Kailash Blades
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
- Joined
- Nov 21, 2015
- Messages
- 671
A glowing and comprehensive review from a recent customer on facebook!
"Dear Ladies and Gentlemen:
This is my first post on this forum. I am a fairly new fan and collector of handmade khukuris and did not have anything to contribute to this group of enthusiasts so far. My knowledge is still quite limited, but I have learned a lot from the khukuris collectors and researchers like Mr. Levan Dadiani, Mr. Timothy McLaughlin of Dragonfly Khukuri & Knives, Mr. Andrew Lucas from Kailash Blades, Mr. Viking Krishna Kunwor from Heritage Knives, Mr. Simon Hengle from Tora Blades and quite a number of group and forum members. I consider myself blessed to call some of them my new-found friends.
Since I received my delivery of a number of semi-custom khukuris from Kailash Blades I would like to take the opportunity to share pictures of them with you.
The Khukuris made by Kailash Blades here specifically are: Historical Service Issue (HSI), Panawal, Fort William MK1 and their great Pensioner. The HSI, Panawal and Fort William MK1 feature blades in satin finish, while the Pensioner is polished. The latter appears to have a blue tone to it, though this is a lightning effect. Of course, in reality it is a semi-glossy "silver" finish.
All of the blades, excpect for the HSI, do have the standard grind. The HSI I did order with the Heavy Duty grind for heavy chopping. Since the latter will go to hunter who will use it for heavy wood work, I consider it a good, durable choice. That said, I guess "Standard Grind" would be have been quite sufficient, though, and perhaps even the "Performance Grind". I admit that the differences are still a bit confusing to me and therefore it ain't as easy to me to select on the "right" type of grind that takes into consideration a specific or a possible future applications I might use the khukuri for…
Each one came with Kailash Blades excellent Kydex sheath (shown here) as well as a traditional dap (not shown). If you look close, one of the Kydex sheath is for a "Southpaw" - a left hander, which was a special request by me, which the good guys at Kailash Blades were happy to accommodate. For the Pensioner I even had a third scabbard - their Salyani - Rubbed Leather - made. The latter is the most aesthetically beautiful looking, in my opinion. It is pretty similar to those really nice and traditional ones many D.K&K. khukuris are supplied with.
As you can see I ordered all of the blades either with robust Micarta wrap handles or handle slaps (like in case of the Panawal), because I consider this material much superior to either wood or horn especially for a "hard use" blade. Micarta is quite impervious tot he elements and does not require regular care and maintenance as organic materials would. Furthermore, the rougher but great feeling external structure allows for a very secure grip.
What I also like are the circumference of the grips and their length which provides for a lot of good control over the blade. Also, on downward sweeps with the khukuris I won't get stung by the edges or tips of the buttcaps. There are khukuris from top makers on the market (I own some by now) with relatively slender and sometimes short grips as well as sharp and/or pointy buttcaps which, over the long haul, make using them pretty uncomfortable and sometimes downright painful/torturous.
Interestingly enough, I have neither read, nor heard a lot about these deficits in khukuri grip design…
These Kailash Blades shown here DO NOT have any of these problems, especially not with the longer 5.25 inch handle size, which I choose for all of them. Before ordering I was unsure whether or not to go with the medium length, which is 4.75 inch, but Iam glad I did select the longer 5.25 inch handle. Even though I have small to medium sized hands myself, after this experiences I would always go with a longer handle size, if offered by the respective makers. While many makers probably can and will do them on special request, to my knowledge only Kailash Blades literally "asks" on their product pages on their website which one you like to get, so it is impossible to miss out on this important option.
By the way - and this will come as a surprise - I won't keep any of these blades, as they were intended as gifts. All of the khukuris shown here will be gifted to friends, a business associate and last not least my younger brother. However, included in the same delivery, I got me three (3) more khukuris from Kailash Blades - a MK1, a Pensioner and the fantastic Mutiny - which I have ordered for myself and which I will never get rid of. Once they are cleaned up I will photograph them and also show them here.
After this experience I am thinking strongly about ordering the Angkhola Dui Chirra in full tang with black Micarta handle panels from Kailash Blades to be as a "heavy duty" khukuri. Let's see… And, thanks to khukuri enthusiast Mr. Levan Dadiani and his inspirational videos, that damn Salyani blade from Kailash Blades also does not go out of my head anymore either!!!
Lastly I would point out that Kailash Blades has among the best customer service and fasted speed of communication I have ever experienced - not only among the top khukuri manufacturers but all companies I have ever dealt with! I don't know whether Andrew ever sleeps or rests, as his responses are unbelievably quick, very detailed, personal and contain information that is actually helpful for the customer. That makes selection from among the various models and countless options that much easier. As a customer you really feel that you are in extremely good hands with this company.
Let me thank Andrew, Bisnu and the whole crew at Kailash Blades for an outstanding job done here! If you read this post here: You went beyond the call of duty and exceeded all my expectations, which is just great!
"
"Dear Ladies and Gentlemen:
This is my first post on this forum. I am a fairly new fan and collector of handmade khukuris and did not have anything to contribute to this group of enthusiasts so far. My knowledge is still quite limited, but I have learned a lot from the khukuris collectors and researchers like Mr. Levan Dadiani, Mr. Timothy McLaughlin of Dragonfly Khukuri & Knives, Mr. Andrew Lucas from Kailash Blades, Mr. Viking Krishna Kunwor from Heritage Knives, Mr. Simon Hengle from Tora Blades and quite a number of group and forum members. I consider myself blessed to call some of them my new-found friends.
Since I received my delivery of a number of semi-custom khukuris from Kailash Blades I would like to take the opportunity to share pictures of them with you.
The Khukuris made by Kailash Blades here specifically are: Historical Service Issue (HSI), Panawal, Fort William MK1 and their great Pensioner. The HSI, Panawal and Fort William MK1 feature blades in satin finish, while the Pensioner is polished. The latter appears to have a blue tone to it, though this is a lightning effect. Of course, in reality it is a semi-glossy "silver" finish.
All of the blades, excpect for the HSI, do have the standard grind. The HSI I did order with the Heavy Duty grind for heavy chopping. Since the latter will go to hunter who will use it for heavy wood work, I consider it a good, durable choice. That said, I guess "Standard Grind" would be have been quite sufficient, though, and perhaps even the "Performance Grind". I admit that the differences are still a bit confusing to me and therefore it ain't as easy to me to select on the "right" type of grind that takes into consideration a specific or a possible future applications I might use the khukuri for…
Each one came with Kailash Blades excellent Kydex sheath (shown here) as well as a traditional dap (not shown). If you look close, one of the Kydex sheath is for a "Southpaw" - a left hander, which was a special request by me, which the good guys at Kailash Blades were happy to accommodate. For the Pensioner I even had a third scabbard - their Salyani - Rubbed Leather - made. The latter is the most aesthetically beautiful looking, in my opinion. It is pretty similar to those really nice and traditional ones many D.K&K. khukuris are supplied with.
As you can see I ordered all of the blades either with robust Micarta wrap handles or handle slaps (like in case of the Panawal), because I consider this material much superior to either wood or horn especially for a "hard use" blade. Micarta is quite impervious tot he elements and does not require regular care and maintenance as organic materials would. Furthermore, the rougher but great feeling external structure allows for a very secure grip.
What I also like are the circumference of the grips and their length which provides for a lot of good control over the blade. Also, on downward sweeps with the khukuris I won't get stung by the edges or tips of the buttcaps. There are khukuris from top makers on the market (I own some by now) with relatively slender and sometimes short grips as well as sharp and/or pointy buttcaps which, over the long haul, make using them pretty uncomfortable and sometimes downright painful/torturous.
These Kailash Blades shown here DO NOT have any of these problems, especially not with the longer 5.25 inch handle size, which I choose for all of them. Before ordering I was unsure whether or not to go with the medium length, which is 4.75 inch, but Iam glad I did select the longer 5.25 inch handle. Even though I have small to medium sized hands myself, after this experiences I would always go with a longer handle size, if offered by the respective makers. While many makers probably can and will do them on special request, to my knowledge only Kailash Blades literally "asks" on their product pages on their website which one you like to get, so it is impossible to miss out on this important option.
By the way - and this will come as a surprise - I won't keep any of these blades, as they were intended as gifts. All of the khukuris shown here will be gifted to friends, a business associate and last not least my younger brother. However, included in the same delivery, I got me three (3) more khukuris from Kailash Blades - a MK1, a Pensioner and the fantastic Mutiny - which I have ordered for myself and which I will never get rid of. Once they are cleaned up I will photograph them and also show them here.
After this experience I am thinking strongly about ordering the Angkhola Dui Chirra in full tang with black Micarta handle panels from Kailash Blades to be as a "heavy duty" khukuri. Let's see… And, thanks to khukuri enthusiast Mr. Levan Dadiani and his inspirational videos, that damn Salyani blade from Kailash Blades also does not go out of my head anymore either!!!
Lastly I would point out that Kailash Blades has among the best customer service and fasted speed of communication I have ever experienced - not only among the top khukuri manufacturers but all companies I have ever dealt with! I don't know whether Andrew ever sleeps or rests, as his responses are unbelievably quick, very detailed, personal and contain information that is actually helpful for the customer. That makes selection from among the various models and countless options that much easier. As a customer you really feel that you are in extremely good hands with this company.
Let me thank Andrew, Bisnu and the whole crew at Kailash Blades for an outstanding job done here! If you read this post here: You went beyond the call of duty and exceeded all my expectations, which is just great!
