From one extreme to the other.

Yvsa

Yvsa

Joined
May 18, 1999
Messages
15,395
I for one wish that the kamis would hit a happy medium and stay there.:rolleyes: For years we asked for lighter and thinner knives and now we have them.
Except that they seem to be going to a little too light now.
I agree with munk that an 18" khuk should be around 28 ounces, even a 16-1/2" khuk should be around 28 ounces but now some are going to 23 ounces and less, not the optimum chopper in my opinion.:(
Dayumed kamis anyway.:rolleyes: :grumpy:
 
I'm sure eventually everything will come back to balance in the middle somewhere.
 
Yvsa said:
I for one wish that the kamis would hit a happy medium and stay there.:rolleyes: For years we asked for lighter and thinner knives and now we have them.
Except that they seem to be going to a little too light now.
I agree with munk that an 18" khuk should be around 28 ounces, even a 16-1/2" khuk should be around 28 ounces but now some are going to 23 ounces and less, not the optimum chopper in my opinion.:(
Dayumed kamis anyway.:rolleyes: :grumpy:
Click to expand...

They sure did not go light on that 17.5 inch 33 ounce chandan wood handle YCS by Kumar that I got just a little while back!!!:eek:
Man is it heavy!!!
Maybe they were trying to get back at you...:D

P.S. Glad you are back... We all missed you...
 
eswartz said:
Where is the chosen one who will bring balance to the forge?
Click to expand...

Thanks for reminding me that I'm a huge geek;)

"Strike out with your hammer, young Biskywakarma"

On that note, i'm going home:D

Jake
 
Variety is good. What is too light for one is just right for another, and yet too heavy for a third.

One customer wants to cut firewood, another wants to do a fast kata, and another wants to take a blade overseas on a military deployment. Which customer is right?

I think it's the variety that keeps people coming back to HI.

Sometimes we make some request or other to the kamis and then they think we want all, (or most) knives like that.

I've noticed over the years there seem to be fads among HI customers for one thing or another. Habaki bolsters, light thin blades, etc..

The kamis are working from a long tradition. There are many historical examples of thinner blades primarily designed for martial purposes. Just when we start to think we've seen it all they dig up more variations from their past or from their imaginations.

So we get variation driven from two sources, customer desire and kami creativity.

I say let the creativity of the kamis, and the varied desires of the customers reign!
 
There is one thing for sure- light weight with lot's of features- like fullers, takes time, and we're willing to pay extra. Like an FF.
ON the other side, if metal is scarcer and therefore costs more, we are willing to pay for a proper wood chopping khuk that is heavy enough to do the job.

We want it all. We want all the choices, all the models, wood chopping, martial arts, just as Howard and Yvsa say.


munk
 
Yvsa:

IMO, seeing you bitchen' about khuk weights is a good sign . . .

Continued prayers and smoke for a quick recovery.

Noah
 
Lordy: wouldn't that be great? Yvsa out chopping wood again? Bet it happens.



munk
 
Greetings: Men
Hit them barbells, pump that iron, tote that bale, make them arms look like Popeye the sailor man, swing that khukuri like Alley OOP. Make us some of them big Texas size khukuris you little Himalayan Kamis. You may be midgets in Nepal but we are giants here in the USA.We want to be able to chop them logs and terriost in half with one giant heavy blow. You make em, we chop em! He,He,He.
J. W. Kilpatrick
 
Well, gentlemen, we shall see.

I got the "18 inch 23 ounce Ang Khola by master Kami Bura. Neem wood handle."

I'll let you know what she's worth as a chopper. If I don't like her, I have a feeling there's at least 1 forumite who might be interested.
 
Aren't the Khukuris carried by the Nepalese themselves often a bit lighter and thinner than the 'ultra-chopper' khuks common here?
 
Yvsa I'm been thinking about starting a thread about the lighter weight khukuris. Thanks for actually doing it. Though I'm sure many here like to see their favorite models with a few ounces trimmed off, I can't help but look at the recent DOTDs and think about their diminished wood chopping capabilities. A lighter weight may make them more suitable for various utility chores, but I bought most of mine with the goal of converting good-sized trees and branches into good-sized firewood.

Of course, this is my opinion. YMMV.

Bob
 
I love the lighter models. The lack of this is what has almost, but not quite, made me consider other makers. I just wish that I had the money to replace some of the ones that I already have. I don't do a lot of chopping. I look more for lighter carry, speed, and versatility, but of my two 15" AK's my lighter, thinner one is the much better chopper. Never got one of those "big" choppers. Always figured that I'd use an ax if I needed to do heavy chopping, although maybe not as much fun as a Khuk. I would really like to get a lightweight M43, since I think that it was designed for other things than chopping wood. This thinner ones also allow me to do more "knife like" duties when hiking and camping so I don't have to carry multiple blades as much.
 
There IS something to this, but I think it's good.

Got this one, and the feel is great.

"18 inch 25 ounce villager Ang Khola by Bura. Hot pepper wood (Khorsani ko Kath) handle." from 11/8.
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=372180&highlight=pepper

My 15" AK is 24 oz., and it's an interesting comparison.

Lighter=faster, and most of us have a bunch of these things anyways. If I DID get to hunt or camp this year, I'd have a heavy and light khuk along.

also- look out for more khuks with the hot pepper wood- what grain! and color.


Ad Astra
 
Ad Astra said:
also- look out for more khuks with the hot pepper wood- what grain! and color.
Click to expand...

And flavor. :)

While I do believe that more mass equates to more energy delivered per swing, and that under a certain weight performance is severely reduced, I don't believe that weight is everything. There seems to be much more to the equation.

Enter Exhibit A: The Foxy Folly. Different people have been having different experiences with them; the most common complaint seems to be that the lack of weight keeps them from working well.

I compared my FF with Cndrm's. Both are right around 17". One's about half an ounce heavier. One has more of a curve to it. In short, they vary about as much as two handmade objects are going to vary but they're easily recognizable as the same model.

While chopping, they perform very differently from each other. Why? Mike and I discussed this very question for some time. There are too many variables to pin it down. One thing that we can safely discount in this case, though, is the weight.

Enter Exhibit B: My 18", 18 ounce Salyan. Beautifully shaped, nicely balanced, and wickedly fast. It is very light, but I figured that between its ease of handling and the very thin edge, it would be able to keep up with the big boys. I was wrong. In this case the weight is probably the issue; obviously, there is a lower limit to what we can use while expecting to chop reasonable amounts of wood.

So, when I see these lighter weights, I'm not scared. Even the lighter weights can do some work, as long as the rest of the package is sound. The kamis seem to know what they're doing.
 
HI will continue to offer martial art and variety knives in different lengths and weights. Rest assured we shall continue to have the heavier weights and your message has been forwarded to the Shop. I do appreciate and thank you for your suggestions and comments.
 
I think the skinny lady just sang. A few lighter than average blades do not a policy make, and HI has always had variety. A company whose name will not be mentioned specialized in overeaction and fast judgements, and I think we're all still a little over sensitive. If a fat blade shows up, there's a tendancy to throw the towel in and say HI only makes awkward axes. If some light, fast good looking blades show up, what happened to all our choppers?

I'm with Yvsa in that we must never lose sight of the prime use khuk- those wonderul blades of roughly 16.5" to 19" and between 27 and 30 ounces in weight.

IF we have to pay more for increased shipping in today's market that is just the way it will be.

One thing for sure, Yangdu listens to us.


munk
 
Well I sure appreciate a lighter Khukri made for my smaller build. :o

And thanks to Yangdu for listenning to us all. :)
 
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