- Joined
- Oct 2, 1998
- Messages
- 45,043
So, I'm at the Blade Show in Atlanta looking at all these anemic looking blades and wondering what has happened to me over the past month or so. Everything looks so..., so..., so..., PUNY!
(Well, truth be told, I did buy a Simonich neck knife, a beautiful mounted tanto and something else WAY out of character for me at the show. If you want to know what it is, look at my link below and look at the first picture. The tanto is on there too, but further down.)
While at the show, my wife calls and tells me that two boxes have arrived from Reno. Let's see....Is it the "Quickie Divorce Kit"?....Nope. I know.... A Ganga Ram Special and a Gelbu Special both by our man Bura. Too cool, but I gotta wait until I get home to open them. Oh well, there's still all those small knives at the show to look at for a couple of days.
So last night I get home and around midnight I get to the boxes. Talk about your contrast of styles.
On one hand you have this ever so sleek and attractive Gelbu Special. Beautifully fullered, very attractive carved wooden handle, silver mounted. 18.5" of pure, nasty sex appeal. This is a wicked khukuri. Pala knows of what he speaks, as do all the others whose comments I have read on this knife.
Then there is the "Blue Whale". 21", 3 lbs. of bad ass khukuri, also displaying a wooden handle (without ornamentation of course). This khukuri says it will blast through walls at your command if only you are man enough (and have wrist enough) to lead it. I am curious to see how we work together. It is a handful, but I am able to swing it without discomfort. We shall see when it bites into something.
Both reasonably sharp out of the box with the usual peculiarities along the edge.
This morning I spent some time with dremel and super glue getting the handle on the "whale" ship shape. Seems to have worked.
Now that I'm up to five khukuris in the current inventory, I'm beginning to develop a feel for the various sizes and styles.
The current arsenal includes a BAS, 16.5" WWII, 18.5" Kumar Kobra, 18.5" Gelbu Special, and the 21" "Behemoth" Ganga Ram Special.
No question the Gelbu is the most striking of the pieces for sheer beauty and overall line. If the carved handle were a wee bit thinner, it might even win the battle for which khukuri feels best in my hands. (It's not far off.)
However, the khukuri that feels most natural, surprisingly, since I own the small Kobra, is the 16.5" WWII. Prakash made the handle and the overall balance as if he were custom making it just for me. The ring is in just the right spot, the handle swells in just the right spot. What can I say, it's just right. Now I know why the WWII has such a devoted following.
The nice thing is, you don't have to choose only one and thus you can have many mistresses, er, khukuris to scratch whatever sort of itch happens to have your number on any given day.
Thanks, Uncle Bill.
Blues
------------------
Live Free or Die
Some Knife Pix
[This message has been edited by Blues (edited 06-05-2000).]
(Well, truth be told, I did buy a Simonich neck knife, a beautiful mounted tanto and something else WAY out of character for me at the show. If you want to know what it is, look at my link below and look at the first picture. The tanto is on there too, but further down.)
While at the show, my wife calls and tells me that two boxes have arrived from Reno. Let's see....Is it the "Quickie Divorce Kit"?....Nope. I know.... A Ganga Ram Special and a Gelbu Special both by our man Bura. Too cool, but I gotta wait until I get home to open them. Oh well, there's still all those small knives at the show to look at for a couple of days.
So last night I get home and around midnight I get to the boxes. Talk about your contrast of styles.
On one hand you have this ever so sleek and attractive Gelbu Special. Beautifully fullered, very attractive carved wooden handle, silver mounted. 18.5" of pure, nasty sex appeal. This is a wicked khukuri. Pala knows of what he speaks, as do all the others whose comments I have read on this knife.
Then there is the "Blue Whale". 21", 3 lbs. of bad ass khukuri, also displaying a wooden handle (without ornamentation of course). This khukuri says it will blast through walls at your command if only you are man enough (and have wrist enough) to lead it. I am curious to see how we work together. It is a handful, but I am able to swing it without discomfort. We shall see when it bites into something.
Both reasonably sharp out of the box with the usual peculiarities along the edge.
This morning I spent some time with dremel and super glue getting the handle on the "whale" ship shape. Seems to have worked.
Now that I'm up to five khukuris in the current inventory, I'm beginning to develop a feel for the various sizes and styles.
The current arsenal includes a BAS, 16.5" WWII, 18.5" Kumar Kobra, 18.5" Gelbu Special, and the 21" "Behemoth" Ganga Ram Special.
No question the Gelbu is the most striking of the pieces for sheer beauty and overall line. If the carved handle were a wee bit thinner, it might even win the battle for which khukuri feels best in my hands. (It's not far off.)
However, the khukuri that feels most natural, surprisingly, since I own the small Kobra, is the 16.5" WWII. Prakash made the handle and the overall balance as if he were custom making it just for me. The ring is in just the right spot, the handle swells in just the right spot. What can I say, it's just right. Now I know why the WWII has such a devoted following.
The nice thing is, you don't have to choose only one and thus you can have many mistresses, er, khukuris to scratch whatever sort of itch happens to have your number on any given day.
Thanks, Uncle Bill.
Blues
------------------
Live Free or Die
Some Knife Pix
[This message has been edited by Blues (edited 06-05-2000).]
