Katars. A better look. Pix.

Sorry Uncle Bill, silver is predominatly werewolves. Although, a silver khukuri would most likely be quite a piece..... I'd better stop now before I end up a homeless guy with a lot of knives.
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- D

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Where the lion's skin will not reach, you must patch it out with the fox's.
 
The two stilettos remind me of some worn out packing-house knives I recently purchased for a few cents each. They had been reground multiple times until the blade was about this shape. The handles were similar to those in the picture also. The handles of the packing-house knives are quite comfortable, as they must be for knives that are used all day long. It is interesting to see this sleek “modern” design in these old knives. I guess what worked then works now too.

By the way, it did cross my mind that those old worn-out knives would make formidable weapons. They also work well for cutting the tight curves in Jack-O-Lanterns.
 
Dave K. and Uncle,
As I recall from all the knife stuff I have read over the years the stilettos are known as "Choora" and are associated with Afghanistan. The blade is "T" shaped in cross section, supposedly the top of the T would open chainmail to the cutting edge. This characteristic is also associated with the Jambiya of Arabic origin(?)in the form of the diamond shaped cross section of that knife. A local Morrocan merchant, if he is still in business, carries(ed) the jambiya from his country. He doesn't know what he is close to. A step up in quality and those knives could be serious contenders. Regarding the information I have presented, I am not an expert. I have gleaned with great interest what information I can from the journals and references that most of us forumites are familiar with. And yes, those little Choora resemble a knife that my grandfather kept in a kitchen drawer for several decades. A cattleman at one time, he wanted edge, not looks. This knife started out as something bigger and was steeled down over the years until it was only a keen sliver of steel by the time I was in college. I never touched that knife. It just looked too scary - I Knew what that edge could do.
Leo

[This message has been edited by leo2 (edited 03 December 1999).]
 
Leo 2 you are right about the Afghan versions being called choora. These do not appear to be chooras which usually have a slightly different blade and a handle that is slimmer with a more pronounced or flared butt. These look more like Indian pesh-kabz or karuds. The names pesh-kabz and karud are pretty much synonymous except that the karuds are usually straight bladed where as the pesh-kabz can also have a recurved blade.These are classic representations.
The other purpose of the T cross section of the blade was to stiffen or reinforce it as they are usually quite thin.
 
MRichard,
Thanks for the feedback. This thread on katars has provided information about cultures, tool design, use, and application in the modern era. Interesting remark about the pesh-kabz having a recurved blade. Would that make what Bud Nealy calls a pesh-kabz actually something quite different? Or is it quite reasonable to expect a single curve variant associated with other regions? Dave, it is easy for me to hop on your wagon on this one, except I am waiting to get a 25" sirupati or King Kobra in my hot hands. Power to ya!
Leo
 
Your right about the skinny blades. I use to have a knife collectors book that showed knives from all over the world. Had a large section on the khuk and knives from India. They said that the staight,T shaped blade was for pushing thru chainmail. Kind of like the katar but lighter. And yes, it did have a picture of a real splitting katar. It seems the only explaination the auther had was that when it is split open you have one up the middle and a point off to each side it made a better blocking or catching weapon.
 

From what I've read the splitting katar, could have been used as some form of a weapon breaker. I tried to figure this out, because it doesn't seem like it would be strong enough. Any ideas.

- D

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Where the lion's skin will not reach, you must patch it out with the fox's.
 
I heard somewhere that the bars coming off the hilt of the katar along the forearm could be used to trap a sword blade against your "dustana" (forearm armour) in armoured combat, also that the tip of the katar or pesh-kabz was often reinforced for armour-piercing use.
 
Leo2 I do not see any resemblence with Bud Nealy's pesh kabz and real or traditional pesh kabz. Yes there are also single curved variants. The one shown in this picture(hopefully) has a wide blade wih a single curve. It is also double fullered, "T" backed, with a reinforced diamond cross section tip. In case you are wondering, that is a jade hilt. This piece is from India 19th century(I believe).
peshkabz.jpg
 
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