- Joined
- May 9, 2002
- Messages
- 12,685
The Himalayan Pocket Battleship, or as our dear friend Rusty called his, Graf Spee. Only in the insane circles of khukdom would a 12-13" knife with an 8" blade be called "a cute lil' fella". I'd even go so far as to say that some would equate a 12" AK to a "mouse gun" of the khukuri world, and I believe it was also Rusty who said, "friends don't let friends carry a mouse gun"
I'll admit, I may have been borderline on the fence of such a school of thought. I mean, a 12" Siru is more "knifey" than a 12" AK. It has more of a point, runs a touch lighter, is a touch thinner, etc. The 12" might be thought of as the diminishing return of miniaturizing something that was originally bred to be big, powerful, and brutal (kinda like the "toy" versions of animals that were once considered dogs and now incorporate the "shake and pee" defense mechanism). To be sure, you're NOT going to get the chopping performance of a even a 15" AK out its smaller brethren.
So what does the baby AK offer? What does it bring to the table? It's simply the most "khuk-ish" khuk that readily packs for edc use of any of the 12-14" variations. The 12" AK is your Himalayan American Express. It's your AAA card for roadside debris removal assistance. It's a comforting friend made of horn and steel that can go with you when "surely I'm not going to need to bring a khuk along" turns into a situation where by stress of circumstance or fret of bodily harm it turns out you really might want a good stout Nepali blade clutched in your panicked fingers . In short, it packs away nicely, it can do more work than pretty much any knife of comparable size, and it complains very little and eats next to nothing
For a hiker or camper looking for a very do-it-all-yet-prybarish-knife, you really couldn't do much better than the 12" AK. If you're not building a log cabin, the smaller AK can gather wood and kindling just as well as the bigger boys, yet won't pull your pants down.
With Bura's declining health weighing on my mind, I decided to poke around my collection at bit to see just what I have of his. Now, I will admit, Bura's work never spoke to me as much as say Kumar's or now Tirtha's. That said, I found that some of my most used/heavily relied upon in emergency situation blades are Bura blades
The Pen Knife that has ridden in one car/truck/jeep or another was forged by old master. The giant GRS that has cut more wood than all of my other knives combined is a Bura. Even the simple little 13" AK that rides under the seat of my truck turned out to be a Bura blade. This is the knife that I would grab in an emergency. It would be the one I use to cut my wife and daughter out of the car if we had to exit the vehicle quick, fast, and in a hurry. This simple "little" nearly forgotten blade may be the one tool that saves my family should we, God forbid, be in an accident. Funny when you think about it.
I LOVE my Farm Knife. I LOVE my Tirtha bowie. I LOVE many of my HI knives more than a man probably should However, I feel that that particular Bura AK needs the respect it deserves for at least a short time. I'm currently making a sheath for it ride on my shoulder holster rig. Not exactly a gentleman's knife but not a ridiculous amount of overkill for a khuk knut, right?
This little knife sat basically untouched (short of a marginally needed stropping when I got it) in my truck for the better part of a year (maybe two?). It's still gleaming and sharp enough to shave the first layer of skin off my thumb pad. Nice acute edge (for an AK), rounded utility point, and just enough balance and heft to make its presence known.
It's weird. It almost feels like this khuk has "woken up". It was forged by Bura several years ago, bought by mean, and appreciated yet forgotten as yet another khuk in my collection looking for a purpose. Only now in the last couple days has it called out to me. I didn't really stumble across it or remember it as I was drawn to it...if that makes sense. It's like Bura forged in a time-released gel-cap of Personification that takes time to break open. This spirit in this one is palpable.
All business. Joe Fridayesque in its "Just the fact, ma'am" kind of way. Like a diminutive old soviet bloc body guard, small talk seems both uncomfortable and potentially dangerous. 
Eventually I'm going to have to return it to its home in the truck or get a suitable replacement.
...and that, my friends, is how HIKV works. You buy something because you want it, forget you bought, it calls out to you so you carry it around...only to find you have now caused another void by taking it out of its element and start hemming and hawing about what to get next
It's a wonderful sickness, ain't it:thumbup:...I'm thinking I need to get a chiruwa version to compliment this one
I'll admit, I may have been borderline on the fence of such a school of thought. I mean, a 12" Siru is more "knifey" than a 12" AK. It has more of a point, runs a touch lighter, is a touch thinner, etc. The 12" might be thought of as the diminishing return of miniaturizing something that was originally bred to be big, powerful, and brutal (kinda like the "toy" versions of animals that were once considered dogs and now incorporate the "shake and pee" defense mechanism). To be sure, you're NOT going to get the chopping performance of a even a 15" AK out its smaller brethren.
So what does the baby AK offer? What does it bring to the table? It's simply the most "khuk-ish" khuk that readily packs for edc use of any of the 12-14" variations. The 12" AK is your Himalayan American Express. It's your AAA card for roadside debris removal assistance. It's a comforting friend made of horn and steel that can go with you when "surely I'm not going to need to bring a khuk along" turns into a situation where by stress of circumstance or fret of bodily harm it turns out you really might want a good stout Nepali blade clutched in your panicked fingers . In short, it packs away nicely, it can do more work than pretty much any knife of comparable size, and it complains very little and eats next to nothing
For a hiker or camper looking for a very do-it-all-yet-prybarish-knife, you really couldn't do much better than the 12" AK. If you're not building a log cabin, the smaller AK can gather wood and kindling just as well as the bigger boys, yet won't pull your pants down.With Bura's declining health weighing on my mind, I decided to poke around my collection at bit to see just what I have of his. Now, I will admit, Bura's work never spoke to me as much as say Kumar's or now Tirtha's. That said, I found that some of my most used/heavily relied upon in emergency situation blades are Bura blades
The Pen Knife that has ridden in one car/truck/jeep or another was forged by old master. The giant GRS that has cut more wood than all of my other knives combined is a Bura. Even the simple little 13" AK that rides under the seat of my truck turned out to be a Bura blade. This is the knife that I would grab in an emergency. It would be the one I use to cut my wife and daughter out of the car if we had to exit the vehicle quick, fast, and in a hurry. This simple "little" nearly forgotten blade may be the one tool that saves my family should we, God forbid, be in an accident. Funny when you think about it.I LOVE my Farm Knife. I LOVE my Tirtha bowie. I LOVE many of my HI knives more than a man probably should
However, I feel that that particular Bura AK needs the respect it deserves for at least a short time. I'm currently making a sheath for it ride on my shoulder holster rig. Not exactly a gentleman's knife but not a ridiculous amount of overkill for a khuk knut, right?This little knife sat basically untouched (short of a marginally needed stropping when I got it) in my truck for the better part of a year (maybe two?). It's still gleaming and sharp enough to shave the first layer of skin off my thumb pad. Nice acute edge (for an AK), rounded utility point, and just enough balance and heft to make its presence known.
It's weird. It almost feels like this khuk has "woken up". It was forged by Bura several years ago, bought by mean, and appreciated yet forgotten as yet another khuk in my collection looking for a purpose. Only now in the last couple days has it called out to me. I didn't really stumble across it or remember it as I was drawn to it...if that makes sense. It's like Bura forged in a time-released gel-cap of Personification that takes time to break open. This spirit in this one is palpable.
All business. Joe Fridayesque in its "Just the fact, ma'am" kind of way. Like a diminutive old soviet bloc body guard, small talk seems both uncomfortable and potentially dangerous. Eventually I'm going to have to return it to its home in the truck or get a suitable replacement.
...and that, my friends, is how HIKV works. You buy something because you want it, forget you bought, it calls out to you so you carry it around...only to find you have now caused another void by taking it out of its element and start hemming and hawing about what to get next
It's a wonderful sickness, ain't it
:thumbup:...I'm thinking I need to get a chiruwa version to compliment this one
So I'm saving up to do it my self. When I get the land and can spend time there, my 12" AK or BK9 will be my constant companion. You never know when you'll need to chop something on new land and you might as well do it in style. 