Interesting snippets

J

Johan van Zyl

Joined
Oct 11, 2000
Messages
372
Look what I found whilst surfing the net:

"Beware of fetching old artifacts out of Nepal. One of the most popular scams is the selling of Ghurka Knives (Khukri) when you get to the airport they sometimes take them off you and give them back to the sellers to sell again to some other poor devil, (all genuine Khukri have an army number stamped on them) so do not declare them, leave them safely hidden in your baggage."

http://www.youtrek.com/asia/nepal.htm
 
Is that so? It strikes me funny that khukuris are hustled that way. Just imagine being hassled by guys that pitch lines like: "Pssst, hey buddy! Wanna buy a khukuri? I have finest Gurkha khukuri, from long line of Gurkha family soldiers, used in many wars, killed many Nazis and...." Sad, but maybe true.
 
Hi you guys, I saw you had visited my site and took a look where you were from and read your postings. It is perfectly true about the khukris, it is one of the biggest scams at Kathmandu airport, I was talking to a couple of guys who had had it done to them, so beware. Apparently it is only the knives with the Nepali Army numbers stamped on them that they confiscate (I believe it is something to do with taking historical artifacts out of the country)although if this were the case how do they end up back in the shops :-) if you get a blank knife with no numbers on you are ok they will not bother you. Hope this saves you losing out to this scam
Gordon
http://www.youtrek.com
 
Great article on Nepal.

I really want to find out some more about
"bong" or "bonk."

Maybe we can get Craig to start selling
'Bonkola.'

Chris

PS-I've got a question about not declaring something. If they search you, and you get busted, isn't your life going to take a turn similar to the movie 'Midnight Express?'

PPS-Good job, Johan.


[This message has been edited by Chris S. (edited 03-05-2001).]
 
Hey there, Chris!!

I agree, super topic and solid info from all you guys. Johan's on a roll here!!!

Take care and be well....Dan

[This message has been edited by Lt. Dan (edited 03-06-2001).]
 
Hi Chris. A bong or bonk, I am not sure of the name, is a cup of tea flavoured with hemp seeds (cannabis), quite tasty and quite effective :-) it's sold on many street corners and brewed whilst you wait. Not to be missed. If you get caught with dope bye-bye, but for other stuff I gather they just confiscate it. By the way the dope over there is fairly good stuff and it grows wild up in them there hills.
 
Here is another snippet which I think might interest the forumites. When I became interested in khukuris, I very soon came to recognise that there were Western bladesmiths out there copying khukuris (and doing a very good job at it). But I DISREGARDED these craftsmen because they were not kamis. Well, now that my knowledge of khuks has broadened somewhat, I am starting to be vaguely interested in their products. Now maybe it is not known to y'all out there, but bladesmithing is a big thing nowadays in South Africa. I have attended many shows (but have not seen khukuri copies). Well, just this past weekend I browsed through a copy of the South African MAN magazine of September 1978, and came across an article about Angus Arbuckle, "a new maker who has made his presence felt amongst the small band of SA knifemakers". Arbuckle specialises in martial blades. The article shows a khukuri that he made. Looks just like a Reiger to me, with four grooves for the fingers and three pins through the panna butta handle. It has a leather thong through a hole at the end of the handle. It was made from O-1 steel, with the blade coming out at 57Rc. Why this snippet is interesting (to me) is it proves the fact that khukuri copies were made by South African knifemakers as early as 1978. Also that, while I would think they would have copied khuks accurately, there is no cho and the maker has obviously taken a great deal of license with the handle.
 
Johan: Yes, lots of modern makers are doing the khukuri thing in one form or another. It never seems to end, and what seems to suit me most are the traditional designs that have been refined and yet stood the test of time. The khukuri and puukko are good examples.

But there is one new little thing Craig has in the Catalog "Specials" department that's slowly growing on me...the Modern Stainless Khukuri Fighter. Just what I need, another cute little knife....Dan
 
Lt. Dan: Yes, with my very limited budget for buying knives, I would not buy modern Western copies of khuks. However, if I had an extensive budget, know what I would do? I would include jambiyas (the traditional Arab daggers) in my collection. There seems to be as big a world out there on the jambiya scene as on the khuk scene. But things being what they are, I'll go for khuks.
 
Johan, as you said, there's a whole world of distractions out there. (Trying not to dwell on the stuff I'd probably get into with the means to do it.) But it makes me wonder...all to what end? Perhaps the situation is better as is, and to have the ability to be satisfied. We're very much in agreement on khukuris and these matters.

 
Craig was kind enough to send me photocopies of two articles about khuks with my latest order. One was "A Gurkha would be Proud" in Blade magazine, October 1999, and the other is Ron Hood's article in Tactical Knives. This led me to wonder how many significant published articles have appeared so far about khuks. The book John Powell is compiling is going to be the first complete published work on the subject, I believe.

I've been looking out for mention of khuks in a variety of magazines, the latest being National Geographic. In the February 1979 edition there is an article on page 269 on "Kathmandu's Remarkable Newars". One would think there would be at least a paragraph on khuks, but nay. There is but one sentence on the first page, paragraph one: "While people everywhere are familiar with the nation's Sherpa mountaineers and knife-wielding Gurkha warriors, they hear little about about the Newars, the talented townspeople and farmers of the Kathmandu valley." (Not even khukuri, just "knife"!)

Then there is the article "Trek to Nepal's Sacred Crystal Mountain" in National Geographic of April 1977, in which there is NO mention of khuks at all, but on page 513 there is the picture of a man on a Tibetan pony, with something that looks like the brass buttplate of a khukuri sticking out from his clothes. The caption says the horseman is a Ngawa tribesman performing a consecration ritual in Dolpo, remote border district of Nepal. Forumites who can access this National Geographic magazine might look at the picture and maybe confirm that the buttplate belongs to a khukuri. If it is a khukuri, it is stuck in the front of the belt and lying nearly horizontally, while military khuks are worn at the back.

Of course, I have seen mention of khukuris in tourist guidebooks on Nepal. Purnell's History of the 2nd World War makes mention a few times of the exploits of Gurkha soldiers. There should be any number of histories of the War which discusses in depth the role played by Gurkhas and their "knives".

An inventory (bibliography)of articles in which the khukuri figures, should be very interesting.
 
A family friend saw plenty of Cossacks in southern Russia carrying khukuris in crossdraw fashion on horseback. They would have a little fun around the foreigners by pulling their coats back to reveal the knife for a little not so subtle brandishing, and some grunting to make the intimidation complete. The khukuri brought back for a son was of tourist quality, looked like an AK maybe a little less than a foot long, with typical scabbard to boot.

It would be interesting to know how far and wide in the world khukuris are used.
 
It happens that when one becomes engrossed in a specific collection, like in khukuris, one also becomes interested in all aspects surrounding the objects of one's interest. Looking at JP's collection, I note he's doing it as well (hats etc.).

One might be interested to learn that many Nepalese COIN issues reflect on the khukuri as traditional symbol. I think this may be old hat to most forumites, but I have not seen the coin aspect mentioned on the forum. So here is a list of Nepalese coins showing the khukuri.

COINS OF NEPAL

(A) CROSSED KHUKURIS (the crossed khukuris are clearly distinguisheable on these coins; I don't believe there can be a mistake)

1/4 paisa 1943
½ paisa 1921, 1928, 1947
1 paisa 1918-1930, 1933-1940, 1944, 1946-1949
2 paisa 1919-1927, 1935-1943, 1945, 1948, 1951-1953
5 paisa 1918-1927, 1934-1941
1 Bakla rupee 1935
2 Bakla rupees 1948, 1955

(B) SINGLE KHUKURI (also no mistake; the curve and outline is very clear.)

1 paisa 1953-1955
2 paisa 1953-1957
10 paisa 1953-1955
20 paisa 1953-1954
25 paisa 1953-1955, 1957

Only the Bakla rupees are gold; all the other are baser metals, like copper etc.

So is this information relevant or not.....? Anyone else picked this up? Personally, I don't actually HAVE any of these coins, worse luck!
 
Very interesting, Johan. Thanks for the post and the many extra things you bring to the forum.

Dan (Mk 9:35)
 
Many moons ago I reported in this Forum that I happened to visit the Kimberley M.O.T.H. museum and found three khuks there. Then, I did not know what to make of them due to my being a complete novice. Now, on my follow-up visit this weekend, I can report a little bit more fully. The one I though to be a SN1 is in fact a WWII. It was new - I believe a Khukuri House product. The second one I reported only as having a bunch of accessory tools, now seems to me to be a Gangawal. It's not new, but as to its age I really cannot tell. The curator could not help either. Under the steely gaze of the curator I pulled out some of the accessory tools and found a tweezer, an awl, and a thingy with a hook at the end. The oldies (excepting the WWII) were all fastened to the display board in their sheaths, so I could not look at the blades themselves. The third one I could not explain at all previously, but now it looks to me like an India-made tourist model, could be quite a few years old. The buttcap was steel, slightly curved, with two little flat knobs where the tang has been peened over. The sheath is black leather with the sheath tip covered with a sharp-pointed metal (tin) cap. The pins in the black horn handle I believe to be decorative only - not panna butta. This is NOT your ordinary standard Indian Army khuk. The two kardas seemed to be (horror upon horror) chromed, and very poorly at that. The kardas had little metal discs (bolsters) occurring between the blade and black horn handles. The karda handles were very short.

Hope this is interesting to the forumites....
 
Well, it was interesting to me, Johan. I do remember your first visit to the museum, and it's a pretty neat thing to see what you've learned since then, Tell me, how did you ever manage to get permission to handle the accessory tools?
 
I don't rightly know, Lt. Dan. I remember blabbing incessantly about khukuris for fifteen minutes or so, and when I asked if I could handle the accessory items he must have been so confused he just nodded blankly. Yeah, I guess that's how it was.
 
The only "taking away of khukuris" that I saw was from backpackers who thought they could waltz onto the plane with a huge khukuri in their hands. I don't know if they get them back, if they're shipped in some "backpacker's khukuri compartment." I tend to think the backpackers don't see their khukuris again.

------------------
Craig Gottlieb
Gurkha House
Blade Forums Sponsor
 
"Roadrunner" is the author of the following thread in the HI forum. I thought it would be of interest to us (abbreviated).

"I just picked up the latest issue of Tactical Knives from Dick's Sporting Goods. In the middle was an article featuring khukuris of the Himalayas. A really interesting article all round. The author writes about a trip he took to Sikkim. He went on a guided trek through the country, and he notices his guide's khukuri. The guide tells the author that his son is a kami. They go to visit after picking up a Jeep spring and the kami makes the author a khukuri using a practically nothing but a hammer and a hammer head sunk into the ground as an anvil.

There's a lot in the article about the cultural significance of the khukuri and what an effective tool it is."

This article is news to me. Such an article deserves a place in our bookshelves, don't you agree?
 
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