A little help on a Khukri purchase.

Thanks HD, I'll have to print that off and take it with me! Good info there. :thumbup: I'll post up a mini-review of how it goes for me.
 
A 17" GRS is the ideal combination of portability and effectiveness for many.

I gave mine away to a friend for his birthday a few weeks ago, but then, that usually happens with my HIs! :D
 
The Problem:

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Sapling that was allowed to get out of control, been bothering the crap out of me! Probably a good 4-5 inch DBH now, and started to bother mother Oak.

The Solution:

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Why, a khukri borrowed from HD, of course!

The Results:

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I'll admit to wanted to break out the Husqvarna or Gransfor a time or two, but I got through it, maybe 100 chops?

The khukri is a mean chopper. I needed to relax a little more and let it do the work on the felling, but once I had it down there wasn't a limb on there that it didn't make short work of in 2-3 whacks.

I actually felt more comfortable doing the job with the khuk than I would have my ax. Felt like there was more room for error, and when one isn't using an ax regularly, errors happen all to easily.

The handle; maybe I'm a wuss but I sure do like something with a little more texture too it, for instance my favorite scale material is canvas micarta. I can imagine those handles get a little slick when you are sweaty.

Well, thank you HD for letting me do some chopping with the Khukri. I'm convinced I want one, and maybe I can take some sandpaper to the handle or something?

OK, off to finish the job.
 
A good user khuk with horn handles greatly benefits from sandblasting. Makes the handle grippier.
 
ilbruche said:
A good user khuk with horn handles greatly benefits from sandblasting. Makes the handle grippier.
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Yeah that handle is coated with poly because it cracked so much, so it's smoother than it was.

In fact I'd advise going for a wood handle one over a horn one.
 
+1
The wood handles are much "grippier".

Were you giving your wrist a little "snap" at the end of the stroke just before contact?
100 chops seems a bit much for a 5" oak.

Then again I'm used to a 3 pound 20" Ang Khola, the 17" GRS might not be quite so. . .aggressive.

Also +1 on kukris being safer than axes/hatchets. There's MUCH more blade, so what would be a potentially injurious miss with an axe is just a weak chop with a kukri.
 
Cpl Punishment said:
+1

100 chops seems a bit much for a 5" oak.
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Yeah it seems like a lot to me too.

Of course he was cutting it off near the ground so maybe he couldn't get in position to make a full swing.

With a standing tree like that one I'd kneel down and make a notch and then come in from the back to make a "hinge" for it to fall from. Making the top part of the front notch you'd be coming down at less of an angle and should be able to get some good swings in.
 
hollowdweller said:
Yeah it seems like a lot to me too.

Of course he was cutting it off near the ground so maybe he couldn't get in position to make a full swing.

With a standing tree like that one I'd kneel down and make a notch and then come in from the back to make a "hinge" for it to fall from. Making the top part of the front notch you'd be coming down at less of an angle and should be able to get some good swings in.
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Yes, I definitely wasn't getting good swings at it that close to the ground. 100, I dunno, might have been 50. It FELT like 100. :D
 
Cpl Punishment said:
Also +1 on kukris being safer than axes/hatchets. There's MUCH more blade, so what would be a potentially injurious miss with an axe is just a weak chop with a kukri.
Click to expand...

Nnot sure I understand the correlation of blade size with safety, though personally I feel more secure with a khuk than a hatchet with a loose head on a rickety old handle. Of course, if you DO get hit with either, I imagine the thinner khuk blade will cut deeper. :(

So far so good though. :thumbup:
 
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