Karda in the bush?

Cpl Punishment

Cpl Punishment

Joined
Jan 28, 2006
Messages
7,035
Just out of curiosity I have a question on the kardas that come with the kukris.

Looking in the Convex Kards thread and seeing the pictures, the karda looks bigger than I thought it'd be. How do they hold up as bushcraft/general purpose knives? Are they something that is useful for cleaning fish/game, cooking, whittling and general camp use?

Reading through the HI site, it seems the Nepalese see the kukri and karda/chamak combo as kind of a complete survival system. Can it actually be used like that?

What about the chakmak? are the edges of the kukri and karda soft enough to be touched up by just a steel, or should a diamond hone and/or ceramic rod also be carried?

Dang the more I read about these the more I like them.
 
The kardas which come with the khukris aren't as large as the solo Kardas you see on some of the threads.

The karda for my 21.5" Chitlangi for example is a hair under 7" long with a 4" blade.

But l've used them for gutting fish and field dressing deer, squirrel, rabbit, groundhog...

They're handy little knives.


You can use a ceramic or diamond hone or a butcher steel. The chakmaks work for light touching up on the edge but it's a slow job for more than that.
 
Hot Dang! I was gonna start a thread about this. You must've read my mind, Cpl Punishment:D

Generally speaking, the kardas that come with your basic 18" and smaller khuk will be a little on the small side for western hands. Also, unless things have changed recently, the karda and chakma tend to come a bit softer than they should in order to hold a super edge or repair a lot of damage. Really, they are there because they are supposed to be there. Kamis aren't stupid. They know that because of manufacturing advancements over the last 100 years that there are better and faster ways to sharpen a khuk or add a spare blade besides the karda/chakma combo.

That said, I LOVE me a good sized karda paired with a nice hard chakma. I have found that the villager models tend to run a bit harder on all fronts (khuk edge, karda edge, chakma throughout). The chakma that I use on all of my blades (not just khuks) is from a 14" villager siru that I snagged last year some time (you lose count after awhile;)). It's hard enough to throw a spark if I needed to:thumbup:

I was also rummaging through my collection that I keep here at work (it's good to be the boss;)), and I found my 20" Sher movie model. I haven't done much with it since the scabbard is split. Every time I have enough leather to do a proper sheath, I don't have the time. Every time I have the time, I forget about it and start using my leather for other things...such is life. Anyway, I just now realized (after probably 2 years of owning the thing) that it came with a GORGEOUS neem handled karda that measures 6.5" total with a 3 3/4ths blade with a very subtle curve. A little Murphy's Oil Soap for the handle, a couple of licks down a butcher's steel, and a final stropping on a loaded piece of leather, and I have myself a very light yet strong yet packable fixed blade knife that will slice, baton, and poke. Furthermore, I actually like that it has a bit of a softer edge (maybe 52 or 53 rc if I were to guess. About that of a swiss army knife). I can touch this puppy up on a rock, with a karda, or even carry a little leather strop to bring it back to hair popping:thumbup:

I had a little free time, so I made a sheath out of some scrap leather. It has no belt loop. This baby is light and straight enough to fit in your back pocket (yet doesn't stick out the top too much). It's not a quick draw system. Just pull out the rig, take out your blade, cut, resheath, repocket.

It was a fun little project that took me no more than an hour to complete. Don't disregard the small but powerful karda. It's Nepali steel that you can pack with you every day:D
 
I posted this picture some time ago compairing different chakmas that come with the kukris, maybe it will help a little since they are about the same size as the kardas that came with the same kukris . The smallest came with a 15" kukri, the largest came with a 23". The largest had a 3 3/8" handle with a 4" blade, the smallest came with 2 1/4" handle and 2 3/8" blade. The the rest of the chakmas came from 16" - 18" kukris.

DSCF0611b.jpg
 
OK, since I have an 18" and 20" on the way, I guess I can expect one of the larger chakmaks.

Thanks for the pics.
 
If your willing to grind them down a lot, you can make them into really nice skinning tools. The ones I've handled are generally to thick for normal use given how small they are. but with a little reworking, they could be super useful :D

see the current thread with the dan koster karda mod to see what I mean. once modded, it looks as useful as any thin american companies knife as I've seen, and it has a very pleasing custom (which it is) look to it.

"Hand american" makes some really nice steeling rods in short lengths if you need something thats really good at steeling out dings as well, I'm pretty sure that they have them in 5" or 6" lengths that would be fairly easy to make a pouch for.
 
I should currect my post..the smallest didn't come from a 15", it came from a 9.5" but the others came from 16-18" and 23"
 
Does anyone know where to get replacement Kardas and Chakmaks? I have a 15" AK and i was carrying the Karda as a backup edc and ended up losing it. It kills me having to pack that knife into the bush with an empty loop in the sheath:(
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top