- Joined
- Aug 27, 2007
- Messages
- 54
I know that these have been reviewed before, but I was bored and felt like posting.
Up until a couple of weeks ago, I'd been using a traditional shaped machete for clearing brush and misc crap. The machete that I have was a gift from my dad that he got while deployed to Panama. It is a nice machete that is chrome plated and came with a hand made leather sheath. I've never really treated it very harshly because it has sentimental value. So I decided to put it away and get something else to use.
I'd been looking at kukri style blades for the past month or so and liked the idea of the weight forward design, but was never a big fan of the way they looked. I didn't want to spend a lot on a blade that I might not even like so I ended up buying a CS Kukri for $14 (not the magnum, the shorter one).
After getting it, the only thing I did was touch up the edge and put a lanyard on it. Then I went to work. I pretty much beat the hell out of that thing this afternoon and it impressed me.
Of course it performed well for standard chopping duties even on the larger, thicker stuff. I was a little concerned that the 1055 steel might start to roll on the edges since I was seriously hacking away at mostly hardwoods, but it didn't.
Then I did some batoning with it. The blade is a little less than 1/8 inch so it's not really a great thing to baton with, but what the heck. The wood that I was batoning was about 2.5 inches in diameter. Once I got the blade about 3 inches into it, I noticed that it was starting to bend. Not too badly, but it had a kinda s curve going. I pounded it in another inch and then backed off. Got the blade out and it looked straight. No permanent deformation. Checked the edge again for rolls, chips or cracks and it still looked good.
The handle is pretty ergonomic, but very hard and rough. I noticed a few hot spots after chopping for a while. Touched up a couple of high hard plastic spots on the handle with some sandpaper. I like the overall feel and swing of the kukri.
I'd say for the money it's a nice utility blade. Now I'm eyeballing some of the nicer kukris out there.
Up until a couple of weeks ago, I'd been using a traditional shaped machete for clearing brush and misc crap. The machete that I have was a gift from my dad that he got while deployed to Panama. It is a nice machete that is chrome plated and came with a hand made leather sheath. I've never really treated it very harshly because it has sentimental value. So I decided to put it away and get something else to use.
I'd been looking at kukri style blades for the past month or so and liked the idea of the weight forward design, but was never a big fan of the way they looked. I didn't want to spend a lot on a blade that I might not even like so I ended up buying a CS Kukri for $14 (not the magnum, the shorter one).
After getting it, the only thing I did was touch up the edge and put a lanyard on it. Then I went to work. I pretty much beat the hell out of that thing this afternoon and it impressed me.
Of course it performed well for standard chopping duties even on the larger, thicker stuff. I was a little concerned that the 1055 steel might start to roll on the edges since I was seriously hacking away at mostly hardwoods, but it didn't.
Then I did some batoning with it. The blade is a little less than 1/8 inch so it's not really a great thing to baton with, but what the heck. The wood that I was batoning was about 2.5 inches in diameter. Once I got the blade about 3 inches into it, I noticed that it was starting to bend. Not too badly, but it had a kinda s curve going. I pounded it in another inch and then backed off. Got the blade out and it looked straight. No permanent deformation. Checked the edge again for rolls, chips or cracks and it still looked good.
The handle is pretty ergonomic, but very hard and rough. I noticed a few hot spots after chopping for a while. Touched up a couple of high hard plastic spots on the handle with some sandpaper. I like the overall feel and swing of the kukri.
I'd say for the money it's a nice utility blade. Now I'm eyeballing some of the nicer kukris out there.
Especially the new SK-5 version as it is a very good price for what you get. Now the San-Mai III version makes me think :jerkit: