I've got a 12 inch Ang Khola now, and I like it !!

[coote]

I got back home after checking my traps today, and there in my mailbox was my new Ang Khola !! And boy does it look good.

It has a beautiful horn handle, and the whole thing is highly polished. The polish is a bit wasted on me because I intend that this will be a working knife. But I enjoyed looking at it nevertheless.

I haven't taken it out trapping yet, but I couldn't resist trying it out.

Although it does not chop as well as my 15" Ang Khola, it can still chop. The thinner stick in the picture is just under 3/4" thick, and I whacked through it with just one blow. That is more than adequate power for many of the jobs I need a 'chopper' for. I also hacked into a seasoned pole just to see what would happen... and I was pleased to see that I can chop through thicker, harder stuff if I had to.

This chopping was done with the blade virtually straight out of the box. I am yet to sharpen it.

Unfortunately I won't be setting any 'new' traplines for a while, so I won't be able to give this handy little tool a genuine, full-capacity, work-out for a while.....but I do have some traps to check tomorrow morning and I am looking forward to taking this shiny blade with me. It seems to be considerably lighter than my fifteen-incher, and I'm looking forward to seeing what it feels like on my belt as I climb the hills and push through the scrub.

It took only about a week for the khukuri to arrive from the USA.

I'm really pleased with both of my khukuris. And I recommend that anybody thinking about getting one should seriously consider something from Himalayan Imports. The service is personal and efficient, and I got more than I expected.

 

[markksr]

Sweet!
I love my 16.5 CAK but I've really been thinking hard about a 12in AK. Thanks for the pics.

 

[coote]

PS: YANGDU I sent you a private email thanking you for the latest package, but I got a message saying that the email could not be delivered.

So Thank you !! I really appreciate your service and everything that you sent me.

 

[greenwoods]

Coote,
those are sweet blades and I'm glad to hear they work so well. I am looking up the chimney, like my kids do, for Santa , as my wife,Holly, has gifted me with a 17" wwII surprise. I will be carrying this battle mistress,yet to be named..., at my side for our black powder season starting soon in western new york. I've used a garbage kuk for years in the bush and this will be my first HI. Thanks for the updates on your new Khukri's, be well and be safe ,

Mark

 

[IUKE12]

Coote,
I told you the 12 inch was ideal I think you are really going to appreciate the lighter weight of this one. Yeah, we like the bigger choppers, but the small ones seem to get little respect Looking forward to your reports.

 

[Steely_Gunz]

Gotta love those 12" AKs I'm hoping to give mine a little more of a workout this weekend at my mom's fiance's cabin:thumbup:

 

[Kismet]

Coote...


consider grinding the top of the butt down a bit, the 12 inchers have a tendency to dig into the base of your hand.

It is about the best compromise for a worker blade that a guy can carry...small hatchet, large knife, light enough to carry a long time, blade-heavy enough to use the weight to penetrate while chopping.

AND, in splitting wood with a baton, far out-shines most belt axes.

Glad you are happy. :thumbup:







There's a guy named Pappy somewhere, grinning.




Kis
enjoy every sandwich

 

[jimmyjones]

Coote...


consider grinding the top of the butt down a bit, the 12 inchers have a tendency to dig into the base of your hand.

It is about the best compromise for a worker blade that a guy can carry...small hatchet, large knife, light enough to carry a long time, blade-heavy enough to use the weight to penetrate while chopping.

AND, in splitting wood with a baton, far out-shines most belt axes.

Glad you are happy. :thumbup:

I put a nice radius on the top of the butt plate, the handle's a little small and it dug in just as you described. Works great.

 

[coote]

Note: some visitors to this site may not realize that khukuris are often labelled with a size that is their overall length including the handle....whereas many people describe knives by the blade length. The khukuri I am discussing here has a nominal overall length of 12 inches including the handle. The blade is around eight inches long.

I honed the 12” Ang Khola and the karda, and rounded off the points of the butt cap as suggested (and as I did to my 15" khukuri). I washed off the preservative oil and replaced it with cooking oil.

It accompanied me on my trip around the trap line this morning.

Compared to the 15”, I hardly noticed that I had it on my belt….apart from seeing the shiny butt-cap out of the corner of my eye occasionally. For an instant it seemed as if my flashlight had turned itself on in my pocket. I’ve never carried anything as shiny before.

Naturally I had to try its chopping ability. It doesn’t have the same weight or length as the 15 inch model, but it performed pretty darned well. There is a lot of gorse growing where I trap. This is an introduced, prickly pest plant, and its wood is moderately tough. I easily cut through this branch with two strokes, and I reckon if I’d swung a bit harder the first stroke may have done the job by itself:

I tried cutting off an even thicker branch….maybe 2.5” thick. It took a few swings, but the job was relatively easy. If I had to cut a lot of branches this thick, I’d prefer to use a chainsaw…but it is no trouble to do the job occasionally with the little 12 incher. Here’s that thicker branch:

A couple of possums needed to be clubbed this morning. The back of the 15” A.K. is excellent for this. Compared to the 15-incher, the 12” seemed fairly light, but it did the job. I’ve clubbed a lot of possums, and I don’t recommend the 12” as a trapper’s club for anybody who is not experienced with this type of thing. Mostly nowadays, my snares are kill snares so no clubbing is required. But it is good to know that the 12” A.K will suffice for the job if necessary.

I used the karda for skinning a couple of animals. It was great. There is something about the shape of the handle, I think, that makes this type of knife nice to use.

My snares had to be pulled out today. Above many of the snares I hang a bit of white paper as a visual lure. I use a strip of NZ flax leaf to hang the paper. The khukuri was great for reaching up and slicing through the flax. And it cut it instantly…it was like I was pointing a laser at the flax because it parted without effort.

I only keep the meat from the best possums for my own consumption. I leave the rest up the hill for the hawks and other critters. Today I plucked the fiber from one possum because the pelt was not worth keeping. Before I tossed the carcase into the scrub I thought that I should cut it open to make it easier for the local critters to get their teeth/beaks into it. I held it by the tail in my left hand and swung my khukuri at it with the other. My swings were fairly ‘tentative’ because of the proximity to my body….but the results were impressive (for want of a better word…actually the word ‘horriffic’ is the one that first sprang to mind). I can see why the enemies of the Ghurka would want to keep a couple of arm’s lengths away from them. A khukuri swung in battle by a determined operator would have devastating results.

After today’s chopping of wood and bone, it appears that I may have damaged, very slightly, a small portion of the edge. But I note that the edge on this knife is particularly ‘fine’…and I like a fine edge. I could make a blunter secondary bevel gradually as I sharpen it, but I’m not going to spend any time at it. I’ll just simply re-sharpen it and maybe stay away from cutting bone unless it has to be done. No point in rushing into something which may prove to be unnecessary.

When I got back home, I had a couple of nice pelts to tack out to dry. The last couple of inches of the khukuri blade proved to be good for slicing some of the excess flesh from the stretched skin.

So do I like the 12” Ang Khola? Yes I do, very much. It will probably be the ‘big’ knife that I carry most. If I know I have a lot of poles to cut, or if I know of similar work to be done….I will take the 15”. Otherwise this beautiful, sturdy little knife will meet my daily needs.

Having seen the marvellous capabilities of the 12” and 15” Ang Khola, I can’t help but wonder what an 18” or 20” would be capable of.

Do the Nepalese use anything bigger than a 15-incher on a regular basis?

 

[coote]

I went out this afternoon to check out an area with an eye to setting some traps. I generally set pole snares which means I have to find poles to lean up against trees....or I have to find suitable trees to set my snares on. Either way, there is generally some light chopping to do.

Some eucalyptus trees had been felled nearby, and there were some long straight branches lying around which were good for snare poles. I found that the little 12" Ang Khola could cut them to length and trim them with no trouble at all. These poles were no thicker than about an inch and a half, but dead, seasoned eucalyptus is reasonably tough.

I also trimmed some tree branches to make them suitable for setting my traps. When doing this I do not want to damage the main branch, so I can't swing hard...and my work has to be fairly precise to cut the side branches off close to the main branch as this should allow the area to heal nicely. The little khukuri was ideal for the work.

I love it.