Good online retailer?

M

Marock

Joined
Feb 23, 2005
Messages
9
Hi, I have been looking into getting myself a Khukuri knife and am wondering what the best place would be to get one. Is this forum im on now some kind of retailer? Im seeing posts about orders and stuff but I dont fully understand. If this forum isnt a retailer could you tell me what you think of this site? http://www.sarcoinc.com/bayo-kukris.html

Seems like a damn good deal, 14 bucks for a military 12". But im not an expert in the least and could use some direction as to where the best place to buy one of these knives is.

Thanks in advance.
 
You get what you pay for. Sometimes, you get much more than you pay for.

Don't rely on a vendor's glorification of his products. Talk to the consumers if you can.

er...


you can here.


Happy Hunting.
 
Kis is being diplomatic.

Sometimes you get even less than you pay for. I don't think its khukuri snobbery. These are bottom-end.

Himalayan Imports has an internet store, http://store.yahoo.com/yhst-7333098713883/index.html, and special's appear in this forum a couple of times a week. (Look at thread "Yangdu's Lucky 7 for 2/23").

The problem with buying a good khukuri is that there is a terrible tendency to treat them like potato chips - can't take just one.

Oh, by the way, the khukri's Sarco sells are not, in fact, military issue.
 
Well actually I found that site through this guys out door survival web page, on it he has a page about Kukri modification so I would assume he knew what he was talking about? http://www.m4040.com/Survival/Ghurka/Kukri Modification.htm heres the site, and theres a link to that online store from there. I think thats a farily cool mod actually, you guys might want to check it out.
 
Thomas Linton said:
Kis is being diplomatic.

Sometimes you get even less than you pay for. I don't think its khukuri snobbery. These are bottom-end.

Himalayan Imports has an internet store, http://store.yahoo.com/yhst-7333098713883/index.html, and special's appear in this forum a couple of times a week. (Look at thread "Yangdu's Lucky 7 for 2/23").

The problem with buying a good khukuri is that there is a terrible tendency to treat them like potato chips - can't take just one.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the site, I bookmarked it and Ill check time to time this week for a deal.
 
Well, I think that guy has a good sense of fun and he likes to make knives, so we are all in the same boat here, but Himalayan Imports Khukuris are the best khukuris made anywere.
Dont throw your money away on any other kind.
Sarco stuff is trash.
Have a look around this forum and you will see. Very quickly you will see.
Welcome, future khukuri junkie.
 
Marock,
I think you'd enjoy the HI web page, and you would learn more about Khukuris then in the link you provided. Unfortunately, I'm not link fluent, but if you find a Post by Moderator Bill Martino, at the bottom of each post is a list of several links.

Welcome.


munk
 
Thank you, munk. Just made it home a few minutes ago. :)
 
Hey, Marock, if you want to learn about khukuris, you came to the right place. People here might seem a little biased towards HI khukuris, and aside from the fact that this is the HI forum, there's a good reason for it: Himalayan Imports makes some of the best knives on the planet. The little brochure that came with my first one describes HI khukuris as World-Class knives, which seemed to me a little silly at first. After handling and using my first khukuri for a short while, it no longer seemed silly.
 
Alright so ill stay away from the Sarcos then, im going to start browsing this forum for links and the like, and Ill keep an open mind towards that import site whos name I have allready forgotten. If I were to buy a knife from the import store what would you guys reccomend, the military knife? Thanks for the help guys, it's nice to have a place where veterans chat it up allowing me to learn some things just by reading.
 
Check out the main Himalayan Imports site. The FAQ is full of good info about HI khukuris as well as khuks in general. Feel free to post any questions here. You're bound to get an answer--probably more than one. If you're lucky, you'll even get contradictory answers.
 
Marock said:
If I were to buy a knife from the import store what would you guys reccomend, the military knife? Thanks for the help guys, it's nice to have a place where veterans chat it up allowing me to learn some things just by reading.
Click to expand...

By "the military knife" do you mean the BAS? If so, then yes.

Himalayan Imports' "British Army Service" (aka the "BAS") is an excellent place to start: It's around the midpoint in size for all the models offered (maybe a hair on the small size relatively, but small for a khukuri is not small for a knife in general ;) ).

The first HI khukuri I got here was a BAS. The 10th one I got was also a BAS. They are all hand made and the individual variation between smiths' styles of the same model, and even among the same smith's knives, is part of the fun.
 
Hi Marock, glad you found your way over here. :) I can't in good conscience recommend any of the khuks on the page you linked to, they look too much like the scrap metal 'tourist' models I saw at a gun show here last weekend. :rolleyes: donutsrule's suggestion of a BAS is a great one, my first khukuri was a BAS made by the now defunct Ghurka House. The 15" models seemed huge to me then; now they almost look dainty. :D These knives really skew your perspective when it comes to size. Another one to consider is the 16.5" WWII or the 15" Ang Khola. The AK makes a slightly better chopper, but the WWII is lighter and more versatile IMO. Then of course you'll want to move on to the Sirupatis and Mallas and Hanshees... it's a vicious cycle. ;)
 
Heh, I can only hope I dont get as hooked as you folk although im guessing I will. Im getting the knife for chopping in general as it would be an outdoors knife for cutting wood, bone and the like so the AK might be just what im looking for. It's a shame that the shalco knives are crap though, here I thought I was being smart and getting a killer deal thanks to the reccomendation of that web site. Oh well I dont mind paying for quality and you guys are fairly adiment of HIs quality so it sounds like thats where ill be shopping.

On a side not what are those little knives for that come with the Khukuri? Skinning or peeling or something like that? Also hows the quality? I guess it would varie.
 
The little knives are called the chakma and karda. The chakma isn't a knife at all, it's actually a small burnishing tool used to re-align the edge, much like a steel. The karda is just a little utility knife, usually with a 2"-3" blade. The tools are usually proportional to the size of the khukuri; for instance, the karda that came with my 25" Kobra has about a 4.5" blade! You're correct that the quality varies somewhat, but they're always useable and sometimes quite impressive. From what I've heard quality has picked up recently due to a rash of problems a few months back. Several of the kami's helpers lost their jobs, and now everyone is being extra careful. It's sad that such drastic measures were necessary, but quality has improved as a result.
 
The little "knives" are a sharpener and a smaller knife (for god knows what.)

The sharpener (chakma) is used to slide along the edge and push back the metal to restore the edge. These were designed in a society which had no access to sander, files, diamond hones, or belt sanders.

The little knife (not so little in some cases, they are proportional to the primary blade itself) is a karda. (K=knife, c=er, uh, something else).

Keep in mind these are tools which came to be used as weapons.

Dan Koster's (Pendentive) khukuri dynamics cad/cam drawings of the various shapes can give you an idea of variety, and differences, but the knives need to be held to speak to you.
http://www.himalayan-imports.com/faq/physics/Khukuri_Dynamics.html

The AK is the chopper designate, but so many others can also perform this task. There is some discussion about it, but bone is usually too dense to be "cut" by a knife...even an H.I. khukuri. (I did it, and had to re-profile the edge where chips came out. This was deer leg bone, and was more crushed and fractured than cut. The ribs of a deer are flexible and porous and can be sliced through.)

Then you get to weight, length, and general design. The longer the blade the greater the leverage you have; the heavier, the more impact. But there are many variables, including your own physical dimensions which affect the utility of the tool.

Take your time. Go through the frequently asked questions thread (FAQ), and as you see a model name, use the "search" function on this forum to see what folks have had to say about each. This is a forum founded on honesty and candor, as well as respect and tolerance.

Enjoy the learning curve, then think about what you may want to purchase.


Be well and safe.
 
Welcome to the Cantina and thanks for the link!

On the link - they guy likes to get his hands dirty, and find solutions that work. Two thumbs up, so far.

Lots of questions:

Ok, well looks like many people beat me to most.

Regarding quality - HI has excellent quality control, which consists of a strong ear-chewing any time something sub-par ships!!!!! Fortunately, that is very, very rare. If you choose an HI khuk, you will get a hand-forged blade with fit, finish, and function that rival anything on the market. No, they won't be exact to within .000001 inches like the latest laser-cut wonder marvel. But it will be a khuk built to work, made by someone with probably thousands of blades of experience. If you look hard enough, you can find imperfections - something not perfectly straight or symmetrical, perhaps a pit or sharp corner. That's true for production knives, too, and I doubt if there's a forum here where someone hasn't complained of something that's not absolutely perfect. On the other hand, if you're looking for maintenance-free perfection (doesn't sound like you are), a khuk is probably not for you. The carbon steel rusts, and usually needs stropping or steeling every once in a while to maintain an optimum edge. But you get to really use and know your tool.

In my experience, HI delivers a large, hard-use blade that works extremely well and looks good too. 99.9% chance it won't fall apart on you, which is far better odds than the discouted models and probably on par or better than any production knife. The kamis who make these build them to last!

Good models to start with are in the 15-18" range. Wider, heavier blades for chopping, narrower blades are more machete-like, but still chop small brush and trees better than expected. The British Army Service is an excellent first model, unless you have large hands, in which case the pointy horns (as noted on the survival site) can be a problem. Better to start with a 16 or 18" Ang Khola, World War II, or Sirupati that has longer handles, then move down to smaller blades once you have it figured out. (yes, there are likely to be others). If you'd like a more traditional (American hunting style) knife, the JKM-1, Kumar Karda, and Sarge models are very good, tough blades. Things get fancy and exotic from there, but no reason you can't take the prettier khuks out to get dirty.

Lots of stuff to take in on this forum. Odds are you'll be more than pleased with an HI khuk, and the company around here. Frequently, Uncle Bill (owner/chief importer) offers special deals - some blindingly beautiful, others ugly ducklings where a bit of elbow grease (rust removal or minor repair) nets you a big discount. Be warned, though - if you thought lots of people jumped to answer your questions, the sharks only get more aggressive when the deals hit the forum!!!!
 
Marock,

Welcome to the forum and thanks for the links.

The page about the guy making the inexpensive khukuri into a servicable "project knife" is a good one. The experience doing that would be valuable and you would come out of it with a servicable knife.

I got one of those "cheapies" quite a few years ago. The blades are very strong and you do get the advantages of the khukuri shape. Heat treat is problematic or non-existant, which means more dings in the blade and more time spent sharpening. The handles are indeed not ergonomic, despite the outward similarity to the comfortable handle of a "real" khukuri.

I used my cheapie for several years, despite knowing from using khukuris in Nepal that better khukuris existed. After I got some better khukuris from HI I never used it. I ended up trading it to a known and trusted neighborhood teenager for some yard work. It was a servicable knife.

If you are short of funds and long on time, by all means get a cheapie and make it into a project by replacing the handle and sheath. It will be time well spent. In all probability, if you find you like the style, you'll be picking up a better one later anyway.

PostScript - The karda and chakma on the cheapies are usually so bad as to be unusable. Best to throw them away if they don't work. With a higher quality khukuri the accessories may be very servicable and quite nice. Useful too.
 
Wow lots of replys over night and this morning, obviously a very enthusiastic community you have here :) . Alright so I have a new delima coming from two different ideas I have. One idea has me buying a junk knife (model E) for cheap off of Salco, as some what of a test knife. The plan would be to get as much use out of it in a week as I could and just get a general feel for the knife, while keeping in mind that it's a lower quality model than the BAS. After putting it through a week of use I would make up my mind weather or not this is the knife for me.

If it is I will order the BAS off of HI to replace the Salco knife. The Salco knife would then become my guinea pig for projects and maintanace. Any modification I plan on doing to the BAS I would first practice on my Salco and make sure I like the end result. Being a new knife owner, it would be wise for me to have a knife capable of taking the abuse of a newbie.

My other plan has me just springing for the better knife right off the bat and buying the BAS, this way I would get to know the ins and outs of a high end Khukri and get a feel for a real knife instead of a cheapy one. The idea behind this is that the BAS would be able to withstand the abuse I would put it through as a new owner, and in the end save me money by not having to buy the lower quality Salco. So what do you guys suggest?

Either way im sure ill be happy with the end result. I have been captivated by these knives, it's funny I had never seen a Khukri over the years untill very recently. Thanks again for the help.
 
I like your two-knife plan.

If you do it, please post your results on this thread. They will be educational for others also.

Thanks!
 
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