Big Knives that Chop Well.

C

coote

Joined
Apr 3, 2006
Messages
1,465
I've been hanging around this forum for quite a long time, and I see that I've now made over 440 posts.

I am particularly interested in hunting, trapping, fishing and primitive technology....and there has been quite a bit of discussion on these topics here that I've got quite a bit from.

There has been a lot of talk about using bigger knives for chopping, and I've never paid much heed...quietly 'knowing' to myself that of course axes and hatchets are made for chopping and knives aren't :rolleyes:

Well guess what.... after about 400 posts....I've been converted. While I'm still appreciate a good hatchet, I have been carrying a khukuri as an all-purpose chopper the last few times I've been working a trap line.

I am VERY impressed with what these tools are capable of. Very.

I bought a 15" Ang Khola villager model from Himalayan Imports (15" overall length). I'm in love. And boy can this thing chop!! It exceeded my expectations. So much in fact that I immediately ordered a 12" Ang Khola which arrived today. The 15" is 'overkill' for a lot of what I do.

The 15" has a blade that is about 7/16" thick at the back. A while back I think that the Himalayan Import guys were saying about this model something like 'break or bend one of these and we'll send you two'. You would have to put a lot of effort into breaking one of these with its tough construction and graduated tempering.

So now I've joined the big knife movement.

I've cut a variety of things with the big khukuri....the biggest and toughest probably being some four or five inch thick dead pines which I cut and trimmed to make poles for my snares. The dead timber takes a lot more time and effort to get through compared to a green sapling, but it was very convenient to pull the relatively light khukuri from its scabbard and to cut the poles when I needed them. I think that it probably would take less time to cut the poles with the khukuri compared to the hatchet I might normally carry. I think also that the khukuri might be a bit safer to use than a hatchet because I am not using the extreme end of the blade as I do with a hatchet....thus I am less likely to miss the log on 'my' side of it and have the hatchet swing quickly toward myself (although I am very careful when using a hatchet in this way).

The back of the khukuri can be used to club smaller animals in traps...and this saves me having to carry a club. A hatchet can be used as a club, but I feel I can't swing it as quickly as I can swing the khukuri...and because of the small size of the poll on the hatchet, I have to take care to be more precise with my blow (which slows me up).

I started carrying a golok instead of a hatchet a while back. I found that it could chop quite well and I could use it as a club. I reckon the khukuri is a much better chopper than my particular golok. However if I had some ground-level scrub cutting to do, or some holes to dig.... I would use the golok. The rounded blunt nose of the golok lends itself to digging, and if I happened to dent the edge of the blade on a rock I wouldn't be too upset compared to 'dinging' my khukuri.

The 'karda' or small knife that came with the khukuri has proven to be quite useful.

Anyway.... I just thought I should tell you folks that you have influenced me significantly. I've written a report on my khukuris on the Himalayan Imports forum if you want to know more. I have a third khukuri coming to me from the UK... a 'Tora'. I will be interested to play with this one as well.

But if I had to pick just one big knife for now, it would be the 15" Ang Khola khukuri.

Here are my two khukuris:

TwoKhukuris1.jpg
 
All is lost! You know that beheading is the price of conversion in much of the world, the only question is which blade would be more effective.

A HI khukuri has been on my short list of blades to buy for a long time but they are hard to come by in Brazil. I've been lurking for a long time on khukuri threads to garner info on which one to buy eventually.

This board does bring together a world of experience. I got turned on to scandi knives here. For me a machete and a scandi rounds out very well. I imagine a khukuri and a scandi would do the same.

BTW you shine up pretty good once you get the pig blood off you. Mac
 
I have always thought of a Kukuri as basically a cleverly curved heavy Machete! Machetes are the tool of choice in much of the world south of the border, and work well in brush and lightly wooded areas.

However, here in heavily forested areas of North America, it's going to have to be a very substantial axe (better yet a chainsaw!). A very likely scenario in a truck or ATV is that you will find a tree fallen down across the backroad/trail you are traveling, so anything light is pretty well just dead weight.....
 
reconranger said:
I have always thought of a Kukuri as basically a cleverly curved heavy Machete! Machetes are the tool of choice in much of the world south of the border, and work well in brush and lightly wooded areas.

However, here in heavily forested areas of North America, it's going to have to be a very substantial axe (better yet a chainsaw!). A very likely scenario in a truck or ATV is that you will find a tree fallen down across the backroad/trail you are traveling, so anything light is pretty well just dead weight.....
Click to expand...

An axe is best, but single purpose and very heavy.

There aren't many machetes a half an inch thick, and khukuris aren't light at all, they are in a class all by themselves, very different from a machete. They work very well in the forests in NA, at least mine do, and they easily outchop small to medium hatchets, as well as doing a host of other tasks very well.

I'd like to see your thoughts on the 12 inch model, I'm thinking of getting one also.

Welcome to the club! They are awesome tools, aren't they? Now to put on the flame suit.... :p :D
 
I've been thinking about getting one of these, but I fear that handle. It looks uncomfortable with that ridge circling it. Am I wrong to be wary of it?
 
Great Khuks, I'm sitting here with a 15" and a 12" AK (Sher) 9" AK and a 15" Bura BAS, watch it they're addicting.

Congrats, they're great knives.

Just saw you post over at HI.

:thumbup:
 
Thanks for all the comments and the impressive pictures.

Bulgron.... I don't have any trouble with the rings around the handle. Actually they'd help me grip the knife if I ever had to 'stick' anything with it....but I don't really notice them while I'm chopping. The only thing I have noticed is that the points of the brass butt cap can be a bit sharp on a new khukuri, so I spent a few moments rounding mine off with a file and emery paper. You could always sand the rings off if they were a nuisance.

Pict... Himalayan Imports khukuris are hard to come by down here in NZ too. I've seen the odd khukuri for sale on our local internet auctions...but I could never be sure of their origin and quality. When I was scouting around, somebody suggested that I email Yangdu at Himalayan Imports (in the USA) directly and describe what I want. So I did. I said that I didn't need anything perfect, and I'd accept one with any blemish that did not affect the blade usefulness or durability. This enabled me to keep within my budget, and frankly there was nothing really wrong with the khukuris that I got as far as I could see. It seems that there are more khukuris available than are shown on the Himalayan Imports website. And on the Himalayan Imports forum, Yangdu will offer 'specials' on a fairly regular basis... there is some very attractively-priced stuff comes up on special. One khukuri took maybe eight or nine days to ship to NZ, the other took only about a week. Still.... I don't know anything about the Brazilian postal services or Customs rules. I paid for mine using Paypal....and everything went smoothly.

I took my new 12" model (with an 8" blade) out on the trapline today so I could play with it. It has proved to be a great little tool.

The little karda (small knife) that comes with these khukuris has a very pleasing shape. Although it is short, and the handle is relatively small...there is something about the shape of the handle that makes it nice to work with. I used it to skin a couple of possums today:

SkinWithKarda.jpg


The 12" chopped very well, but not as awesomely well as the 15" Ang Khola (with a blade about 10" long). Here's a pic of a dead pine pole that I cut with the 15-incher a day or two ago. The karda lying across the cut is a tad under 4.5" long:

BigChopAngKhola.jpg


I've written a couple of reports (with more pictures) on my khukuris over at the Himalayan Imports forum. Here's the report on the 12 inch model:

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?p=4983798#post4983798

And here is the report on the big fifteen-incher:

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=503899

I am so impressed with what a khukuri can do....and I've only been using one for about two weeks. When I become more accustomed to using them I imagine that they will seem to be even better.
 
reconranger said:
I have always thought of a Kukuri as basically a cleverly curved heavy Machete! Machetes are the tool of choice in much of the world south of the border, and work well in brush and lightly wooded areas.

However, here in heavily forested areas of North America, it's going to have to be a very substantial axe (better yet a chainsaw!). A very likely scenario in a truck or ATV is that you will find a tree fallen down across the backroad/trail you are traveling, so anything light is pretty well just dead weight.....
Click to expand...

Of course, but come on now, it's just plain fun to hack down saplings with a big tough knife.:D Have fun Coote, I understand.;)
 
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