and it won't bite deep. So proper edge and plenty of weight for a good chopper.

My 15" AK (The Beast) has a 1/2" thick spine and weights around 28oz or more. The edge is sharp but very obtuse which means it doesn't bite as deep as it could. It's more of a slitting wedge shape. Great for chopping/smashing limbs off a tree or splitting wood, but not great for lots of chopping. One of these days I'll do some test chopping with the Beast then thin it's edge out a bit and try it again.

Nice to see that others are into the heavy choppers!

 

[DanSmithy]

Gentleman, thank you for posting your insights, thats what this thread is all about. Weight does help with chopping, but let us not forget the edge grind. A proper felling Axe has a relatively thin wide edge and blows through wood like no other, same thing works for Khukris like the Bone cutter. To thick of an edge on the Khukri and it won't bite deep. So proper edge and plenty of weight for a good chopper.

My 15" AK (The Beast) has a 1/2" thick spine and weights around 28oz or more. The edge is sharp but very obtuse which means it doesn't bite as deep as it could. It's more of a slitting wedge shape. Great for chopping/smashing limbs off a tree or splitting wood, but not great for lots of chopping. One of these days I'll do some test chopping with the Beast then thin it's edge out a bit and try it again.

Nice to see that others are into the heavy choppers!

I've thinned the edges on almost all of my khukris and IMHO they bite deeper and in general are easier to work with now.
When I say thin I don't mean insanely thin. More like a gentle tapering from top to bottom and still leaving enough metal behind the edge.
Will post some pics later on.

EDIT:
Here we go:
Before

and after I've thinned the fat portion behind the blades edge

IMHO gives me a better and deeper cut.
The pics are not from a dedicated chopper khuk but the idea is the same.