I have an idea for the Kamis

[DannyinJapan]

Rennaissance festivals pretty much run continuously throughout the year at one location or another, and that is the exact kind of place where people would LOVE to watch a man hammer out a knife in the old way.
Nobody really does this much anymore, as I am told by knifemakers, the way the kamis do, the way the European artisans of the past did.
I'm telling you, they'd be a hit, just sitting around making blades the way they do with only the old hammer and anvil...

 

[Willieboy]

I'd sure like to watch a kami at work but I wonder about the economics of your idea for the kami. Unless he brought an inventory to sell, I doubt he could make and sell enough, as people watched, to compensate him for his travel expenses and time on site.

 

[Strobengh]

Unless a Kami was planning a trip to the US . . . they could do that for some extra $$$ on the side.

I'm not sure if taxes are a going concern, but there could also be a potential write-off.
Here (and in most countries) you can deduct business trips from your taxes.
This is why many organizations have conventions in REALLY nice places. People can go to the convention for business, enjoy the locale, and deduct the entire trip (within reason of course, you can't deduct a 1 year vacation to Hawaii if the business part of it only lasted 2 days).

A Kami who was planning a trip to the US could (if taxes allow it) make money on the side, and write the whole trip off as a business expense.

Not sure if any of the above is useful or not, but there you go.

 

[Phil Brown]

I'm not sure how practical it would be to try to bring a kami here for demonstrations. After all, making khuks is probably the last thing they're gonna want to do while they're here. You've given me an idea, though; a great one, IMHO - a Himalayan Imports DVD. You get to see the kamis and sarkis themselves doing what they do best, follow a khukuri from truck spring to finished product, and maybe even see some demonstrations of real khukuri use in Nepal. I'd buy a copy for sure, as would most of the forumites I imagine.

 

[Daniel Koster]

Yes - would be a great idea...and has been proposed on several ocassions...

 

[Nasty]

Lots of new guys don't read the archives...and it seems when they do, they resurrect 2 year old threads.

 

[Phil Brown]

Lots of new guys don't read the archives...and it seems when they do, they resurrect 2 year old threads.

Sorry for the repeat. I've been reading threads going back to 2002 (including every post related to the FF), but I never ran across this before. Besides, you know how hard it is to search BF. :grumpy:

Related question: which is considered worse, resurrecting old threads or old ideas in new threads?

 

[Daniel Koster]

neither....or, both perhaps...

both are acts of semi-innocence and newbie exuberance...but both drudge up grief the same.

We're not going to lynch you, Bro.

Just wishing I had another hand...leg....computer....24 hrs in the day...and so on.

 

[JStrider]

would be neat, definitely more practical for a blademaker that already lives in the states

 

[creightonfcb]

I'm not sure how practical it would be to try to bring a kami here for demonstrations. After all, making khuks is probably the last thing they're gonna want to do while they're here. You've given me an idea, though; a great one, IMHO - a Himalayan Imports DVD. You get to see the kamis and sarkis themselves doing what they do best, follow a khukuri from truck spring to finished product, and maybe even see some demonstrations of real khukuri use in Nepal. I'd buy a copy for sure, as would most of the forumites I imagine.

Here here!! I would also love to pick one up!

 

[Yvsa]

Here here!! I would also love to pick one up!

It ain't gonna happen guys. The kamis don't want to give away any trade secrets or processes the HI Khukuri's go through from start to finish. The closest thing y'all will get is the pics on the HI Website.

 

[Phil Brown]

It ain't gonna happen guys. The kamis don't want to give away any trade secrets or processes the HI Khukuri's go through from start to finish. The closest thing y'all will get is the pics on the HI Website.

You know, this makes a lot of sense, but it didn't even occur to me (we stupid Americans give away all our secrets anyway). You don't usually think of trade secrets when talking about an ancient art; obviously, though, HI khukuris wouldn't be so special if the kamis making them didn't have their own tricks.

Tea production in China is much the same, actually. To this day, most of their methods are considered state secrets, as tea is and always will be an economic staple for the Chinese. From what I hear, they're still mad about Robert Fortune's espionage for the East India Company in the 1840s!

 

[creightonfcb]

It ain't gonna happen guys. The kamis don't want to give away any trade secrets or processes the HI Khukuri's go through from start to finish. The closest thing y'all will get is the pics on the HI Website.

Well, a guy could dream!! Ah well, I guess I will just have to buy more Kuks and bask in their glow! (better and cheaper than going to therapy after suffering such a devastaing blow )