No ties to his company, just someone who has purchased Kukri from him over a few years. I can say that he is honest, and those jumping in accusing him of being a crook should abstain. What happened was COVID, it hit harder in parts of Nepal, than in others. To make a long story short. Tim was using several blacksmiths in Nepal to make Kukri. Raju Baralli, Neem Tenji, and Barun Barrail ( no relation to Raju ). Neem got very ill from Covid, and almost died. Raju had to close his forge, and take a job at KHHI, to feed his family. He left many unfinished Kukri, and didn't communicate with Tim. Neem recovered and has taken on the projects given to Raju. He has to start over, and he is meticulous in his work. So he's not going to bash out something that looks like the ordered Kukri, he has to make Kukris that Raju has been making for years, and start from scratch. Which might mean some prototypes, and reworks, etc. I think that Neem will get these made as quick as he can, without compromising his known quality.
Considering if you ordered a Kukri, pre pandemic, from Raju, and it's one he already makes, a 4-6 month wait was normal. Now... Who knows. I had two on order, and called Tim. After a bit of back, and forth, we agreed that he would offer me some from his collection, and cancel my order. He does work for a living, so isn't always answering the phone. He's always returned my calls, but saying that it has been a couple of months since we have talked. Others that I own, and recommend are GGK kukri, Purna makes some great kukri, and Heritage, which make excellent Kukri, and often has some for sale in the US through DLT. Not a fan of Himalayan Imports, to heavy, and way to expensive. If you want a big chunk of unbalance metal order a Kuk from one of many sellers on Ebay, or Etsy., and safe some cash. KHHI has improved in quality over the years.
Good Luck
