full tang

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malcolm47

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Oct 11, 2005
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I know this question might have been asked before but please be patient because the search option won't work for me :rolleyes: . How can you tell if a khukuri has a full tang just by looking at it? I noticed someone made the comment on todays DOTD about the Jange having a full tang but it isn't like a chiruwa AK with pins in the handle so I am a bit confused. Also it is said that the Sgt. Khadka biltons have a full tang but I can't tell on my Sgt. Thanks for the info...................Malcolm
 
Full tang means the tang is extended all the way to the end. You can see it at the buttcap. It may be narrow (kangaroo tail) but still full. :)
 
That's something important that gets confused a lot.

Most seem to be shipping with full tangs now, previously the jange and dui chirra were partial tang. The dui chirra still is, but they added a pin in the handle on the last 4 or 5 that wasn't there before in the same fashion as an M43. The latest Janges have been full tang.

Sometimes people refer to the chiruwa handle as full tang, which is I guess technically correct, but it fully means split handle and on the Chiruwa handles, rather than the thinner kangaroo tail running through the length of the handle and fixed at the end, the tang is the full length and depth of the handle with slabs being attached to each side. These are attached with two or three visible pins throught the slabs and tang.

Generally
Full Tang - Ang Khola, British Army Service, Chitlangi, Kobra, World War II...
Chiruwa - M43, Chiruwa Ang Khola, anything marked "Chiruwa"
Partial Tang - Dui Chirra, previous Jange

I think I got all of that right...
 
SASSAS said:
That's something important that gets confused a lot.

Most seem to be shipping with full tangs now, previously the jange and dui chirra were partial tang. The dui chirra still is, but they added a pin in the handle on the last 4 or 5 that wasn't there before in the same fashion as an M43. The latest Janges have been full tang.

Sometimes people refer to the chiruwa handle as full tang, which is I guess technically correct, but it fully means split handle and on the Chiruwa handles, rather than the thinner kangaroo tail running through the length of the handle and fixed at the end, the tang is the full length and depth of the handle with slabs being attached to each side. These are attached with two or three visible pins throught the slabs and tang.

Generally
Full Tang - Ang Khola, British Army Service, Chitlangi, Kobra, World War II...
Chiruwa - M43, Chiruwa Ang Khola, anything marked "Chiruwa"
Partial Tang - Dui Chirra, previous Jange

I think I got all of that right...
Click to expand...

Added to partial tang:
- Kagas Katne, with rare exceptions
- Biltons, with a few exceptions, like the fancy ones made by Sgt. Khadka
- KPH/Sarge knives, which all, so far, seem to be partial tang
Not a detractor to me, since, in Western Europe at least, nearly all knives from the Iron Age up to the 14th Century, were made that way, including some rather large fighting knives. It can be pointed out that daggers and swords uniformly seemed to have full length tangs and pommels, but I suspect in addition to added strength, the full length tang's primary role was to provide an attachment for the pommel. Pommel's were useful to place weight where it was needed to facilitate a better balanced, and therefore faster handling weapon.

Tang, it's what the astronauts drink :D :rolleyes: :D

Sarge
 
SASSAS said:
That's something important that gets confused a lot.

Most seem to be shipping with full tangs now, previously the jange and dui chirra were partial tang. The dui chirra still is, but they added a pin in the handle on the last 4 or 5 that wasn't there before in the same fashion as an M43. The latest Janges have been full tang.

Sometimes people refer to the chiruwa handle as full tang, which is I guess technically correct, but it fully means split handle and on the Chiruwa handles, rather than the thinner kangaroo tail running through the length of the handle and fixed at the end, the tang is the full length and depth of the handle with slabs being attached to each side. These are attached with two or three visible pins throught the slabs and tang.

Generally
Full Tang - Ang Khola, British Army Service, Chitlangi, Kobra, World War II...
Chiruwa - M43, Chiruwa Ang Khola, anything marked "Chiruwa"
Partial Tang - Dui Chirra, previous Jange

I think I got all of that right...
Click to expand...

I've also seen the full tang (split handle) version called 'Panawal'. Is panawall just a different term or does it have another meaning re: handle / tang configuration?
 
Panawall is the term Khukuri House uses for their Chiruwa style handles.
 
Just another one of the subtle term differences used when talking about khuks. Just to clarify when talking about HI khuks:

Chiruwa means a slab handled knife.
Full tang means that the rat tail tang (more like a kangaroo tail) goes all the way through the handle and is peened over in addition to being glued in.
Partial tang means that the tang is not peened over, BUT that does not mean weak. A lot of partial tangs go over half way into the handle. Many have a pin drilled through them as a back up. There have even been cases where a carved handle khuk had a tiny metal nub poking out from the head of the carving. I have a Garud AK that rides in my truck to scare off truck gremlins (actually I just keep forgetting to bring it inside). It's pinned and I have probably put it through 20 hours or more of heavy chopping with no ill effect. Nothing has come lose. Nothing has cracked.
Like wise, the little non pinned partial tang knives are more than strong enough to do hard work. I'm quite sure that if i put a bilton or a sarge/KPH in a vise and yanked on the handle with arm strength alone that my arm would fail before the blade came free.

Jake
 
Tang, it's what the astronauts drink
Click to expand...

Space shuttle: somewhere in earth's orbit:

"hey Captain, throw me that new Chiruwa Tang" "whoa!! I didn't really mean THROW it";) :D
 
SASSAS said:
<snip>

Generally
Full Tang - Ang Khola, British Army Service, Chitlangi, Kobra, World War II...
Chiruwa - M43, Chiruwa Ang Khola, anything marked "Chiruwa"
Partial Tang - Dui Chirra, previous Jange

I think I got all of that right...
Click to expand...

But what should we call a 'Chiruwa' where the handle does NOT go all the way to the back???
I have seen a few knives like that...Usually EXPENSIVE custom ones, but they really look great(and neat:D)! What I am talking about is where they take the handle and cut a slot from side to side about 3/4 of the length of the knife, and then pin the blade on it... It should be at least as strong as a full tang...
 
Sylvrfalcn said:
<snip>

Pommel's were useful to place weight where it was needed to facilitate a better balanced, and therefore faster handling weapon.

Tang, it's what the astronauts drink :D :rolleyes: :D

Sarge
Click to expand...

Pommels were also used as 'Skull Crushers', and any variant that is pointed or spiked is referred to as a 'Skull Crusher Pommel'.
They were used so that you still had a close combat weapon if you had your sword out and the other person suddenly closed the distance with you to get too close to you for you to use your sword effectively...You could then grapple with him and without shifting your grip, bash the back of his skull in... Medieval sword fighting was not the nice spectator sport like it is shown in the movies(except for the movie "Excalibur" and a few others)... A lot of it was close quarters, with kicking and punching and bashing with whatever you had at hand... So, weapons began to be made with features to help you in such things... Despite what a lot of people in 'The Cult of the Katana' will tell you, the European swords were superbly suited for their job.
 
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