Got my Order in from Khukuri House(KH) Pretty Disappointed. Got My refund 2/22!

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Logan09

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Update 2/22. Got a Full Refund Back.

Well, after sending picture's etc. to KH they sent me a return address for someone in Florida. I packaged up the knives, and sent them last week. They offered to send me replacement kukri's, but I took the money and ran so to speak. I couldn't afford to have them in the same condition as the last 2. They arrived Saturday, and I received my refund today(The full amount including the shipping) I of course had to pay for the return shipping which was a lot cheaper then shipping them to Nepal. So overall, I guess it was a "good" outcome? Granted I didn't get what I ordered but at least I got most of my money back.

I didn't want to post this in my old thread so started a new one.

I purchased the Bahadur, and the Survival Knife(Live)

I ordered on the 6th of January.
Order was forwarded from KH to the shipper on the 24th(I was told it would be on the 18th)
DHL received them on the 26th. And to my surprise I got them on the 31st. A day after my birthday:D

First off, both of the blades were almost dull. I couldn't even cut paper with the Bahadur:grumpy:

The Survival knife(Live) has a few flaws in the blade(i.e nicks, that will have to be polished out:mad:. Along with un-equal grinding throughout the spine of the blade. The "cutout" finger slot in the blade is small in un-uniform unlike the picture is showing (Just looks horrible. Would be better off without) The sheath is not the one that's shown in the picture. The one I received has Velcro to secure the handle not button snaps. It looks like it's made for a kukri. The handle has one long crack in it by one of the rivets. I must say though the lanyard hole in the handle is a nice touch.

I chopped some rather large chunks of firewood(Maple) with the survival knife. It chopped very well, but as I was concerned about the crack. It is more "pronounced" now, and I don't know how long the handle will last.

Onto the Bahadur. The blade was dull when I received it. But lacks the flaws of the Survival knife. The tang is a real disappointment though. It starts thick(6mm), gets really thin in the middle(About 2mm) and continues at 3mm. So bad, that you can see were it was filled with what looks like Epoxy just to fill the gaps in-between the handles. The buffalo horn is cracked around 4 of the 6 rivets also. I will have to keep an eye on these too.

I also chopped with this on a piece of Maple. I didn't notice any of the cracks enlarging. The handle was very slick though(I sanded this for a nice grip). It was more like using a blunt wedge to chop with though

Overall, the quality looks nothing like my Kukri from 08' I won't be ordering anymore. I guess I should have listened to the people who posted in my other thread.
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(Notice how the gaps are filled with epoxy)
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(Front of the handle. Notice only the one little piece of metal glaring. The rest of the tang is non existent and the gap is filled with epoxy)
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(Notice the crack above the front rivet)
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(Someone ground in a little to deep)
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IMG_0014.jpg

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^^I made a kydex sheath for the survival. After putting/taking out the knife a few times the handle started separating:(
 
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Bummer, I've oftened wondered what their quality was like. I'm a HI fan but even as good as they are you get problems with them too. However, Yangdo at HI will always make your issues right if you give her a chance.
 
I'll stick with my HI khuks - thanks for the heads up though. Have you e-mailed them to see if they consider this normal and/or blem? Probably won;t get you anywhere but its worth a shot.
 
I've been looking for an authentic Khuk.I really enjoy my Cold Steel Kukri Machete and have long wanted to add a "real" Khuk to the collection.After MUCH reading both here on BF and elsewhere online.I decided that IF I am going to order one it will be from HI and not Khukuri House.I've just read so much bad about this company,your experience and the pics you have provided only bolster my decision not to deal with them.Although I must say that the recent reviews of HI are varied and it seems quality was better and more consistent a few years ago.I have seen several reviews of people not 100% pleased with their HI orders also,but it also seems their customer service is better as well.After seeing your pics and looking at some of the most recent HI products(some of their items have look pretty poorly made as well),I almost want to just stay with a Cold Steel and maybe save for a top line Gurkha in San Mai,which I understand is being discontinued,so maybe I'll be able to pick up a bargain somewhere.Anyway,enough rambling,sorry about your experience.Those really are some poorly crafted knives.Had it been me,I would have immediately boxed them back up and shipped them back for a refund.Thanks again for sharing.Another black mark next to Khukuri House in my book.
 
snow and steel said:
Have you e-mailed them to see if they consider this normal and/or blem? Probably won;t get you anywhere but its worth a shot.
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Yes I did. They only option would probably be to send them back. And it would probably be for an exchange, and/or a refund of the blades. So I would loose out shipping(Both ways close to $100) if I asked for a refund probably. Just better off keeping them.

That and the fact I already sanded the handle on the kukri. And touched up/re-finshed the Survival knife(Which looks a lot better nor)
 
rickc71 said:
but it also seems their customer service is better as well.After seeing your pics and looking at some of the most recent HI products(some of their items have look pretty poorly made as well)
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This is the nice option of HI. U.S based store/easy to return items. If I were you, I would try and find a used one on here, i.e one that's made a couple years back. My KH "Army" Kukri is flawless looking, and held an edge for a long time. But it was also purchased in 08'



Also, on another note. When I was enlarging the cutout on the blade of the "Survival" the steel seemed pretty soft to me. I was using an old round file and it was surprisingly removing metal pretty quick. I am a little worried about that to. I guess only time will tell. I plan on beating the hell outta these so we will see.
 
It's a shame you got stung. If you decide to try another brand, HI kuks are fine and, for my money, Tora brand kuks are top notch.
 
Which of the several online sellers calling themselves some form of "Khukuri House" was this? I have used "Khukuri House Thamel" (Khukuriblades.com) and the quality of the Khuk was pretty decent for the price.

(Edited: OK, I see, its thekhukurihouse.com, which I have always been wary of. I do not expect much different from Khukuriblades.com, but at least with a real khuk you expect handmade 'character', which is what some would call sloppiness. Still, epoxy filling is unacceptable.)
 
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Bummer to hear. Hopefully they're at least good project knives. I like buying HI blems and fixing them up myself. With a little time and effort, perhaps you'll have some blades you can be proud of.
 
Sorry to see this.

Normally, I give a lot of leeway to Khuks as they are hand-made in a dirt floor hut, but the fit & finish of those are horrible. I can sharpen a dull blade if it was properly forged and heat treated, but the inept handle fitting can't be changed.
 
CWL said:
Sorry to see this.

Normally, I give a lot of leeway to Khuks as they are hand-made in a dirt floor hut, but the fit & finish of those are horrible. I can sharpen a dull blade if it was properly forged and heat treated, but the inept handle fitting can't be changed.
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I expected a few little blemishes/flaws, but this draws the line. I already sharpened them. Put a decent edge on them, just waiting to see how they hold up.
 
I took a picture of the blade on the Survival knife before I sharpened it. I shouldn't have used a Macro lens:barf:
IMG_0014.jpg


I only noticed one flaw in it when I opened the package. I don't know if the chips/folding are from chopping or what?
 
I was tempted by KH before I learned enough about HI, and I'm glad I was swayed towards the Light Side. I'm not saying you won't occasionally get flawed products from HI, but at least it will be taken care of extremely quickly by Yangdu. And to be frank, HI appears to have far better aesthetics.
 
Yeah, I got sucked into HI before making any poor purchases as well. I have a HI Bahadur and it's beautiful-fantastic survival knife design. If you're looking for perfect symmetry, grind, F/F, what have you out of these blades that are manufactured by hand with improvised equipment, scavenged materials and 0 power tools,then you're looking in the wrong spot. Half the beauty of these tools is that they are entirely functional even without perfect F&F, and the other half is that they are again-hand manufactured without power tools-an art form. Sometimes it's the imperfections that make or break the blade. The HT on my HI blades has always been reliable.
 
Just an Update. It's been a week, and I still have not heard back from them. I sent them a not so nice email again today.
 
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