Does anybody want a village khukuri?

Bill Martino

Bill Martino

Joined
Mar 5, 1999
Messages
34,096
Does anybody want a village khukuri? Take a look at one being made for a little background information.

http://members.aol.com/nepalkamis/index.html

This is exactly the way your village khukuri will be made. The blade will be roughly finished but incredibly strong. The blade itself will compare to the HI khukuris made at shop 1 in quality and we can safely guarantee the blade unconditionally for life. The handle is another thing. You may want to take a look at shop 1 also.

http://members.aol.com/nepalkamis/shop1.html

The specs will be haphazard in order to keep cost down. If we have to travel to the village, give the kami the specs and then travel back in a week or two to pick up the knife time and travel costs will make the knife cost more than we want to charge. However if we simply buy what a kami might have on hand we can offer the knife at a much lower cost. Overall length will range from 15 to 20 inches. Style could be anything from a Chainpuri to Salyan or a khukuri made for local use. Handle material will be bone, horn or wood. The scabbard might be good or average. Just because a kami can forge a fine blade does not mean he knows how to sew leather. Chances are the karda and chakma will be poor but they might be excellent. It will be a crap shoot for everything except the blade but if the overall quality is below acceptable standards we just won't buy the rig.

These khukuris will be priced according to size and overall quality of the rig. Blades will be guaranteed for life.

We can offer a 15 incher for between $40 and $60, depending on quality of entire rig.

A 20 incher will run $60 to $80.

If we find a 25 incher it will run $80 to $100.

Remember, they won't be pretty but if anybody is interested email me or post and if we can find ten takers we'll head for the villages.

Uncle Bill



 
I'm possibly interested...see a follow-up topic posting asking "wtf is a chainpuri?"
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Reading your post, I have one obvious question. You say that the blades in question could be anything from a X to a Z. Should we take this to mean that we might can specify, within reasonable parameters, what we want, or is it a crap shoot?
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Mike
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Hey! Uncle Sam!

(_!_) Nyah nyah nyah!

Refund! You lose! :)


 
Bill,

You can put me down for 18"-20" "user", one I can just leave at camp and not worry about.

sing

Feels like a khukuri "bug".
 
Coronach:

Sure. Let us know what you want and we will look for it. It we happen to find it, fine. If we don't take a look at what we do find.

Uncle Bill
 
The looks aren't as important as performance. So I have to ask, are the village khukuris of the same quality (performance wise) as the regular line H.I.s ?
 
What is the likelyhood of finding a 38" or larger model and what would be the cost. This should work well for serious tree chopping and demolision work on old barns and houses.

Will the handles be Nepali sized or North American sized?

Are the blades polished as the H.I. khukuri's?

Will
 
Pretty much. A 15 inch village AK will do the same work as the HI. Handle and buttcap may not be as good and may not last as long, scabbard might look a bit bedraggled but the knife works. As I mentioned on another post most of the work done by khukuris in Nepal is done by the village khukuri.

Uncle Bill
 
Will, chances of finding the larger khukuris are not good. There is little demand for them for local use.

Blades will NOT be polished. If a khukuri has a handle of four or four and a half inches we won't buy it. Simply too small for the US and Canadian customer.

Remember, village khukuris have no set specs and are a one of a kind with some crazy styles. But they work and they don't fail.

Uncle Bill
 
Ah. Light dawns on dark mind.
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Okay...so, HI offers a siraputi and a chainpuri (still determining what that is at press time. hee hee)...it is also possible to get village quality AKs. Hmmm.

Let me do the math, here. I want a chopper...I also want a long 'fighting blade' for martial arts (and just 'cause)...the one I'm likely to booger up the finish with is the chopper, since I'll actually USE the thing...so...Uncle? Put me down for one village AK, and lemme think about the other options.

I'll still definately be getting a HI Siraputi and/or chainpuri in the future. Gotta pick the right lotto numbers...
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Mike




------------------
Hey! Uncle Sam!

(_!_) Nyah nyah nyah!

Refund! You lose! :)


 
In other words, the Kamis who can't come and work at the shop(s) still get to make a few bucks ( what's that translate to in raising their standard of living? ).

We get to buy twice as many real, authentic, honest to god using khukuris for the same cost, meaning we buy at least two if not three or four until we've got one at the camp, in the car and truck, in the garage...

If we're short one month, we can still probably squeeze enough out the next month for one.

Uncle Bill, that means to me that because I won't worry so much if ( god forbid ) one gets lost or stolen, I'm more likely to have one with me when it's needed very badly, and it'll be one that won't let me down.

And there is no less spirit in each blade.

You get to remain in charge of quality control. If it's right, it gets bought and shipped over here. If not, the village kami sells it locally.

Bill, even the HI blems are heirloom quality. In about a dozen years, you've proved they can do everything you claim, and some of those claims sound absurd to the uninitiated.
You've had to overcome the shoddy quality of the Indian mass produced junk and the Nepali tourist models. If anyone has the knowledge and credibility to say "these look rough, but they won't let you down", it's you and Kami and all the rest at HI. If *you* guys can have confidence in them, and sell them as worth what's paid for them, the forums will get out the word to non-believers.
 
Bill, I think this is a very good idea. Village quality khukuris will be snapped up by this crowd.

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JP
 
Rusty,

You hit it on head with how I'm feeling about it. I like the background of these "village khukuris". I trust Bill's integrity. I rather get one of these "rough" but very usable blades than one from a production company.

So, how is this going to work Bill? You get them in then let us know? I am not in any rush mind you. Just curious.

sing
 
Hmmm... since I got the idea out on the forum for everyone else to comment on, and since I'm the only one to have actual experience with the performance of the village quality khukuris, why don't I do the final grading on each shipment of them that comes in before you post their availability on the forum? Just let me know before the bank closes the day they arrive and I'll be there oh, say by 11 AM the next morning?
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HEH HEH HEH Cobalt :P ;P
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[This message has been edited by Rusty (edited 27 April 1999).]
 
Rusty, thanks for the kind words. They sound a lot better coming from you than from me.

You are exactly right about extra bucks. Nara, for example, has enough land and animals to keep him at home. It's an hour or two walk depending on the weather from his home to a road where he can take a bus to get to work at a production shop. If he works at shop 2 which I hope he does it will take him 3 to 5 hours one way to the shop. He'll have to stay three or four days and then head back home to manage the farm chores his wife and kids can't handle. However, he can knock out a khukuri a week at home and won't have to leave.

When we were first starting 11 years back this is exactly what we did. We didn't want the mass produced, questionable quality tourist and export types so we were getting village kamis to make our knives -- some to our specs and some to theirs. None of the blades ever failed but handles were sometimes too small and if they used the quick and dirty method they were bound to fail sooner or later, kardas and chakmas were not consistent in quality and same with scabbards. It was a real hassle and we needed a standard product line and better quality control over the entire rig so that's why we made the deal with shop 1.

These knives are cheaper if you don't have to do a lot of running back and forth to the village. Let's use Nara again for an example. It will take us either a very long day to get to his place and back and we'll probably end up having to overnight with him and turn it into a two day affair. For one or two or three knives this is too much time and travel.

Because they are not as pretty and slick and don't have to be anything but pretty close to specs if we give specs at all the cost goes way down if we can keep travel down.

The kami may give the knives some kind of personal blessing but it is not the same ritual that's performed down at shop 1 so I can't say these will be blessed with Gurkha blood but the blades will certainly have a spirt.

Rusty, you have two Chainpuris of village quality and you have one of HI quality. My own opinion of these is the HI is prettier, much better finished, has a carved scabbard rather than plain, and if you order another it will be almost identical. But if you work all three knives hard the blades are going to hold up just about the same. You can tell your story and I think it will end up being the same as mine. As I recall the two village khukuris cost less than your single HI Chainpuri and this is a consideration.

I think this weekend we'll call Kami and have him and his cadre scout for 15 or 20 village khukuris. If they can round them up we'll send them over and everybody who is interested can take a look. From the email I've received just today and the response here I don't think we will have a problem selling them. And I have a few old customers who are always wanting another village knife to add to their collection.

So it's a go but give us a month or two to get them here.

Uncle Bill
 
Count me in for one 18-22 inch villager!!!

John and Rusty are going to have to break out there Village People albums to go with these khukuri's
 
I'd be interested in anyting in the 18" Ang Khola class, or 20" Sirupati class. I can live with about kami tolerances even though I own a micrometer and have access to an accurate scale.

Of course the 38" or bigger model if I am so lucky.

Will

[This message has been edited by Will Kwan (edited 27 April 1999).]
 
I'm very interested in something in the 15" or 18" range. What I'd really like is something a Kami made when he was feeling loopy, good quality but unique(read weird) design!
Aaron

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aaronm@cs.brandeis.edu
I like my women like I like my knives: strong, sharp, well-formed and pattern-welded!
 
Bill,

I am interested in a 18" bone handled piece. I am open as far as style goes. Do you have anything along those lines?


Regards,

Tom Carey

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Bill,
Put me dow for a blade. 15"-20", just let me know what I've got to shell out.
Dan
 
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