Difference between 30 Sirupati and 25 Kobra?

Manoucher -

If you're expecting the 25" Kobra to handle like a Katzenbalger, you'll be disappointed. It's (IMHO) an instrument of precision rather than extreme force; it doesn't rely on sheer mass. Quite the reverse. It floats like the proverbial butterfly.

The 25" Kobra excels through perfect balance. It's a minimalist blade; basically a narrowed-down sirupati without the fullered middle. In consequence, it has superior strength and superior agility. Because it's light and suprememly well balanced, you can hit harder, and faster, and with greater accuracy, than with any comparable edged tool.

I must very respectfully disagree with those who classify it as a sword. 'Taint. (the 30" version was a sword - not,IMVHO, a very good one - but not the 25"). If you want a really high-class 25" sword, keep an eye out for a 25" sirupati weighing between 2 and 2.5 pounds; it'll have wide edge bevels, a fullered midsection and a thin edge, which is right for the shearing action of a sword. The Kobra has narrower bevels and a thicker, more axe-like edge, which is right for the slicing and choping expected of a heavy-duty tool. Not that I'd fancy the idea of being in the way of a Kobra blade travelling at 100mph...
 
Manoucher -

I've never handled a 30" sirupati. However, I own 2 25-inch sirupatis, one weighing a shade under 2 lb, one a shade under 3lb; as you might expect, they feel, handle and work completely differently. The lighter version is, in my experience, a far better cutter; I attribute this to the balance and edge geometry. The heavy version has wide edge bevels and a thick cannel-ground edge; it chops but it won't slice. The lightweight version has equally wide bevels but a thin, swordlike edge; it both chops and slices.

The heavy version is, IMHO, the product of a lazy smith; he made the edge very thick spo there'd be no chance of it breaking or rolling, even if he got the heat-treatment stage slightly wrong. As far as the 2lb version's concerned, it was absolutely critical that the heat treatment was perfect, or the blade would be excessively fragile. In the event, he got it right; the blade is beautifully hardened and tempered, and I have no qualms at all about using it for heavy duty work.

The point I'm trying to make is that the term sirupati appears to cover a wide range of different styles & approaches. A lightweight (say 2.5lb) thirty-incher would be a very different proposition from a 3.5lb version.

Personally, judging from my experience with the 30" Kobra, my instincts tell me that thirty inches is maybe three inches too long for the concave blade format. That, though, is little more than prejudice on my part. Please bear in mind that I'm shorter than average and not particularly strong.

Regards,

Tom
 
Originally posted by Tom Holt
It's (IMHO) an instrument of precision rather than extreme force; it doesn't rely on sheer mass. Quite the reverse. It floats like the proverbial butterfly.
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Tom,

Very well said.

Here's a good question:

At what length does the khuk stop being a chopper and become a sword?
 
Originally posted by pendentive



At what length does the khuk stop being a chopper and become a sword?
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Good question.

Personally, I think there's other factors involved as well as just length; such as, balance, edge geometry, weight.

I'd say that the 25" Kobra is a utility tool that can be used as a sword; my 2lb 25" sirupati is a sword that can be used as a utility tool (though only because it's exceptionally well made). IMHO, anything longer than 25" OAL is more likely to be a sword than a tool.
 
I will not argue with anything said about the 25" and 30" anything. I still like my 20" Bura Sirupati. I be it will remove a head, and I can handle it pretty well with one hand.:D
 
Pappy, do you hold it backhand, or better stated, if you were in a combative situation, would you hold it backhand?

How much does your 20" weigh?

munk
 
I sure don't recall the weight of that 20"er. I'd have to look back on some threads in the archives.
I may not be able to do that either. I don't think Uncle bill had posted it here.
Do you remember a while back they were talking about a blade cutting to the belly button? I'm betting that if need be the 20" Siru could just do that little number.

Oh yea, The new 30 oz. 18" WW11 is the work horse that Uncle Bill said it was. Get that heavy blade on the move and it would take a lot of grissle and bone to stop it.

Munk I couldn't beleive that the 17" knife out weighs my 15" AK. Maybe I should send it to Stan.
It is capable of some pretty mean tricks.
I guess I better take that Kobra out in the morning and see if it will hold up to really ruff treatment. That blade was made by Kesar when he was scared to death. I still trust it. I pounded it pretty hard in that Mesquite out by our boundry gate. And, that stuff is hard. Kind of in the Oak class.:) :)
 
Pappy, not having experience in the French Revolution, I can't say what will or won't cut off a head. But they are stuck on there pretty tight.
I don't want a 20" Sirupati 'dancing like a butterfly' against my throat, though. Especially not in the hands of a cantankerous ex-marine.

You ever heard of manzanita? A lot like your mesquite, I think. I hope some of our California fellows test their blades in the chapparel.
(sic)
munk
 
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