custom-made khukuris

oh, those crazy brits.
Maybe it's because i'm used to what we have here, but those things are wayyyy too thin for my tastes. Nice attempt, but i would suggest he does a bit more research.
 
I think I am gonna have to agree with Karda, they look a bit thin to me but then I am used to Sher the Tiger's work. ;)
 
I'd have to dub it a KLO as there is no cho or sword of shiva....
And wow - not even .1" thick?! That makes it pretty much just a bent machete :(
 
0.073" - even thinner than cold steels KLO machete! read the whole thread for a laugh. they haven't a clue. their discussion on the cho/kaudi and the 'two little knives' is enlightening. but it 'cuts grass'. :D
 
Like other KLOs, those blades were not forged, therefore no difference in thickness, and no proper weight distribution. He took a flat piece of metal to shape. It sounds like he put a lot of work into it, but unfortunately it won't quite measure up.
 
The HI and other Nepalese khuks are essentially custom right.

My problem with any of the mass produced or non third world khuks I've handled is they are not an improvement over the Nepalese ones. Either the balance is off, or the edge is just a hasty v grind. I've never run into a non nepalese khuk that actually was a better chopper than the nepalese ones.
 
hollowdweller said:
The HI and other Nepalese khuks are essentially custom right.

My problem with any of the mass produced or non third world khuks I've handled is they are not an improvement over the Nepalese ones. Either the balance is off, or the edge is just a hasty v grind. I've never run into a non nepalese khuk that actually was a better chopper than the nepalese ones.
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Owning a kabar kukri machete, I can very much agree - it's pretty much just a bent machete (not enough spine to allow for ax-like tasks) and it came with a horrendous hollow grind causing it to get stuck in everything. I definitely can't see the cold steel one fairing much better.

IMO, the only mass produced KLO that looks promising is the Becker machax, but that model has yet to be revived by Kabar/Becker and the old Camillus ones cost a good deal due to their collectability... I'm sure Bladite, who has an impressive collection of machaxes as well as HI kukris, could give a decent comparison. I would also say that the cold steel gurkha one might prove to be a decent chopper, but they are waaaay too expensive to even consider.

It's kind of funny that people in Nepal, working with primitive methods and tools, are cranking out significantly better kukris than what we see from companies with a huge financial and technological advantage...
 
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Actually, both of the Cold Steel Kukri styled machetes are pretty good choppers. They are not anywhere near as good as an AK or CAK but they are much better than the usual machete for the task. I recently acquired the Condor carbon steel Kukri machete and it is much the way you describe the Kabar version, just an oddly shaped machete. It has a cho, which was sort of surprising, and it has a really comfortable handle but is has no weight nor will it chop worth a darn.
 
CS has two kukris, the regular one, which is a bent machete, and not worth two hoots, and then the much thicker Ghurka kukri.

I always get a kick out of guys who -- usually for reasons of price -- refuse to get an HI kukri, and go for a bent machete. They then go on and on about how great their machete is and how they "really get" why kukris are so great. Then, maybe a few years down the orad, they finally break down and buy an HI (or Tora for the Euros), and they're like "Damn, I wish I listened to you guys earlier! These things are nothing like what I've been using. Now I know why you guys are so adamant about them." Brings a smile to my face.

I also agree with HD, in that I've never seen a kukri that can compete with one made in Nepal. I'm going to chalk it up to experience. First, I'm told by guys who forge, that due to haow you hammer it to get an edge, the blade always wants to curl backward, and it's a real skill to get it to bend forward like on a kukri. Plus, look at their other offerings -- they don't do straight edges very well. Darn near everything has a recurve to it.

I'm very glad I heard about HI and came here to read about them. I handled some of the bent machetes previously, and could never understand why anyone would want them -- I thought all kukris were junk. Until I got a real one. Now, even though I've bought some of the highest end cutting tools from other manufacturers, I still keep coming back to the kukri.
 
hey karda
us brits crazy ? nah a little disjointed maybe even more laid back than most
but us crazy i dunno' you been to the big apple of late:D:D:D now theres crazy:eek::eek::eek:
 
First, I'm told by guys who forge, that due to haow you hammer it to get an edge, the blade always wants to curl backward, and it's a real skill to get it to bend forward like on a kukri.
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That's only half of it, too. When you heat-treat a blade so that the edge is harder than the spine, it wants to curl backward again! That's actually why katanas are curved. The earliest ones were forged straight, then curved as they heat treated. Later ones were a little more refined, but they still gain more curve during the heat treating process, which has to be compensated for when forging them.
 
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