Kagas Katne and Bilton Khukuris

M

malcolm47

Joined
Oct 11, 2005
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I'm looking for some input on the Kagas Katne and Bilton Khukuris. Has anyone purchased one of these Khukuris and put an edge on it? Does the edge stay sharp with use? Are they usefull as a small knife (I realize they aren't made for chopping)? I'm thinking of buying one of each, but I don't have room in my house for letter openers. Thanks in advance for any advice...........Malcolm
 
I've used my kk as a rabbit knife, and recently re-handled it (pix at store) and used it on pheasants and duck, making it even more practical. Edge gets sharp fast, stays sharp. Neat.

Welcome.
 
Adding to what Kis said, the biltons are great EDC blades if you require such a knife. Before the Sarge/KPH came along, a bilton was my EDC at work. Nice little knife with a good 5" blade on it. If you can get one of Sgt. Karka's biltons, he makes them STRONG. I think most of the biltons are partial tang, while the Sgt. makes his full peened tang like a regular sized khuk. I got a few of them for my groomsmen and they went nuts. Probably one of the best knives for the money you can get.

Jake
 
The KK is what I use to open my other HI packages! Its more like a "finger" knife to me with a finger along the back of the blade. It was very easy to sharpen to paper cutting sharp, which is good enough for me. The sharpmaker worked well on it. I had to file off down the handle because the sharp point really dug in to my palm. Now its comfortable.

I have a Sargent Karka bilton. I'd like to file down the handle, but its this really nice gray with a white strip in it, so I'm not going to. I've used it to cutt up chicken. Works fine but it is pretty thick. I use it fairly often to cut up frozen chicken, no bending no flex, no chips.
 
Like Jake said, they're definitely bargains for the price. I get very good service out of my Biltons. In relative khukuri terms they're "tiny", and definitely not large/heavy enough to "chop" anything larger than weeds and skinny branches, but make no mistake, they are real, no kidding, hand forged khukuris, they'll take and hold a razor sharp edge, and do their share of work as cutting tools. I got real excited back when the Biltons first became available, because their five inch blade makes them "street legal" toting khukuris here in Texas (5 1/2" blade length limit). Funny thing about Biltons, they look bigger out of the scabbard than they do in it. In their scabbards they look so benign that folks eyeball 'em more out of curiosity than they do apprehension.

Kagas Katnes? Got one that Uncle Bill gave me, looks like a miniature sirupati. It used to hang on a cord around my neck (sometimes it still does). Pappy used to tote one that way too, kind of a razor sharp good luck charm. If mine could talk it would tell you lots of "war stories", that little knife has logged more than 33,000 air miles going back and forth to "scenic locales".;)

Should you give 'em a try? You betcha. Next time you're in a fancy restaurant you can whip out your Kagas Katne to carve up your steak. Off the scale on cool points, and bound to get a conversation started on hand forged knives from the himalayas.:cool: :D

Sarge
 
I don't have much use for the biltons personally...they're just the wrong size for me. It seems that I always need something either larger or smaller.

The kagas katnes are pretty cool. They're neat little knives that are pretty nonthreatening; besides their size, they're unusual enough in appearance that most people see them as something interesting, not something dangerous. They do take and hold a good edge. They make excellent gifts as well.
 
They are perfect for applications Dannyin Japan would understand and I use mine exactly that way.

They are awesome little knives and earn their keep their own way.
 
How can I get a Sarge/KPH? Are they the same size as the Bilton? How much are they and how long do they take to get. I like the idea of the full tang in a small khukuri. Thanks for all of your input..................Malcolm
 
The Sarge/KPH is actually quite a bit different from a bilton. This is a knife designed by our very own Kismet. He made the prototype out of an old file in hour of our very own Sarge. He called the blade "Sarge". I liked it so much that I called it the Sarge/Kismet Practical Hunter....because it would give us something to argue about later on. It's a lot more "western" than the khukuri or bilton. It's a hunting knife with a 4ish" blade, false edge (sometimes sharpened, sometimes not), and guard. I would say to do a search for it, but that's down right now. They are EXCELLENT EDC knives. Light, strong, and classic. I don't leave the house without mine, and that's a fact:) They trickle in from time to time during one of Yangdu's Deals of the Day. Be quick! they get sharked awful fast.
The Sgt Karka biltons show about in about the same frequency. You're best bet is to e-mail Yangdu and see what she has in stock. She should be able to get you a price and timeframe.

Good luck
Jake
 
Sometimes there are khuks and Biltons posted in the "For Sale, Production Knives by individuals" here on Bladeforums. We can't post links to them as it's against the rules, but you might want to check now.:rolleyes: :)

Some of the biltons come with fancy scabbards that aren't much use for daily carry, but if you are handy you could make a sheath. The Sarge knives are even more practical, as they come with a nice scabbard with a belt loop.

Either have great blades.

Steve
 
All this talk about KKs and Biltons has me motivated. I just bought both to add to my khuk collection. They're both inexpensive enough, so I'll give them a try!
 
Images back from store.

Top: Sarge

Middle: Home made; never think you can HAND-SAND a fuller into a file knife!

Bottom: Kagas Katne with new, longer handle. Blade length is quite nice.

And beater, working sheath for Sarge.
 
Kis,

Looking at that Sarge again, I'm struck by the similarity in blade sillouette between it and a Nessmuk knife. There's lots more going on in a Sarge, what with the different bevels you'd ground for different purposes, but the shape's pretty distinctive.
 
Astrodada?

Hand sanding the fullers on that poor ole knife took approximately four fingerprints, with thumbs, and endless bits o' wet-dry coarse and gradually finer pieces of auto grinding paper. I can not calculate the time involved, my calculator only has 10 spaces. Four pairs of pants with the thigh worn out as I used my legs to brace the silly thing.

It was an early attempt, so I didn't know to soften the temper by heating the metal. I was literally sanding a file.

These guys with talent, knowledge and machines do not know how to make themselves suffer.

Tom?

I'd imagine you are correct. In part, the upper profile of this particular knife slopes down to the point because I ground a finer point on it than the rather blunt one with which arrived. This makes it look like the serpentine top of some the "nessmuk" models. I also borrowed from the Grohman/Russell knives with the lower blade positioning for leverage, from the Woodcrafter from early Marbles' blades, and deliberately made it a length of "sufficiency," without being so large as to appear as a weapon to the general population.

Rusty suggested it have three chevrons on the thumb-rest area, just beyond the finger-guard, to indicate its rank and name, but Bill thought we were going a bit too far in those first days, while he was just trying to get it made.
It was his last custom design. He even made sure I got the original back. Nice man.
 
Yeah well ... wherever all those ideas came from before coalescing in the Sarge design, it's one useful piece of steel. I'm still trying to shark one. As I've a friend with some nice antler to spare, I'd happily settle for one with a badly broken handle, which otherwise might suffer a cruel, unappreciated fate. :D
 
K, I got both of them through the mail today. Man, after handling my regular khukris, these really feel tiny. Amazing how they're able to scale down. They're just like my bigger knives but scaled down.
 
Kismet........I am inexperienced........

But one should sand the fullers before he hardens the blade , right ? :confused:
 
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