ebay kukri seller, any good?

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wicca100uk

Joined
Dec 6, 2005
Messages
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hi, i am new to this forum, have figured out how to post at last! i have been browsing ebay for a while, and after seeing many untempered lumps of steel posing as kukris, i came across one that might be goodish (after having a 30inch kobra i think it is from HI, im spoilt, will post pics if wanted, havent the heart to use it yet). anyway, cant post a link according to the rules, but the seller is called "nepalkhukuri". says they are well made etc. description "16" GURKHA SIRUPATE KHUKURI KNIFE-Hi Carbon Steel-Kukri"

SIRUPATEHCH2(1).JPG


http://members.sparedollar.com/COREY321/SIRUPATEHCH1(1).JPG

any advice would be most welcome! oh yes, they dont se frogs properly, they seem to staple them on permanently, some seem to have kami marks, but might just be decoration.

chris
 
Wicca,

They're probably ok. Really depends on what you are gonna use them for.

Just my 2 cents but I'd save my pennies and buy one from Yangdu here. She posts specials around 2 or 3 on weekdays and I can tell you they are of excellent quality with a 100% guarantee.

Also since UK is part of your screen name there is a seller in the UK, Tora and they make decent khuks too. Not quite as heavy duty as a HI but generally good for most stuff you'd run into.:thumbup:
 
thanks for the advice. just that i have to choose very carefully, and as with all of us i suppose, make the pennies stretch. i love filipino blade styles and dha swords, i have recently asked yangdu if she could make a espada y daga set. i looked at the ones that are around and they look ok, kris cutlery and all, but i want something a bit more unique and personal. your reply has leaned me more towards HI! yay!
 
Welcome, Chris. It might be an old HI, it has an older style buttcap and looks right, but I followed the link and saw the sheath. The sheath was not tooled as the older ones were. The tip was white metal. So I just don't know. Tomorow one of the older hands, or a collecter might see this thread and be able to help you.

Hollow has a good idea you know- You might email Yangdu after visiting the HI Shopping site and see if she couldn't find a blade to your liking.

edit; almost forgot- are there any markings on the other side of the blade near the bolster?


munk
 
That's not an HI Khukuri. It could be Nepali Khukuri House or one of the other vendors. They make a lot of rail common khukuris so you spend your money and you take your chances.:grumpy: Railroad steel can make a good khukuri but not all khukuris made from railroad steel are good. My .02 cents.
 
hi again. its an ebay seller who claims to have them made. i have actually bought one from them before, but it has a brass handle. was sharp on corners of the butt, filed them goen. did come very sharp. has a mark of some kind, a hollow star. is this the kind of mark you mean? i have some pics of it, but im not sure how to attatch images. i have already contacted yangdu, but i have been eying up that 18inch kobra, nice and slim, and fast, and BIG! one other question. i have a valiant damascus dha, but it had a crack of some kind on the spine. when i emailed them they said it was a forging flaw. any insight?
 
wicca100uk said:
i have a valiant damascus dha, but it had a crack of some kind on the spine. when i emailed them they said it was a forging flaw. any insight?
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You can't beat an HI Khukuri.:D :cool: ;)

Wicca, usually forging flaws don't go anywhere. You can sometimes find one in the BirGhorka Village Models and quite a bit more often in the real villagers bought from kamis that come in wanting to make a few extra dollars who's khuks are bought by Pala or Gelbu and then turn up here for our benefit, doesn't happen very often and hasn't happened in a mighty long time now.
The "real" villagers are fat hairy butt ugly but they are dayumed excellent workers!!!!:thumbup: :cool: :D
 
Wicca, on a damascus piece such as your dha, this type of flaw can be caused by a few things. If the steel was not hot enough when they were forge welding the billet, you can get a cold shut. If the fire was not clean burning, or they had the billet too low in the fire, oxidation will prevent a good weld. Sometimes you will have a weld between laminations open up during or right after you heat treat (the different types of steel contract and expand at different rates.) This last one usually only happens if the weld was subpar or the quenching medium to quick.

Buy HI when it comes to kukris.

above opinions bolstered by the acquisition of black coal boogers.:D

stevo
 
The person you mentioned selling this knife on ebay is mostly selling "Khukuri Palace" knives (made in Nepal). He does sell some more generic ones as well, but can be distinguished by clicking onto the sale to see if the background color he is using is green or a red border. If the description is bordered with the green background, it will mean that it's a Khukuri Palace knife. If the description is bordered by red, then it's another generic Nepalese made knife. I have never handled a Khukuri Palace knife, but I do know that they recently won a contract to supply initial Service khuks to the Gurkhas. These contracts are given to the lowest bidder that can supply the specified quality standards (similar to what our very own US gov does when offering contracts for military supplies). The "Khukuri Palace", the "Khukuri House", as well as some other companies in Nepal, have won these same contracts in the past. There are more than just a few that can claim to have been a khukuri supplier to the Gurkhas. It helps with their sales promotion, so I'm sure they all try to underbid each other in order to honestly be able to tell other potential buyers that they indeed have supplied these types of knives to gurkha forces under contract.

If you put in the words "khukuri Palace" into your search engine, you can go directly to that company's website to see and read more about them.

Hope this helps in your quest for finding info about this firms products :)
 
Yvsa's right. That's no HI khukuri. It's kind of hard to explain, but I'll try to break down how I came up with that conclusion.

HI did once use the same style frogs that the ebay seller is using, so you can't base a conclusion solely on the frog style. That was long ago though. When HI did use these frogs, the khukuris that came in them looked very different than they do now. First, the blades were marked only with HI. Second, the handles were shorter and there was less cho creep. Now I don't know the size of this knife, so I can't tell how much cho creep there is. However, the third factor that makes me inclined to think that this is a non-HI blade is that it is too polished. The HI khukuris that have these scabbards sport a matte finish, both blade and handle. The khukuri that you linked to has a shiny, almost mirror like finish. Combined with the other details mentioned above lead me to believe that this khukuri comes from a source other than HI.
 
Funny thing is, after calculating shipping costs, HI is a much better deal...and the quality is consistant with HI.
 
Nick7 said:
Funny thing is, after calculating shipping costs, HI is a much better deal...and the quality is consistant with HI.
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Yup.:thumbup: :) It seems that a lot of people are always looking for a bargain and find a place that sells the goods they're looking for cheaper but in the long run they are neither cheaper nor as good.
Like the old saying goes, "Pay the price the first time for something of quality and you won't have to cry and pay the price the second time because you bought an inferior tool to start with." Or something to that effect.;)
 
With an HI khukri, you get a handmade knife signed by the original maker and a 100% replacement guarantee from the company. You also get personalized service, great prices, free shipping (USA) and this forum.
With other suppliers, you get an email address.
There is no comparison in my opinion.
 
Yvsa, when I managed a bicycle store, I made sure that my mechanics were the best and that they were honest. My motto was a spin on what you wrote (we always had people going the cheapest route elsewhere)~ "Pay me now, or pay me later. It doesn't matter, because sooner or later you will be back to see me." Quality, in service and in goods, eventually reigns supreme.
 
Yvsa said:
Like the old saying goes, "Pay the price the first time for something of quality and you won't have to cry and pay the price the second time because you bought an inferior tool to start with." Or something to that effect.;)
Click to expand...

My dad used to say "Cry now or cry later."
 
This is absolutely right. Quality and Service will win out in the long run. Our business isn't the cheapest in town. There are "independent contractors" out there that cost less that we do (think jimbo and rayray workin' off the back of a pick-em-up truck). There are places in town like walmart and target that carry products like ours for ridiculous prices. It is an inferior product that does more harm than good in the long run, but if you tell most people that they think you are just pushing your product:rolleyes: However, I do eventually get through to most folks. They learn that if they come to me they get a good product at a good price and are treated with respect by an expert in the field everytime.
We have even opened a daughter online store. The prices aren't the lowest on the net, but we're just trying to extend our helpful attitude to the rest of America. Integrity and Quality is what my family's business was built on. I'm the oldest son of the oldest son. It's up to me to make sure this next generation of owners gets that through their heads;)
That was one of the greatest lessions i learned in my years of dealing with Uncle Bill and HI. Do a deal on a handshake, offer a great product for a good of a price as you can, treat your customers like a lifetime customer and chances are they will be. All good things that one can apply to their business and to themselves.

Jake
 
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