Kailash Blades
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
- Joined
- Nov 21, 2015
- Messages
- 1,030
We recently got sent a review of a custom knife that we'd made and the customer wanted us to share it around for him. Patrick was great at communicating what he wanted from a knife which made the custom process smooth and played a big part in ensuring the final knife hit the mark.
"The first thing one notices about Kailash Blades is that they are different. I have never seen a bad review of their products, and this will be no exception. Of the many khukuri houses in Nepal, there's something about their unique approach to producing the best blade possible that simply inspires confidence. What's more, they offer full customization options, which was too enticing to pass up. I decided to go with one of their production blades, but with a customized handle, which I designed and drew up myself. Their willingness to work with the customer to produce the desired result is commendable.
From the moment I placed my order, I was like a child waiting for Christmas morning. The anticipation was alleviated from time to time as the Kailash team sent me progress pictures, so I could watch my very own knife being forged and assembled. I had the bad timing to place my order during festival season, so there was a bit of a delay, but that was understandable. Folks have to celebrate, after all. I even learned a little about Hindu holidays in the meantime.
When the knife finally arrived, and I was holding it in my hand at last, I was already impressed. Have you ever held a blade in your hand that you can somehow "feel" was made for cutting? This knife wanted to cut something, and let me tell you, I could feel it. Far lighter than any khukuri I have owned previously, it felt alive in my hand. I have owned khukuris from other khukuri houses in the past. When you pick them up, they feel as if they don't want you to. Thick, heavy chunks of steel that are only shaped like a khukuri, they required a lot of modification (mostly grinding the blade down to a usable thickness) before I could even use them. A Kailash khukuri, however, is ready to go right out of the box. It was a tremendous relief to realize that I had just received a khukuri that I would not have to make any modifications to.
The customized handle was spot-on, and fit my hand snugly and perfectly, exactly as I had wanted. I went with the micarta option, because as any experienced khukuri owner knows, a knife made in Nepal with traditional handle material requires a treatment period to acclimate the handle to the owner's environment. The climate-proof micarta eliminates this requirement. Not too rough, and not too slippery, and kept a firm, yet fluid grip when swinging the blade.
I took the khukuri out to the woods to give it a performance test. What can I say? It performs. The first thing I did was take a swing at a young poplar tree, about 3 inches in diameter. The blade bit deep, well over halfway through the trunk. It was almost effortless. In retrospect, I should have tried to cut the entire sapling in two with one blow. I might have done it with this knife.
But poplar is soft wood, so big deal, right? So I found a young red oak tree, maybe 7 or 8 inches in diameter, that had fallen over. I checked, and the heart wood was still sound, and hardened by laying for some time and drying out - a perfect test. I laid into the trunk with my new khukuri. I had cut clear through all the heartwood by the time the trunk broke apart the rest of the way. I checked the khukuri. No edge deformation, and it had not dulled - still as sharp as when I took it out of the box.
I was expecting the khukuri to underperform when I tried to use it to split kindling. Hatchets are generally better-suited to splitting small pieces of wood, since their thicker wedge shape drives the wood fibers apart more easily. A blade produced by a more typical khukuri house may be thick, but it has a flat profile, which mostly serves to provide a good gripping surface for the wood, so the blade tends to get stuck. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the Kailash blade's performance. The edge has a convex grind, which serves to guide the wood away from the blade. And since the blade is thinner than an average khukuri house blade, as well as slightly hollow ground, it provides less surface area for the wood to grip, and thus travels through the wood far more easily. The combined result is that kindling is not difficult for this khukiri. So, even though one does still need to drive the blade through the wood with something solid, such as another stick of wood (as one would with any large knife), I believe my Kailash khukuri makes easier work of it than a thicker blade could.
My conclusion is that Kailash Blades definitely knows what they're doing when it comes to making khukuris. The combination of the best of traditional craftsmanship, married with modern design technique and innovation, results in a knife that will last the owner for decades. A reliable knife is an invaluable tool in the bush, and the folks at Kailash Blades know how to make reliable knives. I would recommend them to anybody seeking a blade, and my head is already swimming with custom ideas for future projects! Thanks guys, for making me a khukuri I can brag about!"
- Patrick H., Southern Appalachia, USA.
We're extremely thankful for him to have applied his experience and then taken the time to write us out a review like this- it's a massive help to a newer business like ours. If you're looking for more information, check out our subforum or give our website a look.
Take care,
Andrew and the team at Kailash Blades.
"The first thing one notices about Kailash Blades is that they are different. I have never seen a bad review of their products, and this will be no exception. Of the many khukuri houses in Nepal, there's something about their unique approach to producing the best blade possible that simply inspires confidence. What's more, they offer full customization options, which was too enticing to pass up. I decided to go with one of their production blades, but with a customized handle, which I designed and drew up myself. Their willingness to work with the customer to produce the desired result is commendable.
From the moment I placed my order, I was like a child waiting for Christmas morning. The anticipation was alleviated from time to time as the Kailash team sent me progress pictures, so I could watch my very own knife being forged and assembled. I had the bad timing to place my order during festival season, so there was a bit of a delay, but that was understandable. Folks have to celebrate, after all. I even learned a little about Hindu holidays in the meantime.
When the knife finally arrived, and I was holding it in my hand at last, I was already impressed. Have you ever held a blade in your hand that you can somehow "feel" was made for cutting? This knife wanted to cut something, and let me tell you, I could feel it. Far lighter than any khukuri I have owned previously, it felt alive in my hand. I have owned khukuris from other khukuri houses in the past. When you pick them up, they feel as if they don't want you to. Thick, heavy chunks of steel that are only shaped like a khukuri, they required a lot of modification (mostly grinding the blade down to a usable thickness) before I could even use them. A Kailash khukuri, however, is ready to go right out of the box. It was a tremendous relief to realize that I had just received a khukuri that I would not have to make any modifications to.
The customized handle was spot-on, and fit my hand snugly and perfectly, exactly as I had wanted. I went with the micarta option, because as any experienced khukuri owner knows, a knife made in Nepal with traditional handle material requires a treatment period to acclimate the handle to the owner's environment. The climate-proof micarta eliminates this requirement. Not too rough, and not too slippery, and kept a firm, yet fluid grip when swinging the blade.
I took the khukuri out to the woods to give it a performance test. What can I say? It performs. The first thing I did was take a swing at a young poplar tree, about 3 inches in diameter. The blade bit deep, well over halfway through the trunk. It was almost effortless. In retrospect, I should have tried to cut the entire sapling in two with one blow. I might have done it with this knife.
But poplar is soft wood, so big deal, right? So I found a young red oak tree, maybe 7 or 8 inches in diameter, that had fallen over. I checked, and the heart wood was still sound, and hardened by laying for some time and drying out - a perfect test. I laid into the trunk with my new khukuri. I had cut clear through all the heartwood by the time the trunk broke apart the rest of the way. I checked the khukuri. No edge deformation, and it had not dulled - still as sharp as when I took it out of the box.
I was expecting the khukuri to underperform when I tried to use it to split kindling. Hatchets are generally better-suited to splitting small pieces of wood, since their thicker wedge shape drives the wood fibers apart more easily. A blade produced by a more typical khukuri house may be thick, but it has a flat profile, which mostly serves to provide a good gripping surface for the wood, so the blade tends to get stuck. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the Kailash blade's performance. The edge has a convex grind, which serves to guide the wood away from the blade. And since the blade is thinner than an average khukuri house blade, as well as slightly hollow ground, it provides less surface area for the wood to grip, and thus travels through the wood far more easily. The combined result is that kindling is not difficult for this khukiri. So, even though one does still need to drive the blade through the wood with something solid, such as another stick of wood (as one would with any large knife), I believe my Kailash khukuri makes easier work of it than a thicker blade could.
My conclusion is that Kailash Blades definitely knows what they're doing when it comes to making khukuris. The combination of the best of traditional craftsmanship, married with modern design technique and innovation, results in a knife that will last the owner for decades. A reliable knife is an invaluable tool in the bush, and the folks at Kailash Blades know how to make reliable knives. I would recommend them to anybody seeking a blade, and my head is already swimming with custom ideas for future projects! Thanks guys, for making me a khukuri I can brag about!"
- Patrick H., Southern Appalachia, USA.
We're extremely thankful for him to have applied his experience and then taken the time to write us out a review like this- it's a massive help to a newer business like ours. If you're looking for more information, check out our subforum or give our website a look.
Take care,
Andrew and the team at Kailash Blades.
