-
The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is ready to order! See this thread for details: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/bladeforums-2024-traditional-knife.2003187/
Price is$300$250 ea (shipped within CONUS). If you live outside the US, I will contact you after your order for extra shipping charges.
Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/ - Order as many as you like, we have plenty.
Chiruwa AK Evaluation
- Thread starter lcs37
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I clicked and nothing happened. 37 you're as good as I am with these computers.
!!!!Worked for me!!!!
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Himalayan Imports
Chiruwa Angh Khola Khukuri
Publied : 30 June 2002, Modified: Sunday 29 September 2002 00:00, by Singularity
1875 visits, 15 % popularity
A working test of a high quality khukuri, made by some of the best Nepali blade smiths.
The chiruwa angh khola (AK)
I own this Chiruwa Angh Khola khukuri from Himalayan Imports.
Khukuris are traditional blades of Nepal. Himalayan Imports khukuris are reputed to be the best available outside of Nepal today.
Description
It is a 16.5 inches total length blade, with a full flat tang, and weights some 1 kg sheath and tools included. The blade arrived mirror polished, very impressive! The tools are well made and properly tempered.
It is a second class version (due to handle marks), (95 US $) made by one of their best blade smith (kami), called Bura. These blades are differentially tempered, using a method peculiar to the Nepali, and which requires years of practice: running fresh water from a tea pot on the edge of the red blade.
The edge bevel is a slightly concave V. The overall blade presents between 2 and 3 different hollows or depressions, from the edge to the back.
Receiving and discovering a blade of this kind is always impressive and a pleasure.
View of the sheath
It comes with a nice leather-on-wood sheath, which includes a burnisher (chakmak) and little knife (karda). These tools are horn handled too, and well executed.
The finish is excellent ( some forge bumps, but it is expected on big forged tools). The Handle is thick and short, made from horn, and shows cracks that have been filled, but that is why I paid 35 US $ less than the normal price. It feels good and secure in my hand. Very good first impression. The file on the edge seems to point to some 60 HRC in the middle section. Tip and back are much softer (45-50), as later experiences will show.
A thick blade!
Test
Any way, I went to the garden, and did some tree cleaning. This is south of France, and I got some interesting species:
Banana trees are no match, way too soft, Yucca is more of a match, although it is a soft palm-tree like wood, a single whack for 4 inches is fair. What is not fair is the spines in my calves when it felt
Cleaning the Yucca trunk from spines after dragging it in sand left no damage to the edge, amazing.
Going for stronger wood, it is nice that I had some orange trees to shorten, This can be done with no damage to the tree up to the 15 the of April, Sunday was the 15th . This is a much harder and dense wood, and it takes 4 to 5 blows to go through 3 inches, depending on position. Still the chiruwa did the job nicely, leaving clean enough cuts.
It is hard work, and a saw is probably more efficient, but less satisfying. I worked on 2 trees, finished the other 8 with saw, as I do not fancy climbing trees too high with a big blade and children around.
As a test I tried Olive tree for some dying branches, and well, it is a petty hard wood and required lots of work. The "chunk" tells you that your best blow will only penetrate 1/2 inch, and the vibration in the hand is awful. The full flat tang does not help in vibration absorption, that is sure. It makes the knife indestructible, but it destroys one's arm instead. I stop there, got caught once with a bouncing Khukuri on hard wood, not twice! Anyway, only caterpillars are a match for olive trees.
Finished the afternoon on some bushes, The blade is too heavy for that, there is no feeling of encountering anything, and energy is wasted to stop the swing. Also, the reach is too short and damage is done to fingers very easily when in thick bush.
After work inspection:
Minor scratches, little darkening of the polish (orange juice!), edge fine, except where I used it to pry a nail out of some planks. 2 minutes sharpening with a ceramic , and it was back to normal. The burnisher will not work very well on this edge, too hard !
I later worked on dead Cyprus trees very hard and seasoned. I really damaged my hands, as this is a machete job... Some metal wires were hidden in the tree, and damaged the edge on the tip and recurve. The edge bent, and showed a 1 mm dent, each time, but no chipping. Hammering it made it straight again, the steel is much too soft in these places, probably lower than spring hardness. On the other side, it came back in place after hammering, and was fully functional after a two minutes work, un-noticeable after 5 more minutes polishing, so while it is a failure, it is not a problem. I did not notice the edge in these places was soft, with any other cutting tasks I performed, and the hardness is really fine on a long part of the blade, just softer for an inch of the tip, and two near the handle.
Handle comments:
The handle is not uncomfortable, but not comfortable either, the ring on it has a tendancy to painful to the hand. I had to make it smoother, and this is work, because it has metallic parts [1]. I also rounded the butt of the handle. I did not get any blisters, just sore hands. This said, the grip is secure, as the ring holds the hand when pushing, and the enlarged handle butt helps while swinging it. The lack of vibration absorption from the full tang does not help either.
Handle view, note the "ring" in the middle
Conclusion
This blade is an excellent replacement for a hatchet. The handle, while not the most comfortable I have used, is fully functional and gives a feeling of security.
The overall khukuri shape is not my preferred, I prefer straighter outlines nowadays. But these are personal preferences. The recurve of the khukuris allows to use them as a sickle, the belly provides a good slicing knife, the tip a skinning knife, and the knife is heavy enough to perform well in chopping wood for fire. So the facts are also that this is an impressive and useful blade, and lots of outdoors men swear by them, I understand why: This is a very functional and useful outdoors knife.
The only real reproach that can be done, really is the weight. I find the total weight much too high for my personal use, as it pulls pants down too much. But some can carry a 800 grams hatchet, so I suppose that this is personal preference too. To counterbalance this remark, notice that for this total weight of one kilo, you carry a smaller 3 inches knife, and a burnisher for quick sharpening. People that really want to carry it on themselves should consider a baldric.
This is truly an unbreakable knife, with an unequalled "you get two if you ever break one" guaranty for life [2]. [3]
So if you are looking for total [4] robustness, there may not be any contender in this range of knives for this price and workmanship. But other tools [5] and more versatile (in my taste) and cheaper blades are also available on the market [6].
Please read this security warning if you intend to use one.
Singularity
Notes:
[1] the full tang
[2] this generally means your life or the life of the company, whichever is the shortest!
[3] guaranty which has never been needed since HI creation, it would seem!
[4] and I'd even say excessive, and vibrant !
[5] It should be noted that in these size of blades, most sharpened pieces of steel are already impressive cutters, if the edge is fine and resistant enough.
[6] Valiant Goloks is a comparative review of this knife against goloks and a Cold Steel Khukuri / kukri. Valiant Golok Hitam is a review of another blade of comparable size and use
PS:
Though HI khukuris are not the cheapest in the world, it must be noted that most of the money goes to Nepal and the makers, thus enabling them a decent life in one of the poorest countries of the planet.
Chiruwa Angh Khola Khukuri
Publied : 30 June 2002, Modified: Sunday 29 September 2002 00:00, by Singularity
1875 visits, 15 % popularity
A working test of a high quality khukuri, made by some of the best Nepali blade smiths.
The chiruwa angh khola (AK)
I own this Chiruwa Angh Khola khukuri from Himalayan Imports.
Khukuris are traditional blades of Nepal. Himalayan Imports khukuris are reputed to be the best available outside of Nepal today.
Description
It is a 16.5 inches total length blade, with a full flat tang, and weights some 1 kg sheath and tools included. The blade arrived mirror polished, very impressive! The tools are well made and properly tempered.
It is a second class version (due to handle marks), (95 US $) made by one of their best blade smith (kami), called Bura. These blades are differentially tempered, using a method peculiar to the Nepali, and which requires years of practice: running fresh water from a tea pot on the edge of the red blade.
The edge bevel is a slightly concave V. The overall blade presents between 2 and 3 different hollows or depressions, from the edge to the back.
Receiving and discovering a blade of this kind is always impressive and a pleasure.
View of the sheath
It comes with a nice leather-on-wood sheath, which includes a burnisher (chakmak) and little knife (karda). These tools are horn handled too, and well executed.
The finish is excellent ( some forge bumps, but it is expected on big forged tools). The Handle is thick and short, made from horn, and shows cracks that have been filled, but that is why I paid 35 US $ less than the normal price. It feels good and secure in my hand. Very good first impression. The file on the edge seems to point to some 60 HRC in the middle section. Tip and back are much softer (45-50), as later experiences will show.
A thick blade!
Test
Any way, I went to the garden, and did some tree cleaning. This is south of France, and I got some interesting species:
Banana trees are no match, way too soft, Yucca is more of a match, although it is a soft palm-tree like wood, a single whack for 4 inches is fair. What is not fair is the spines in my calves when it felt
Cleaning the Yucca trunk from spines after dragging it in sand left no damage to the edge, amazing.
Going for stronger wood, it is nice that I had some orange trees to shorten, This can be done with no damage to the tree up to the 15 the of April, Sunday was the 15th . This is a much harder and dense wood, and it takes 4 to 5 blows to go through 3 inches, depending on position. Still the chiruwa did the job nicely, leaving clean enough cuts.
It is hard work, and a saw is probably more efficient, but less satisfying. I worked on 2 trees, finished the other 8 with saw, as I do not fancy climbing trees too high with a big blade and children around.
As a test I tried Olive tree for some dying branches, and well, it is a petty hard wood and required lots of work. The "chunk" tells you that your best blow will only penetrate 1/2 inch, and the vibration in the hand is awful. The full flat tang does not help in vibration absorption, that is sure. It makes the knife indestructible, but it destroys one's arm instead. I stop there, got caught once with a bouncing Khukuri on hard wood, not twice! Anyway, only caterpillars are a match for olive trees.
Finished the afternoon on some bushes, The blade is too heavy for that, there is no feeling of encountering anything, and energy is wasted to stop the swing. Also, the reach is too short and damage is done to fingers very easily when in thick bush.
After work inspection:
Minor scratches, little darkening of the polish (orange juice!), edge fine, except where I used it to pry a nail out of some planks. 2 minutes sharpening with a ceramic , and it was back to normal. The burnisher will not work very well on this edge, too hard !
I later worked on dead Cyprus trees very hard and seasoned. I really damaged my hands, as this is a machete job... Some metal wires were hidden in the tree, and damaged the edge on the tip and recurve. The edge bent, and showed a 1 mm dent, each time, but no chipping. Hammering it made it straight again, the steel is much too soft in these places, probably lower than spring hardness. On the other side, it came back in place after hammering, and was fully functional after a two minutes work, un-noticeable after 5 more minutes polishing, so while it is a failure, it is not a problem. I did not notice the edge in these places was soft, with any other cutting tasks I performed, and the hardness is really fine on a long part of the blade, just softer for an inch of the tip, and two near the handle.
Handle comments:
The handle is not uncomfortable, but not comfortable either, the ring on it has a tendancy to painful to the hand. I had to make it smoother, and this is work, because it has metallic parts [1]. I also rounded the butt of the handle. I did not get any blisters, just sore hands. This said, the grip is secure, as the ring holds the hand when pushing, and the enlarged handle butt helps while swinging it. The lack of vibration absorption from the full tang does not help either.
Handle view, note the "ring" in the middle
Conclusion
This blade is an excellent replacement for a hatchet. The handle, while not the most comfortable I have used, is fully functional and gives a feeling of security.
The overall khukuri shape is not my preferred, I prefer straighter outlines nowadays. But these are personal preferences. The recurve of the khukuris allows to use them as a sickle, the belly provides a good slicing knife, the tip a skinning knife, and the knife is heavy enough to perform well in chopping wood for fire. So the facts are also that this is an impressive and useful blade, and lots of outdoors men swear by them, I understand why: This is a very functional and useful outdoors knife.
The only real reproach that can be done, really is the weight. I find the total weight much too high for my personal use, as it pulls pants down too much. But some can carry a 800 grams hatchet, so I suppose that this is personal preference too. To counterbalance this remark, notice that for this total weight of one kilo, you carry a smaller 3 inches knife, and a burnisher for quick sharpening. People that really want to carry it on themselves should consider a baldric.
This is truly an unbreakable knife, with an unequalled "you get two if you ever break one" guaranty for life [2]. [3]
So if you are looking for total [4] robustness, there may not be any contender in this range of knives for this price and workmanship. But other tools [5] and more versatile (in my taste) and cheaper blades are also available on the market [6].
Please read this security warning if you intend to use one.
Singularity
Notes:
[1] the full tang
[2] this generally means your life or the life of the company, whichever is the shortest!
[3] guaranty which has never been needed since HI creation, it would seem!
[4] and I'd even say excessive, and vibrant !
[5] It should be noted that in these size of blades, most sharpened pieces of steel are already impressive cutters, if the edge is fine and resistant enough.
[6] Valiant Goloks is a comparative review of this knife against goloks and a Cold Steel Khukuri / kukri. Valiant Golok Hitam is a review of another blade of comparable size and use
PS:
Though HI khukuris are not the cheapest in the world, it must be noted that most of the money goes to Nepal and the makers, thus enabling them a decent life in one of the poorest countries of the planet.
Aardvark
Gold Member
- Joined
- Nov 26, 2002
- Messages
- 4,855
There was a comment posted after the article:
The range of HI blades is huge, so if someone can present me a review of some other models, he'll get published here.
Don't know if the offer is still good, the article being about 1 year old (if the date at the top is correct).
Nice review, lcs.
The range of HI blades is huge, so if someone can present me a review of some other models, he'll get published here.
Don't know if the offer is still good, the article being about 1 year old (if the date at the top is correct).
Nice review, lcs.
- Joined
- Feb 22, 2002
- Messages
- 131
Hi there,
Yes it is, preferably a sirupati or GS model.
Cheers,/jm
Yes it is, preferably a sirupati or GS model.
Cheers,/jm
- Joined
- Oct 18, 2001
- Messages
- 20,978
JM - you contacted me a while back about writing for the website. I am still interested, but the timing is not that great. 
Anyway, good write-up. Did you see the CD I made? I think you'd enjoy it. Let me know, I have a few left still.
Dan
Anyway, good write-up. Did you see the CD I made? I think you'd enjoy it. Let me know, I have a few left still.
Dan
- Joined
- Feb 22, 2002
- Messages
- 131
Hi Dan,
No problem, it will wait. CD, which CD? you need to explain now
Well anyway, the offer holds, looking for blades working reviews (but please no destructive test a la Cliff and also drop the negative reviews, there is no need to talk about things that do not work...).
Contact me by email, if interested, as I do not follow BF.
singularity@free.fr
No problem, it will wait. CD, which CD? you need to explain now
Well anyway, the offer holds, looking for blades working reviews (but please no destructive test a la Cliff and also drop the negative reviews, there is no need to talk about things that do not work...).
Contact me by email, if interested, as I do not follow BF.
singularity@free.fr