Originally posted by Walosi
Randy -
Just supposition, from Howard's site and what Rusty and some others have posted, but the forward curve blades seem to have fallen out of favor when armor was no longer used - Rusty commented once on the Hanshee, or a similar blade, not seeming as useful as the newer ones until you considered using the point to penetrate armor, like the pick on an axe. The blades evolve with their times, as well as their environment, it seems.
I remember that too Bro.
Quite a while back, probably in the H.I.Archives, we were talking about the 18th Century model and how it performed versus the standard models. Someone said, I think it was Will Kwan but wouldn't swear to it, that it did have a different feel to it while using it for a purpose similar to what he would use his 20" AK for.
I don't recall exactly how that discussion ended although it seems like the standard models were the ones more preffered for a working knife at the time.
There were no new
Fully Curved Khukuris for comparison between the other two back then.
And not many people, if any, were willing to risk an old model for testing.
Can't blame 'em.
And it wouldn't be a fair test anyway because the old knives are much lighter and thinner than today's models.
There is also a difference between the 18th Century and the YCS and I would assume the M-43 since both are "
Fully Curved Khukuris
versus
Forward Curving khukuris. 18th Century, GRS and BGRS. The GRS models came along quite a bit later.
In order to clarify what I'm trying to say, at least in my mind,
I'm going to make four categories that H.I.Khukuri's fall in.
1 - The standard angled models, AK, GS, Sirupati, etc.
2 - The
Forward Curving models, 18th Century, GRS and BGRS.
3 - The
Fully Curved models, YCS and M-43, so far.
4 - In a class by themselves.... The UBE or Uncle Bill's Especiale, AK Bowie, JKM's and the like.
All of the H.I.Khukuri's work very well, it's just that some are better at certain jobs than others which is why there are so many models.
Just ask any Nepali.
Everyone's own life experience with sharp edged tools will contribute to what will be their favorite classification, IMO.
I carried my 18th Century for a couple of months quite sometime back to replace my 18" AK for a while in order to see what I thought about its performance and also because of the weight difference.
I preffered it over the standard models after I had used it for a while.
Personally I prefer the
Fully Curved models over my other khukuris except the UBE which I cannot compare because I haven't had a real chance to use it yet.
The Fully Curved khukuris are a lot more accurate for me in hitting the place I'm aiming at each and every time than the other models which makes their use much more efficient for me.YMMV.
And besides I just think they're prettier and more graceful than those that look like a deer's hind leg to me.
(mostly tzn.
)
There's an old saying that goes something like, "Beware of the man with only one gun because you can bet he knows how to use it."
The same is true with the H.I.Khukuri's or any other knife or tool. The more you use one particular knife the more familiar you will become with it.
And that knife will teach you both its good and bad points and you will know exactly what they are and what it is capable of and what it is not capable of and therefore learn to trust it with your
life.
There is no one perfect knife no matter how long we search for it. Besides it gives us a good excuse to aquire more of the pretty sharp things we like for some reason that I don't believe any of us could ever explain.
One reason and perhaps the biggest reason I personally feel that has caused the Nepali Khukuri to evolve into what it is today is a common human foible.
And that is because we humans are all basically lazy at heart.
The Fully Curved Khukuri is more difficult to make than the standard model today and it works for most people just as well as the old curved models.
Actually no one would be the wiser, I think, except for people like us who are more familiar with knives than most people and because we love these things and their history so much we compare and criticize and search for the origins.
Anybody wanna bet that the original Kopis is harder to make than a standard khukuri?
It would be very interesting I think if we could travel back in time to when Ganga Ram's father and grandfather were making tools for the village.
I would bet $10.00 to a donut that we would find the old grandfather's knive's to be more curved at the beginning of his career than what the father made towards the end of his
career.
And Ganga Ram, bless his heart, has kept a lot of the tradition in the forward curved khukuri he makes to this day.
Ganga Ram is truly a credit to his craft!!!!
I would almost bet that there's a few more old kamis back off the beaten path that still make khukuris in a way that is closer to the khukuri's of the past.
At least I like to think so.
