HI vs. khukuri House

Thanks for good help, all. There's a lot I could say about "differences" but don't and won't except sometimes in email to trusted friends because it sounds too much like sour grapes.
 
HI=best in the biz!

If you keep an eye out you can find some deals Uncle Bill puts out for under $50!!! Certainly anyone can come up with $50 if you have enough $$ to surf the net. Good luck!
 
Hey there,

Originally posted by Pan Tau
Hello,
the first Khuks I owned were a Service No.1, a Balance Khukuri and a Panawal from Khukuri House. The Khuks were not bad but except the balance Khukuri had some flaws. The Service No.1 was too soft on the edge and I sold it to a collector who does not use his knives. The other two I have still in my Khukuri drawer and I like the Panawal very much. It is a good user with a full convex edge - but I had to set a new pair of handle-rivets as the full tang severed the original ones after a few strokes - the tang came out between the slabs and was very uncomfortable. Well this is fixed and the Panawal is comparable to a 15" Angh Khola if you only see the worth as a user. It is not as beautiful as the HI khuks and Karda and Chakma are of very poor quality compared to Bill`s items. The scabbard is not that nice (brass tip but steel fittings on the khuk :rolleyes: ) but I do not care in this case - it is a tight scabbard (no retaining strap needed at all) and it is a user and does not need to be beautiful. However the HI-Models are both, a user and beautiful and the service is a point you should not neglect. If you see the price of Khuk-House+customs duties + shipping the difference is not that big any longer.

Greetings and merry christmas from Bavaria

Andreas
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Yeah, that's true, but you're still not accounting for Uncle's top-notch post-sales service, or his *AB-SO-DAMNED-LUTELY* no Bull$hit guarantee, both of which have no price! :D:D:D
 
1- but I had to set a new pair of handle-rivets as the full tang severed the original ones after a few strokes - the tang came out between the slabs and was very uncomfortable.
I have the same problem on my Panawal model.
 
Yup!!!!
Just one more reason for me to intensely like the Chiruwa handles!!!!:rolleyes: :p!!!!

There's this illusion that the chiruwa handles are stronger than the stick tang handles that I've long disputed.
When one stops and takes into consideration that the chiruwa handle is much thinner than the blade at the bolster and all the rest of the way to the buttcap, where strength isn't needed all that much, it becomes obvious as to why the stick tang is
stronger.
The stick tang is as thick or perhaps just a tad thicker than the blade almost all the way to the buttcap.
You get less shock transmitted to your hand and less vibrations that affect stress risers where ever there's a file mark or sharp ding in the tang with the stick tang.
But some people will never understand the concept between the two tangs.:rolleyes: :p ;)
 
All true from one who knows.

We don't have many problems with handles, Chiruwa or otherwise. I like to call the traditional tang a "tapered" tang. I think this defines it more accurately than stick or rat tail.

But when you have master kamis like these making your khukuris you can easily run into problems.
 

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I was an unconditional of the Chiruwa style, but thanks to you Yvsa and your explanations, I start to change my mind. It was not easy, but thank you!;)
 
He got a M43 and he named it Taker. He had a thread on naming khuks last week sometime.
 
Originally posted by Yvsa
Yup!!!!
Just one more reason for me to intensely like the Chiruwa handles!!!!:rolleyes: :p!!!!

There's this illusion that the chiruwa handles are stronger than the stick tang handles that I've long disputed.
When one stops and takes into consideration that the chiruwa handle is much thinner than the blade at the bolster and all the rest of the way to the buttcap, where strength isn't needed all that much, it becomes obvious as to why the stick tang is
stronger.
The stick tang is as thick or perhaps just a tad thicker than the blade almost all the way to the buttcap.
You get less shock transmitted to your hand and less vibrations that affect stress risers where ever there's a file mark or sharp ding in the tang with the stick tang.
But some people will never understand the concept between the two tangs.:rolleyes: :p ;)
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Hasn't it? :(
 
I think I see Shankar Jr. in the back of Bill's pic. :rolleyes: I guess you have to start somewhere, but it's comforting to know that my last Khuk was pounded out by three guys who each have been swinging hammers longer than I've been alive.

I'll vouch for the HI guarantee. Of course, if Uncle ever went to business school they'd probably try to have him committed, but HI runs under an old-fashioned set of rules where trust can exist without 50 pages of legaleze signed in triplicate.

Of course, if the service were a little worse, it might turn some people off and make the PGA's a little easier to get at :p
 
As far as HI tangs go, whether they be tapered or panna butta ( riveted through - sometimes referred to a chiruwa ) let me point out that when my M43 arrived, it felt odd to me. Remember this is my personal taste. OK, I decided that the top tang had to be rounded a bit more to keep the flowing lines of the blade extending into the handle, and likewise the lower tang of the handle needed to have a smaller curve than the top. I did those things, and the smooth handle still didn't feel right afterward. I was used to the rings being cut into the handle. So I added them. All the way around, including through the metal tang. I also spaced the ring where my ring and little finger fell behind the rearmost ring. I reduced the diameter of the handle behind the back rings so my smallest fingers could wrap almost around the handle there. My middle finger rode in front and on top of the center rings and I deepened those rings also so my index could find it's place, and I extended the two rings closest to the bolster forward so my forefinger rode on top of them and deepened them also. This resulted in not only deepen the grooves thru upper and lower tang metal, but right thru one rivet. I also thinned the slabs so they were more egg shaped or oval on the sides.

After all this work I can assure you the handle pieces are NOT going anywhere. Period, end of subject.

( That is other than I did the same to a tapered tang 19" villager and that persuaded me to do the same with my new 18" WW2 Sher with wood handles. That's the nice thing about wood handles. You can rasp and sand to fit exactly for you. )

But then some horn handles feel so right and so solid, and so traditional. And those carved handles are beautiful.

More, more, I must have more khuks! Ah, here comes my thorazine, just in the nick of time.
 
Originally posted by Hibuke
Hasn't it? :(
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And it will continue to be until I die. Somehow a lot of knife people came under the mistaken thought that a full tang is always stronger than a stick tang.
The only way I conced that is if the knife is 3/16" or more thick and with a substantial handle. Then and only then does the full tang become equal to or surpasses the stick tang.:p :p :p :p

At least Stephen is one who has seen the light!!!!:D
 
Here's a fact to ponder. In the Dark Ages and Middle Ages of Europe, right up to the 14th century, ALL knives were constructed with the stick/tapered tang. It seems a change in preference toward slab scaled "full tang" knives took place at around the same time table knives first began to come into vogue.

Burly Vikings, Saxon archers, and Norman invaders, would have all carried stick/tapered tang knives, and not because bladesmiths of the time lacked the means or technology to make "full tangs". That speaks whole volumes to me about the reliability of so called stick tangs.

Now consider the knives issued to American fighting men from WWI to present day. You'd be hard pressed to find a "full tang" in the bunch outside of a machete.

Call me crazy, but I know which method of blade/handle construction I prefer. If for no other reason than it was good enough for my ancestors, who relied on their knives for their very survival. Who am I to question their wisdom?

Sarge
 
I was curious about 2yrs. ago,all I had was "one" HI Kuk & heard about these Kuk.House K's & how great they were ,so I found one that another collector had!! Ain't no comparison !! Except in shape!!After I pointed out "WHY" Hi was better, the collector sold his!!I'll take HI,& suffer AT BILL'S,Rus,WAL.,THAT NDN,Town & EVERYBODY ELSE'S pick on the "poor"Saint abuse!!
jim(Saint
PS-Semper & Pappy are good with the abuse too!!:D
 
I started with HI, so I see no real reason to get anything less. You get what you pay for, and in the case of HI, you get a lot more than what you pay for. God, I teach composition, and I just ended a sentence with a preposition. A preposition is a terrible thing to end a sentence with:rolleyes: .
--Josh
 
Well I can say this for sure:

After getting 13 Khuks and a Tarwar I have not been disapointed yet and don't think I will ever be.:D

All of them are of excellent quality, fit and finish are outstanding.:)

# 14 should be here tomorrow :D
 
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