I have five Himalayan Imports. A few years ago I took an interest in the kukri market. Have picked them up here and there when I see something that interests me. You can get them for a relatively inexpensive amount on the forum here.
As far as practicality, your'e not going to be carrying one of these around with you(unless you don't mind getting arrested), so they are obviously not an EDC blade. For use at home or outdoors, they are excellent choppers for splitting wood and things like that. For back-packing or camping, they would fit the bill but a lot of designs out there can be very heavy.
IMO these are basically for collectors and this is where they stand out--although owners do use them. One of my favorite fixed blades I own is a a Himalayan Import with a mirror polish. I love the mirror polish they put on the steel.
The only drawbacks are weight and potential danger to someone who fails to respect it (as with any blade.) A large kukri handles completely differently than a straight edged knife. The center of gravity is usually greatly offset from the plane of the grip so swinging or chopping the knife takes some getting used to. Like an axe, there is also a large forward weight bias to the design. When swinging it, the tip wants to come back around like a boomerang and will fly out of your hand if you are not carefull. What this all means is that if you never handled one and just take it out of the box and start swinging it around like a pirate, you or someone else is likely to end up in the ER.
As far as 'normality', not sure what that means. A traditional kukri is just a fixed blade. It has a different style and shape than what we are used to in the West. But it's still just a fixed blade knife.
As far as practicality, your'e not going to be carrying one of these around with you(unless you don't mind getting arrested), so they are obviously not an EDC blade. For use at home or outdoors, they are excellent choppers for splitting wood and things like that. For back-packing or camping, they would fit the bill but a lot of designs out there can be very heavy.
IMO these are basically for collectors and this is where they stand out--although owners do use them. One of my favorite fixed blades I own is a a Himalayan Import with a mirror polish. I love the mirror polish they put on the steel.
The only drawbacks are weight and potential danger to someone who fails to respect it (as with any blade.) A large kukri handles completely differently than a straight edged knife. The center of gravity is usually greatly offset from the plane of the grip so swinging or chopping the knife takes some getting used to. Like an axe, there is also a large forward weight bias to the design. When swinging it, the tip wants to come back around like a boomerang and will fly out of your hand if you are not carefull. What this all means is that if you never handled one and just take it out of the box and start swinging it around like a pirate, you or someone else is likely to end up in the ER.
As far as 'normality', not sure what that means. A traditional kukri is just a fixed blade. It has a different style and shape than what we are used to in the West. But it's still just a fixed blade knife.
