Ebay kukri's am I better off making one

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davisdesigns

Joined
Jan 4, 2011
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I'd like to have a kukri for backpacking/ camping and came across this guy on ebay
kukri-gurkha who sells "genuine" ones. Some say made from leaf springs, 5160.
After reading here that leaf springs aren't all the same metallurgy I'm wondering if I should buy some 5160 stock and cut-n-grind for a few day and try to heat treat it or just spend the $60+ shipping and hope its not made from hot rolled mild steel?
 
why bother when you can buy a Khukuri house Khuk for under $50 or spend a bit more and purchase a Himalayan imports Khukuri from this very forum? You wont find a leaf spring that is hot rolled mild steel, most if not all khukuri are made from recycled truck springs.

if you really want to make your own but are worried about the heat treat there are smiths on this forum that will heat treat a shaped blank for you at cost.
 
And, as to "genuine"......well, yes, it is a khukri,and it is made in Pakistan/India/Himalayas, so I guess that makes it genuine.
But as to genuine and old....that is most likely not true.

I have talked with a person who runs a large forge in India who said that more Antique Khukris have been made in the last decade than in the previous 500 years. He gets a kick out of the recurrent sales hype about finding a "secret cache" of buried Khukris at some remote abandoned armory. The seller will say there were a small number of them, and then sell thousands of them on the internet and in catalogs for ten years. Every one is identically aged patinaed, too.
 
His take on "genuine" I didnt think he meant antique when I read it...more implied Khuks like what the Nepalese kami at HI and KH are offering. They are genuine in the sense they are made in the regions that were always making them, and locals still use them for day to day tasks.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=739

I can only recommend her go here to begin looking for a quality, kami made, khukuri.
 
The problem with kukris is that for a very long time tourist kukris have been made .They are junk , just for show .I had one and it was worthless as a tool.
It's much better to buy a good one from a place like HI , you'll be happy with it.
 
I got mine from KHHI, it took a while to get here, about 3 months, due to a little political unrest right after I ordered it. They were in constant contact with me and I was basically happy with what I got. The problem wasn't with the KHHI's workmanship, it was with the handle that I ordered. What I thought was a good idea wasn't, but I was able to fix the handle myself and now it is my camp axe for hiking.

I don't have a picture of the old handle but I do have the after shots. The original handle was foam covered, it was to big round and squishy to get a comfortable grip on. I stripped the foam off the handle shaped it and leather wrapped it and added a couple of Turks head knots for better grip

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I think that you would be better off ordering a HI or KH. I have 2 HI, and they have been great.
 
What I meant by genuine was, Not a "genuine" POS… ;c)

I wasn’t implying that leaf springs were made from mild steel but that the kukris off ebay may be.

To be honest I really don’t care where it is made, Just that it is made from quality steel 5160, ATS-34 or W-2 and isn’t stamped form thin sheet, Looks like most are 1/4-5/16" thick.
Heck I don’t even care if it has a handle just a full tang.

If someone here can make and roughly shape then temper/ heat treat at a reasonable price I will purchase from them.
Just don’t sell me junk steel, I almost lost an ear and a finger when a machete snapped in half while in use.
 
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