HI - Wood vs. Horn Handles & Sheath Question?

K

KnifeFury

Joined
Sep 21, 2006
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Horn vs. Wood. How do the things like: fit, finish, feel, and durability compare between the two? Is one more susceptible to cracking then the other? What color is the horn typically? Which do you guys prefer?

I also was curious, I have an 18" AK and I do not like how wide the sheath is - done to store Karda and Chakma. Does HI have models that do not have the extra blades or can you request that these not be built into the sheath?

Thanks for the advice.
 
I have three HI kuks with wood handles. All three exhibit a different level of finish. The Grand Baby Chitlangi's handle is beautiful, as is the kuk. The handle reminds me of a table leg on fine furniture. A beautiful finish. The other two are a bit rougher and that's okay. I don't like them less, they are just different.

I don't have a horn handled HI yet, but should at 11:30 AM tomorrow, and the mail lady had better not be late.

Bill
 
i have a good amount of both horn and wood handles...

my 2cents? both require attention...
i have a few blem horn handles with hairline cracks that will probably never go anywhere...
but i dont have any cracks with wood :rolleyes:
there are also many options on how to treat and maintain your wood handles vs. horn

with horn its pretty much black.. sometimes with some beautiful white streaks mixed in though :)
with wood.... well need i say anything? there are so many options with wood :D

im sure others will chime in with their 2cents... sit tight ;)

EDIT: regarding your sheaths questions.... some models do not have a karda and chakma IE museum model :D but from my understanding the karda and chakma knives are pretty much traditional/standard on khukuris.

aproy1101 aka andy has a tutorial i believe on how to redo the sheath removing the karda and chakma pockets slimming down the whole rig...

orrrrr leatherface aka dave makes some BEAUTIFUL custom sheaths for khukuris :D

kydex of course is another option :D and mr. dan koster is a master synthetic sarki lol
 
I have a good size collection of both wood and Horn handles, I personally like the horn handles.
 
I have some of both. Both are good. I tend to refinish most of my wood handled khuks by stripping off the shiny finish and applying a wax, usually briwax.

In horn I tend towards villager finishes. I like the matte look.

Both seem to be holding up well for me. Yangdu offers a great deal of variety in handle look, and from experience and research, they all are good quality.

Andy
 
Fix your sheaths width by removing those accy knives and their holders.

I've done a few threads on this. PM me for a link. Here are some pics.





 
I usually weigh in on these threads to defend horn, but I see horn has not yet taken a public whipping. I like both wood and horn very much. There was a bad batch of green horn a year ago or so and this resulted in many cracks in handles. Most of my horn handles have not cracked, but a few have. When this happens there is a superglue fix. The handle will last and last even with cracks. But dry climates make for more brittle horn, and it should be kept treated with a lanolin or other stuff.

I love wood, always have. Horn is going to disapear long before wood does, though, and I've not shied away from getting HI horn handled khuks.
I don't really notice much difference in grip while chopping. You'd think the horn would get sweaty and fly out of your hand, but it doesn't seem to work that way.

If I absolutely positively had to have one khuk, and it had to work, under all conditions, I'd probably get wood. But's it's worth noting the only handle I've had to pin to keep the crack from splitting the handle is a wooden one.

I guess Water Buffalo don't have horns just for show. Pretty tough stuff.

munk
 
aproy1101 said:
Fix your sheaths width by removing those accy knives and their holders.

I've done a few threads on this. PM me for a link. Here are some pics.
Click to expand...

Thanks for reposting the pics! Nice work! I went back and searched through some old threads....
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=433437
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=425179
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=395256
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=392400

Nice stuff. The last one had a link to..
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2297733&postcount=5

It would be interesting to know if this actually worked for him.
 
Thanks! Its actually an easy project. I used Ddean's post to do my first, but rather than restitch the back, I just glued the thing all the way up. Gorilla glue is good for this, but you've gotta wet the surface of the object to be glued, and you've gotta watchout for the foaming runout that is present as the glue dries. Wipe this with a rag soaked in min spirits. Once its dry just color the glue line with a sharpie. Done.

On horn vs wood. I like both. Horn is tougher though IMO, but its also harder to work with when modding.

Munk, why do you say horn will be gone eventually? Buffalo are domesticated, and its a renewable resource. Just wondering.
 
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