BAS, I'm in love again:

Beck; I just double checked the weight. On my postal scale, the BAS weighs a hair less than 21.5 oz. That is only 1.5 oz heavier than the adverstised weight. Where are we at? Plus or minus 7%?

I should caution you that after use I immediately knew I wanted an even heavier blade and the BAS was just heavy enough to be darned useful. Ghorkas know things. Honestly, I wouldn't trade for a'lighter' one...you'll see why after you strike a branch or two.
To put this into perspective, the evil black BUCK tanto I had and gave away (after aquiring my BAS!) weighed 18oz. Now, I know the BAS scabbard and tools are heavier than the sheath for the Tanto, but I had to ask myself if I'd really notice the difference hiking between 18 and 21 oz. That answer was no. What did the tanto do for me? Well, I could rip and stab things, but I didn't have an all around camp/woods/defense tool.

whatever khukuri you end up with will be a quality tool.

munk


HEY! Just re-read your original post Beck, and I agree; my 21 and change BAS felt a LOT heavier than the 18oz Buck tanto. Don't know why. Some subjective threshold reached or weight forward or? Point is, you may no have a heavy BAS at all.
 
Pappy, a long time ago I speculated I'd be able to find some downed domestic or wild animals and do some penetration testing with khukuris. Since then, I haven't found any, and every time I turn around, you've just lopped the head off another snake.

life isn't fair, to snakes, anyway

munk
 
One thing I have noticed in all the browsing I've done through sites and things Nepali, is how many of the Khukuris pictured seem to be BAS, or very similar patterns. From the top to the bottom, in my case, my villager is pure BAS. My best Bura, with the"crazy cho" is a heavy BAS pattern, although it doesn't conform to the standard size or weight. The one news pic I have seen, a Nepali musician at a folk demo in Kat, showed what appeared to be a BAS blade in a plain scabbard, carried under his sash. This popularity might have stemmed from those brought back by the Gorkhas, but if the blade didn't perform, the popularity wouldn't hold. Remember the issue models "lost" in the field, as "not good".
 
From every body I know and have talked to Texas prabably has as many as anywhere else and most likely more than it's share of snakes. Since I have lived down here I haven't heard of any where in TX that doesn't have snakes a plenty.:)

If it wasn't for my dogs I most likely wouldn't get near as many. Them and the turkeys spot them pretty quick.:D
 
Pappy, my Father likes to feed wild birds. He used to get quite a crowd in Tucson, seasonal, quail, etc...every time a snake appeared in the yard all the birds put up such a racket that Dad would come out to see what the fuss was about.

You gotta wonder; does any creature like snakes?

munk
 
Hey Munk,

Originally posted by munk


You gotta wonder; does any creature like snakes?

munk
Click to expand...

Do humans count as "creatures?" :footinmou

If so, count me as a creature that likes snakes! :D:D:D

Seriously, though, Kingfishers, storks and similar carnivorous birds like cranes and the Aussie Kookabura *LOVE* snakes. To eat, that is... :D:D:D:D:D
 
Hello munk,

I think I have figured out why my BAS seems so much heavier than the sirupati. I have a postal scale which goes up to one pound. On that scale, the sirupati weighs only 13 ounces - three ounces less than the advertised weight. Now if my BAS weighs the same as your BAS, which you say is 21.5 ounces, that would make the difference between the two khukuris more than 1/2 pound. I haven't done the math, but I think this would make the BAS more than 60% heavier than the sirupati, which seems about right when I compare the two.
 
WT Beck; keep the BAS. If you want light and long, some of those sirupatis weigh in about an ounce an inch. I've seen chitlangis the same.

Hibuke; I stopped shooting all rattlesnakes on sight a few years ago, unless they were in an unsafe area, like home, camp, etc.. I've spent many hours finding snakes in the desert to photograph. I give a nod to those who like snakes. But as one reptile fan once told my dear old Ma, "The pythons never knew me, even after feeding them for years. But the lizards were smart and knew who I was."

I like lizards, Hibuke. Desert Spineys, Granite Spineys.....


Poisenous snakes are on an evolutionary path antagonistic to man. And there does seem to be an genetic fear of snakes built into us.

If there were rattlers in my yard I'd be lopping and blowing off heads!!!!

I found a desert boa once who would contentedly crawl around in your lap with no sign of fear. A little shovelnose wasn't too worried either. In montana the gopher snake is called the bull snake. Up here it is one mean hissing biting sob, but he's OK. Down south the same snake you can handle in the wild without incident.



munk
 
Some shops weigh the steel billet before getting started on a particular model. At BirGorkha they don't. Kamis at BirGorkha can guess within 10% and that's close enough. Sometimes they want to make a knife lighter or heavier for reasons known only to them. After Sher got stuck making a couple of hundred kagas katnes for 6 months or so he routinely made every knife about 50% heavier than spec. Personally, I like the variation.
 
How did Sher get stuck making paper cutters? Putting it that way makes it sound only second to taking out the trash. What did they do, draw lots?


munk
 
We'd just talked about laha but I don't remember where...could be in this thread for all I know, or in my socks this morning. But Bill, for you and the Kamis, today when I made a slice of wood to fit and repair a dresser, I put three dead ants in the glue.


munk
 
Sher was new man in the shop and low man on the totem pole so he got stuck with the kagas katne assignment. Dead ants are nothing compared to what some village kamis stick in their laha.
 
Salvador Dali claimed that oil aged with a dead wasp was superior for painting. But that guy made many unusual claims.
 
I made another interesting discovery related to my new BAS. The first khukuri I bought was the 16.5 inch WWII model. I pulled it out and compared it to the BAS. The HI shopping site does not give the thickness of the BAS blade, but the one I have has a blade that is thicker than the blade on the WWII. Handling the two I can't feel much difference in the weight. The WWII might be just a smidgen heavier, but the thicker blade on the BAS seems to make up most of the difference.
 
The two BAS's that I have feel pretty close to the same. The new one may be just a very little bit heavier. Neither are as thick as my 16.5" WW11. The 18" WW11 is the thickest and heaviest Khuk that I have. Kumar made a couple of work horses for sure. 30 oz. ought to be heavy enough for an 18" WW11 the other at 26 oz. I have not run in to any problem that they couldn't handle:D
 
I must have gotten one of those 50% heavier BAS's made by Sher. Don't get me wrong - I think these knives are excellent and the best value of any knife on the market. Furthermore, Uncle Bill's service is as good as it gets. But it sure is hard to figure out how to order one based on weight. I guess the thing to do is ask Uncle Bill to check the weight when you place an order.
 
We could weigh the billet and get the knives weight to the gnat's eyebrow but I hate to do that because it puts us closer to a production factory knife and that is not what we are about.
 
Heavy Sher's are premium. Not available at present. I think the steel supply got tight for awhile and is still not quite right.

we could move the Kamis and their families over here. all the big truck springs they want, and booze, big screen tv, drugs, crime, crap, shop codes, medicare and ssi contributions, taxes, irs, blue cards...

ahh they'd be ok, but the product might not be the same, or all the same.

munk
 
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