I bought a 16 1/2 inch WWII from the specials perhaps 2 months ago. $60 or $65 (can't quite remember). It was my first, and (so far) my only khuk.
Don't buy the cheap knife you're considering. Get an HI.
I've bought too many cheap tools over the years (cause that's all the money I had), and replaced them when they broke. At first, I replaced them with other cheap tools. When it's the tool, or the rent ... the options seem limited. So I see how you could be drawn to a Sarco.
But a bad tool grates on you, makes you work harder, and often isn't as safe to use (because of poor balance etc.). And you'll replace it when it breaks. Eventually you'll either replace it with a good one (which has now cost you the price of 3 or 4 bad tools plus the good one), or you'll lose interest in whatever you'd hoped to do with the thing in the first place (a different, but real kind of cost).
I've got to say, my HI khukuri is among the finest built, most solid and serviceable things I own. As a newbie (and still not a rich guy) I was reluctant to pay full-price on the HI internet store, so I haunted the forum here for the specials, and read up on threads that would help me decide what model I wanted. Time I found to be very well spent.
I now know that at full price, this knife would have been a magnificent bargain. Getting mine for less than half that price, well, this was a gift. My khuk is easily worth 5 or 6 times the price I paid, stacking it up against other handmade knives. When I can't use it anymore, I'll end up giving it to a favourite grandson ... but not for a few decades yet.
Tom.
. You guys have been a great help and ill be sure to make regular visits checking for deals and to chat it up.
