Felling Khukuri

W

Will Kwan

Joined
Nov 23, 1998
Messages
1,594
I am looking for the ultimate "felling khukuri". My thoughts were towards the Super Salyan and Yvsa thought the Ganga Ram is better.

Yvsa, I'm why do you think the Ganga Ram style is a better felling khukuri than a Super Salyan. Since I have not handled either I will defer to your experience?

My 22" Ang Khola is great but if I had something with a wider blade it should penetrate even better. Of course I may have to put up with the blade sticking. The Ang Khola is also a great splitter.

Will

 
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Will, my Super Salyan is 20" oal with a 12 1/2" blade 2 7/8" wide and 5/8" thick. The handle is 8" long!! I will get back to you tomorrow on the weight of the Salyan as my g'daughter is sleeping in the room where the scale is.

My Ganga Ram is 21 1/2" oal with a 15" blade 2 7/8" wide and about 9/16" thick. The handle is 6 1/2" long. It goes 3 1/4 Lbs.

I had to cut down the diameter on the Salyan handle as I couldn't hang onto it well enough to be safe with it. The handle on th GR is at the upper limit of what I consider safe. I really need to flaten it some on the sides. I hate to mess with the handle since it has a radiused section just below the little angle ring in the center that is made to look like a piece of rope,but I am considering it later on.

The GR has a much better balance than the Salyan!
I would compare the Salyan to an old Dodge Power Wagon and the GR to a big nice Lincoln in the way they handle.
The way the blade is shaped on the GR is more like a gently hollow ground axe with the top of the bevel at 0.220" 5/8" from the edge, the Salyan is 0.280" at 3/4" from the edge.
The Salyan also has a nice hollow grind from the top of the bevel to the spine. I haven't used either of them that much yet for felling.

I think some of the GR's made by the old craftsman himself went down to 19 inches.
Steven has one by GR and one made by Bura I believe. Harry has one made by Bura also I believe. They may be able to shed some light on whether all of the ones Bura is making go up to around 22 inches and 3 1/4 Lbs.

That may give you an idea of why I think the GR is a better felling khukuri. It will also let you compare their measurements to your AK.
Due to the difference in balance or the dimensions of both knifes the GR penetrates muc better for me. The only time I have had it hang up in a cut was some I made in the end grains while splittng some Honey Locust and Oak.



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>>>>---¥vsa---->®

"Know your own bone, gnaw at it, bury it, unearth it again."

'Thoreau'

Khukuri FAQ
 
Will, I think the Super Salyan would be a great "felling" khuk -- so much so that I tried to order one a while back, but Uncle Bill no longer had any in stock and did not seen interested in placing another order at the time, mainly because he considers the Super Salyans to be super only in the sense that they're super ugly. However, I would still like to get one and if a few other folks are interested, maybe Uncle would reconsider.
 
SF. I am up for it. Salayan... hmmm can I find room for one of these??? Let's think...of course I can.

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"Clear a path for the Kukhri or it will clear one for itself"
 
We are going to make a couple of Super Salyans. I think they are ugly but if somebody wants them we will make them. The kamis don't seem to mind so why not? My personal preference should not dictake what we do.

Blessings from Anamnagar and Suryabenai!

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Uncle Bill
Himalayan Imports Website
Khukuri FAQ

 
I do not think that HI can produce a ugly khukri. A khukri By HI is beatiful by nature. Blondes, brunettes, redheads, raven tressed beauties, Love em all. With a big thanks to Rusty
biggrin.gif
 
Uncle Bill,

You are usually correct in assessing khukuri's. As long as the only negative thing you have to say about the Super Salyan is that it is ugly, I think I will be happy with it. I'll be swinging my khukuri not looking at it.

Yvsa,

Thanks for the great information. I can see why the Super Salyan has been refered to as Stubby now.

I did not realize the Ganga Ram khukuri's were over 3 LB, I was expecting around 2.5 Lb. I recall Bill saying the Super Salyan is around 3.75 LB and others assessing it at around 4 LB. This gave me the impression that the Super Salyan has a very signifigant weight advantage. It will be very interesting to find out what your Super Salyan weighs, after all these are hand made knives.

A felling khukuri for me would ideally weigh 3-3.5 LB. I am quite happy with my 3.75 LB Ang Khola and glad that it does not weigh less. There seems to be an absence of khukuri's in the 2.5-3 LB range, perhaps the Ganga Ram will fall into this catagory.

Will

[This message has been edited by Will Kwan (edited 02-16-2000).]
 
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Will, my Salyan weighs 3.5 Lbs.

Cliff:
You have taught me so much about how to really judge a knife on its merits or demerits alone and in comparrison to others.
I just wanted to Thank You for that!! I have learned a whole new outlook on the knife world.

Let me get back to you tomorrow after I whirl these around a bit so I can perhaps give you a 1/2 way intellegent answer. I know what I "feel" between the two knifes, but I haven't thought about it except too know I would prefer the GR for a felling khukuri.

Since I sorta inheireted your old Salyan that was a bit too soft, can you recall how it felt too you as far as balance went?



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>>>>---¥vsa---->®

"Know your own bone, gnaw at it, bury it, unearth it again."

'Thoreau'

Khukuri FAQ
 
Okay, Time for my two cents. First let me say that I do want to own both. I think that part of the reason that the salayan appeals to me is the shape. The shape is different from a lot of khukris, this makes it attractive to me. The shape is also the same thing that draws me towards the Ganga Ram. I also think that how a knife handles is somewhat determined by who hadles it. For example, I do not like a Sikes-fairborne dagger because the handle is too small for me. Furthermore since the most of us are not doing cutting drills or using the khuks in a manner that we could compare apples to apples, it is difficult to say what is better than another. I personally want one of each, it will just take a while.

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"Clear a path for the Kukhri or it will clear one for itself"
 
:
Sorry I didn't get back last night. Kinda got under the weather yesterday.

Matt the Super Salyan is one beautiful knife in its shape. When you put it on one side of the room and stand at the other side it looks exactly like the pic of the litte Salyan on the H.I.'s website.
The kamis did an excellent job of duplicating it. If Uncle Bill hadn't of set "limits" on it then it may have been more like the balance of the other khukuri's of H.I. manufacture.
It's a good knife. I just prefer the GR fo a felling knife. On the other hand I like the Salyan for splitting.

Cliff:
I whirled these around a bit and done some measureing as the only thing I feel between the two knifes is that the Salyan hurts my wrist something fierce when I swing it. The GR doesn't. If I choke up on the Salyan at about the cho it becomes more like the GR and doesn't hurt to swing it from that point.

The balance points may explain that as the GR is more centered in its balance.

Both knifes are the same or very close from butt cap to balance point at approx. 11 1/2 inches.
The GR has 10" from balance point to the point of the knife.
The Salyan is 8 3/4" from balance point to the point of the knife.
The GR has 2 3/4"" more blade
when both knifes are layed evenly at the bolster. That doesn't sound like much into itself, but the GR's shape at the end puts more steel out in front.

I never thought about the balance of a knife in this way before and I will have to check out some of my others now. I am beginning to think that a knife that has its balance point close to the center of its length may be the most comfortable to use.
I think that this may be of more importance as the knife gets heavier.
Then again I could be full of it as well.
I would like some feedback on this and some of the knives that y'all have.

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>>>>---¥vsa---->®

"Know your own bone, gnaw at it, bury it, unearth it again."

'Thoreau'

Khukuri FAQ
 
Using one for felling and one for splitting. I think that is what I was trying to say, but failed miserably in my delivery. Thanks for everyone's input. Now i really want a GRS AND a Super Salyan. I just cannot resist a good sharp object, when it is an incredible sharp shiny object I am totally lost.

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"Clear a path for the Kukhri or it will clear one for itself"
 
Uncle, please sign me up for one of the Super Salyans. And I agree with Matt, HI cannot make an ugly khuk!

[This message has been edited by Steven F (edited 02-19-2000).]
 
A possibly not so amusing thought:

1) I wonder how many orders Uncle Bill usually gets in an average 3 week period,
2) How many people have placed orders on the forum and by email awaiting his return,
3) And how many are going to be placed as soon as he unpacks his bags.

He may never dare to go on vacation again!

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Horse sense is what a jackass ain't got.
 
To Matt and Steven, "Beauty in the eye of the beholder", right?

wink.gif


Rusty, I'd agree with you but think that the positives would outweigh the negatives in this situation. Bottomline, I think this trip will be good for Uncle Bill and Yangdu, HI, as well for us Khuk Knuts.

Harry

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L'audace, toujours l'audace!!!
 
Thanks for the info Ysva.

The weights and dimensions are much closer than I expected. I can see why the Ganga Ram style khukuri has better chopping perfromance than the Super Salyan.

By the way Yvsa, which section of the blade do you normally chop/fell with? I found a lot of force could be transmitted with the forward curved khukuri if I struck near the tip. Oddly, when I split with the 22" Ang Khola I use two hands and when I chop down stuff I use one hand.

I am hoping my Ganga Ram would be around 2.5 LB to will fill the khukuri no-mans land of 2-3 LB. Has anyone else considered anything in this catagory? An Ang Khola or Ganga Ram in this catagory may be very interesting.

Well, lets see where kami tolerances land the new Ganga Rams and Super Salyans. Either way I'm looking forward to both of them.

To be be direct, the beuty of H.I. blades are extremely strong and reliable blades, decent edge retention, and Kami safety factor dimmensions. The ugly side are cracked handles.

Will

[This message has been edited by Will Kwan (edited 02-20-2000).]
 
:
Will,I find the GR to chop better toward the tip also.
I use it with one hand either chopping or splitting unless the splitting gets tough, then I use both hands. Another thing I like about the GS is the control I seem to have with it. I can rough out something much easier with it than any other khuk I have it seems.
When slitting something more precisely I sometimes use a piece of wood to start the GR where I want it and then turn it upside down and pound letting the weight of the wood do the work.

------------------
>>>>---¥vsa---->®

"Know your own bone, gnaw at it, bury it, unearth it again."

'Thoreau'

Khukuri FAQ
 
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