Anyone with experience with a Malla?

B

bobwill

Joined
Feb 10, 2001
Messages
147
I love mine, but I have a question. The blade seems to be hollowground from halfway down the blade. The blade seems thin for chopping wood, but would make a deadly chopper against soft tissue and an excellent slasher, well for a khukuri anyway. So, what I'm saying, it seems to be a great weapon, but I would be hesitant to use it as a camping knife, as the edge seems to be too thin for really heavy chopping.
Anyone else feel this way?

Man, I love this knife. I can just picture Johnathan Harker beheading Dracula with this thing.
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One thing that I did not expect to see on this knife. The blade has a definate distal taper after the recurve! Man! Those guys are good. Also, the karda and chakma are both perfectly proportioned to my hand, and significantly larger than what I expected, but I have really tiny hands for my size though. My last girlfriend had hands only slightly smaller than mine, and I'm 6'3" 200lbs and she's only 5'4" 115lbs!

I still love the patternwork on the scabbard! It's just beautiful.

Now all I need to do is finish paying Uncle Bill!
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Anyone sell off a kid to become an apprentice in Nepal yet?
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Bob I wish I could answer all of your questions, but I don't have a Malla.
I did get to see and handle Terry's though, but I don't recall the blade being as thin you describe it along the edge.
That shouldn't be an issue if the hardness is correct. And if you think there might be a problem the trick to saving the edge from chipping out is to not chop and twist at the same time.
All of the old khukuris I have seen are very thin compared to the modern models and they have held up all these years without a problem so I don't believe I would worry about it.
If you have any doubts take it for a good testing _Before_ you take it camping.
Actually I test all of mine before I call them completely capable just as I would do any knife from makers like Randall, Loveless, Fowler and the like.
And they test theirs frequently to ensure full satisfaction and quality.
To test a khukuri or any other knife find a good solid log or large chunk of wood and proceed to whack at it severly with not only the edge for chopping, but also the sides and spine until you're satisfied the khukuri or other knife is sound.
And even at that it won't bar an accident that can posssibley cause the finest blade to break or chip, but it is highly unlikely you will ever break or chip a H.I.Khukuri.
HTH.
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>>>>---Yvsa-G@WebTV.net---->®

"VEGETARIAN".............
Indin word for lousy hunter.
 
Bob,

I’ve got the first Malla that came to these shores.

Malla.jpg


The specs are: 19 inches long, 2 inches wide, 7/16 thick and weighs about 2 & 1/4 pounds. The blade edge is not hollow ground and is plenty sturdy. Chopping wouldn’t hurt this one, but I don’t intend to use mine for chopping wood. I have khukuris for camp and garden chores. The Malla has some features, like its tip thickness and orientation that seem to optimize it as a heavy weapon. The care that obviously went into its construction makes me reluctant to use it for chores. It would be kind of like taking the ancestral katana out to trim the hedges.
 
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Howard is that a pic of your's or a file photo?
Either way that particular Malla has some very beautiful grey horn handles.
I think perhaps even the prettiest I have ever seen in a pic.
And I'm sure it's even prettier in the hand and close up.
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>>>>---Yvsa-G@WebTV.net---->®

"VEGETARIAN".............
Indin word for lousy hunter.
 
Yvsa,
Unless I'm mistaken, it's both.
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It's a picture that Uncle Bill took, of the first Malla ever made, which Howard bought. So, it's a file photo of his blade.
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Bob

Thanks everyone. I'm not sure how to say this clearly, so... I didn't mean to say that the blade was too thin to use, but I wouldn't use it for a log splitter. It seems more like a good ol' fashioned weapon, rather than a tool. Also, just about all the action this baby sees with be cleaning. For quite a while atleast.
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Bobwill, for some reason I absolutely love the shape of the Malla and applaud your good taste!
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I cannot see how it could possibly fail to outperform any other camping knife you've ever had, but c'mon, you aren't going to build a log cabin with it. Say, can any of you guys imagine what a blast it would be to go on that Survivor show and insist that your single "luxury item" be an HI khuk? They'd have to re-write the rules!



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Micah 6:8. Well worth the attempt!
 
Steven,
I do think it would be awesome to take a khukuri onto survivor. Give everyone knife envy.
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But, since you can only take a single item, you'd have to leave the scabbard, karda and chakma at home, and that would just feel plain weird. I guess that might be the convincing that you were talking about.
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Correction, I don't it's hollowground afterall. If it is, it's just slightly. I think it was just an optical illusion caused by the complex edge geometry; I'm not used to looking at stuff with this many curves.

[This message has been edited by bobwill (edited 03-11-2001).]
 
take the khuk, then incorporate sheets of kydex in your daily wardrobe(ie: instead of a hat, wear a cube of kydex, or instead of a shirt, wear kydex). then when on the island, you could fashion a crude, but working sheath, out of your kydex clothing.
 
Also, find a way to incorporate tubes of blade wax into the seems of your pants. keeps the blade from rusting, and noone is going to ask why/how you squeeze wax out of your shorts
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Might get you voted off though
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Yvsa,

Bob's explaination is correct.

The Malla would make a good "survival" khukuri that might see use as either a weapon or a utility tool for heavy chopping. It might be a little heavy if it had to be packed along with a lot of other gear though.
 
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Thanks Bob and Howard.
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I really like the Malla and the way it feels in the hand.
I also appreciate the weight factor.
It used to be that I didn't mind the weight of any knife and I almost always chose a large knife over a smaller one, still do most of
the time, hardship or
not.
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However when I carried the "medium" sized 17" village model on our walk the other day I was wishing for a lighter rig before we got back to the truck (I had a Kershaw 1416 in my back pocket.
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)
But that will change the more I get to walk this year and get back in some semblance of shape.
I can already tell a difference from the good walks already
taken.
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I would still rather have a large heavy knife and not need it than have a smaller lighter knife and need the large one.
But when talking khukuris the idea of large and small becomes somewhat skewed. And had I have had a choice between the 17" villager and a 20"+
GRS I would have chosen the 17", but this was just for a short walk in the local wild.
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Oh!!!
And Howard I am really glad to see your presence back on our favorite forum.
I have really missed seeing you here
and reading your insightful posts.
I realize the Khukuri FAQ's must take up a lot of your time, or has in the past and I just wanted to also say how much I appreciate them and I know others do as well.
It's a priceless contribution to the forum and to H.I as well!!!!
Many Thanks!!!!
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>>>>---Yvsa-G@WebTV.net---->®

"VEGETARIAN".............
Indin word for lousy hunter.

[This message has been edited by Yvsa (edited 03-11-2001).]
 
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