A kiss from WWII:

P

Pappy

Joined
Mar 1, 2002
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I have debated with myself about telling this because it didn't end up amounting to much. But I got to thinking about something Munk said one time about how he aimed past what he aims to cut. I find that a very dangerous practice.

The last time I worked the WWII 18" all afternoon I swung harder than needed and went through the limb and two layers of leather of the glove on my left hand and made a 1.5" crease on the back of my left thumb. with the help of my wife I put three butterfly bandages, antibiotics, cloth bandage and taped it up. I'm pretty well healed up and the bandages are gone. there is still a pink line for 1.5" that may not ever go away.

Two things happened here that caused this to happen. I had been useing a shovel all morning, had no lunch, and started useing the heaviest khuk I have. So by about 5 in the afternoon I was getting tired and in a hurry to finish. If I had taken one extra swing to cut that limb, nothing would have happened to me at all. From now on I will not use every bit of power that I have to cut anything. I am back in circulation and so is the glove. It was easier to repair than the hand.

I've used the same knife a couple of time so I know things will be OK now. Then again maybe Kumar and a khuk were trying to tell me something.:) :D
 
I've always believed that a few more strokes was always safer than one heavy stroke. This works well for weak folks like myself. :)

Glad to see you still have two thumbs.

I dread the day when someone types:

"dexsr /.o;edxr.loicfdxcfdx . ro.l;fcrt"

(translated: I cut off my hands and am typing with the stumps.) :(
 
Maybe I'm unusually dense this evening, but aiming past what you intend to cut seems to me to be anticipating an unintentional cutting more deeply than expected. And by so doing, getting things out of the way in case of an overswing.

I just must not be getting what you're trying to say, unless you mean following thru so to make the cut harder and deeper than you can control.
 
I do that when testing a blade only. The voices here have taught me to use knowledge when swinging.

I swing what the blade is capable of. No more. I learned too.




munk
 
I swing what the blade is capable of. No more.
Click to expand...
A lot of the time the blade is probably more capable than I am.
For me the equation is: What needs to be done / what is the blade
capable of over what am I capable of = how to get it done.
That, more often than not, results in more cuts vice fewer.
I'm glad to hear you will be alright Pappy. Sometimes it seems certain blades like to bite. My siraputi is like that. I was cleaning a smude of something off of it after having sharpened it. I was being careful too, pushing down towards the edge. I must have flinched or something because I felt it bite. I was afraid to look, turned out
it took a piece of skin off right down to the last layer before the red stuff comes out. A sushi chef would have been proud of that slice.
It makes you sit back and remember just what these blades are capable of. We all need to do that sometimes. Thanks for posting.
Regards,
Greg
 
Don't trust that just because you swing lightly the khukuri won't go through what you're cutting. I recommend imagining where the khukuri will go if it does cut through what you are cutting, or deflect off it. Then clear your body parts out of those paths prior to swinging.

Now if I would only take my own advice more frequently, I wouldn't be missing so much flesh. I think I am a true protégé of Professor Pangloss.

:)
 
Bruise, thanks for the humor. If I hadn't been tired from the shovel work I wouldn't have had a problem.

Rusty, I don't know for sure how to explain it really. Munk's post says he doesn't use that method all the time so, I must have misunderstood.
It is kind of like your eyes looking just past the deepest point the blade has to go to cut off a limb.

Gregg,I am familiar with a couple of blades that seem tolike to bite once in a while. One of those may go with sarge's men again. Hope it can bite something that really needs to be bitten. The one I thought would be a biter has turned out to be a pussy cat. My 15" Siru. is sharp enough to be scary and has never gotten to me yet. "where's some wood?" I keep messing around out here, always finding something to do. I have had to change shirt sizes twice. I don't understand why a guy my age keeps picking up muscle in the arms and shoulders. I guess that is better than lard.:)
 
After enough mistakes, your body moves itself into the right place naturally.

example:

I've been splitting wood with a large axe since I was 7 years old - grew up with a "real" fireplace (now a novelty, back then a necessity). After years of deflections, cut-throughs, knocking the handle, etc., my stance has adjusted itself to what I consider my safest chopping position:

I am right handed and swing with a left-over-right handhold (over my left shoulder).

I start with my right foot forward and as the axe goes above my head, the hands come together and the left foot steps just slightly forward of the right one (but still spread apart). Also, as I complete the cut, I bend my legs just a bit. This levels out the blade more and (since my left side is slightly forward) if it deflects, it goes into the ground - instead of my leg. (the "sinking" into my stance also does wonders for preserving my lower back over an entire day's work)


This may sound like hogwash to some, but I never really thought about analyzing my swing until I had to teach a group of Boy Scouts who were trying desperately to cut their feet off with their awful technique. It was then that I realized how much my swing/stance had "adjusted" without me realizing it. In my mind, I had the same swing I had at 7 (you know - stand perpendicular to your swing, feet spread apart, etc.). Instead, over the years, I've made small adjustments to my swing and stance (most based on experience ;) ) - but truly, how can you teach such things?


Swinging a khuk has been, for me, a learning experience. There's a greater possibility of deflections. So far, I try to let the knife do most of the work. I just provide the thrust. Perhaps, with more time under my belt, I will develop a specialized swing.

One thing I can say is that a khuk definitely does not behave like a machette. I learned that valuable lesson my first time out. :eek: You have to find a balance between strength(force) and speed. It's slower than a machette but faster than an axe/hatchet.

It may just be me, but my blade usage (on bigger khuks) can be divided into 3 separate areas:

  • 1 - just barely behind the deepest part of the belly: used for most of the chopping
  • 2 - tip: reserved for out-of-reach cuts
  • 3 - recurve: to clean limbs of the small branches

On aiming: I aim for exactly what I expect to hit. Not above, below or whatever else. I think carefully before each swing and imagine (based on the individual situation) where the blade might go - or how it might behave. Of course, there are many things I now know instinctively because of experience that cuts down on my "thought process" time...:D
 
I feel bad, Pappy. You guys should know I'm not a knife nut. My knowledge of cutting is based upon what I do to make firewood in these mountains I live in.

When testing a blade, I swing as though I will go right through the limb. I do this several times, daring the blade to break. The only blades ever to break happened during the Maoist uprising last year.

I have a tendency to use too much force. I will have to watch that. The blade tells you how much force is worthwhile and how much is wasted and dangerous.

Thanks for reminding me, Pappy. We need that. We need to know.


munk
 
Pappy, I'm glad you healed up nicely!!!!:) And that you've learned to be more careful in the future.:)

I haven't experienced much in the way of cuts from my real khuks. The little CS LTC on the other hand is known as "Biter."

I have had some mighty close calls around my feet and ankles though, too damned close for comfort!!!!
And that's what has prompted me to take down the overly large handles on my bigger khuk's.
I've had my GRS and Super Salyan go flying out of my hands at the most inopportune times.
The handles on both of these are considerabl smaller than they once were.:D
 
Now I have heard enough comments that I am glad that I posted my mishap. This was the first time that one of the blades ever come close enough to body parts to cut at all. I'm wondering why I got in the habit of wearing a glove on the left hand.

Yvsa, that WWII is the biggest handle in all the khuks of mine. I am lucky enough that my fingers are long enough that I have never felt like I was going to lose hold of the knife. And thank you, You can bet I will be much more careful after this one. I have wondered what my hand would look like without the two layers of leather on the outside.

Pen. you're right about the swings. I don't think I will allow myself to be lulled into carelessness again. I find that the big 4" and above are not dangerous nor the small ones that you know that a light swing is going to remove. The ones in between are the ones that if not careful will get a guy maimed.

Munk, I'm glad that I was mistaken. I can understand when testing the knife the hard swings but, a guy is usually ready for those. When I want to know about the new ones I pound some oak. Pray for the best and prepare for the worst. I've been very lucky.. Nothing has broken, come loose, or any blade damage. Kind of tells a body something about those beautiful blades from a certain factory in Nepal doesn't it? :)
 
If I chopped like that all the time I'd have been cut by now. Next to testing metal, about the only time I can see using that type of swing is when you're beheading the Ox, or an enemy from horseback, ala Genghis style.


munk
 
Pappy, if you hammer enough nails, sooner or later you're going to mash your thumb, it's just old brother Murphy at work. Sorry to hear you got cut, but glad you're on the mend. Those work gloves you were wisely wearing probably saved it from being as bad as it could of been, a good point for others to make note of.

Sarge
 
Pappy,

Just to be clear, you were only wearing a glove on your NON-KNIFE hand, right?

I feel very unsafe swinging a large knife wearing any kind of glove.
 
I always find that I have to grip harder to keep the knife from turning in my hand, and get tired quicker.
 
I tried the callous route, and though I developed them, with a lot of work still get blisters. I like the extra protection of gloves, especially with large Khukuris, and feel they give more control, not less.



munk
 
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