The trade was a good one. Got a nice mkII/43 from him, with a wonderful arching curve. Since he lives pretty close to Conyers in GA, he went to go do what we all wanted to do--pick thru the pile by hand! He came up with this wwII version that is some kind of WWII/M43 hybrid, with a wonderful continuous curve to the spine and handle. I notes that the edge profile is much more obtuse than an HI khuk, probably becuz this is easier to do, and because the edge retention is much greater with a mass of steel behind the grind. For what Conaj was using it for, the grind is too obtuse to bite deep in wood. It was ground to take all sorts of field abuse withouut chipping, which is a good design for a tough field knife.
The balance is nice, the spine is about as thick as an HI khuk, and the spine is cantled and rounded a bit. Came with an Indian armory scabbard, with broad arrow, "3" and "1944" on it. Noice scabbard, in good shape. This is my first "Non HI" khuk.
It is good to see the oldies, as Sarge an others have said. I agree, as it lets me see how "over the top" the HI khuk quality is. (of course, that's like comparing an armory Shin gunto katana to a new custom nihonto)
The smallish handle fits quite securely in the hand, and I dig the steel fittings.
I was going to leave the kkhuk in its natural state, but after seeing the fresh sharpening marks on the edge, I may as well go past the preservation stage and go straight for restoration/refinising. I'll keep some of the deep patina on the handle and bolster, as they have a nice thin coat of inactive rust. The buttcap gives a clue as to the way one peens a cap on a chiruwa handle.
Keith
