kamis

[Gehazi]

Well looking at my old knives almost every one of them was made by Durba, who is also the kami that seems to have the least known about him, can anyone tell me if durba is still working? what years he operated in? I almost totally missed out on blades by kesar , and only have one by sher and one by samu but three by bura. The website seems a bit behind on who still works at birghorka , and i was wondering if anyone knew anything about durba in particular. (even if he doesnt work there, i would like to know more about the guy who made 5 of my knives)
my new knives are by tirtha, rajkumar, and the pair jag and prem-- i must say all three are equal to the old kamis in quality!

 

[ndoghouse]

Wandering that myself? My collection is By tirtha with exception of an AK by Raj Kumar and a few KKs by Dharan. Tirtha must sleep drink and eat Khukris! Dont have anything From Durba tho.

 

[Gehazi]

tirtha made a gelbu special that i got by accident, paid for it anyway because i thought it was such a great blade, got a rajkumar later that week, i must say tirtha imo is equal to raj-- but both are fantastic and the equal of my old durbas --i look forward to getting more by both , what is dharan's forgemark? ( i love tirtha's something great about having a beermug on your khukri)

but yeah lets use this thread to talk about our favorite kamis, and make sure the older members speak up for the newer guys, it was a big deal to me (at first) that bura and the old kamis were still around, it was not until i saw a tirtha and a rajkumar that I realized how silly i was, these new kamis are the equal to the guys who started this, and i look forward to sticking with them.

 

[ndoghouse]

what is dharan's forgemark? ( i love tirtha's something great about having a beermug on your khukri)

Kagas Katne doesnt have any marks..wish it did.

but yeah lets use this thread to talk about our favorite kamis,

Cant say I have a favorite yet. I can say that I use these blades every day. They are not in my collection for looks...but they could be. They certainly are beautiful! Time will tell as I see how they wear and function. From my impression Aunti and the team really have a tight grip on the Kamis quality so I doubt we will see much difference in each Kamis' quality. BTW: (O.T...sorry) My new Gelbu Special from Tirtha is everything I thought it would be and beer mug is cool!!

 

[Howard Wallace]

The kamis are part of a tradition that stretches backward until it is lost in the mists of time. The skills are passed from generation to generation, and great artists continue to arise as older ones pass away.

 

[Steve Tall]

... i was wondering if anyone knew anything about durba in particular. (even if he doesnt work there, i would like to know more about the guy who made 5 of my knives)...

Was curious and did some digging...


"We have a new kami at BirGorkha but I don't know anything about him except he knows how to make a khukuri. I'll be posting pix of one of his first efforts that clinched him a job at BirGorkha. He's good that much I know. So, if a blade shows up with this mark on it then know the knife was made by Durba. If this old memory is clicking properly this is the name of a princess in Hindu mythology and the name given to the planet we call Venus. Scholars feel free to correct this failing memory if I'm wrong."
--Bill Martino, 01/25/2001 http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/157381-New-kami-new-mark-Take-a-look-so-you-ll-know

"Now I know you've got your Bura, and I know you've got your Sanu...but I have been seeing the work of a Kami whose stuff is very unusual in that it doesn't have a single imperfection...of course I'm talking about Durba. Now, HI items are by nature handmade, and by nature sometimes have slight imperfections due to the process of classical shaping and forging with old world tools...except for Durba...his stuff is so clean, so perfect, it looks like it was made by a U.S. mastersmith with advanced equipment and extreme attention to faultlessnss. Durba's Janawar Katne has one of the most perfect blades I've even seen, antiques included. Every line, every curve is perfectly straight. No bumps, scratches, rolls, not a single flaw. From what I've seen, all of his pieces are like this."
-- Matt B, 05-02-2001 http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/157752-A-new-master

"Don't know anything about Durba except his name and that he does good work. He is probably living on the second floor at BirGorkha but I'm not even sure of that."
-- Bill Martino, 05-04-2001 http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/157752-A-new-master

"We have a couple of changes in marks. Durba left -- had to go home for some reason.
Kesar liked the flag mark so now that's what he is using. Effective maybe three weeks back anything made by Kesar will now have Durba's old mark -- flag of Nepal.
Sher came back. He wanted Kesar's old mark, the half sun, so that's what he's using.
Effective maybe three weeks back anything marked with Kesar's old mark, the half sun, is Sher's work.
Thankfully, Bura and Sanu are still using the marks they started with.
The kamis are nuts -- worse than we are."
-- Bill Martino, 02-01-2002 http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/188270-Change-in-kami-marks

 

[Gehazi]

wow this is everything I asked for man, I appreciate this a great deal, I think the kamis of himilayan imports are artists, equal to any painter! , and though the khukri are tools, they are tools in an ancient tradition passed from hand to hand over many hundreds of years, as howard said. I only use my chiruwa angkola for work ( though i hope to add a ganga ram soon)- the others i buy simply to add to the armory and enjoy cleaning them and admiring the hard work of these distant souls.