- Joined
- May 1, 2002
- Messages
- 169
I love my trusty 15" AK bura work horse. A lot of ppl with vast collections seem to consider this model a great starter khuk, and i'm inclined to agree. . . even sitting here with a single bent blade on my shelf (the Himimp Borg will no doubt come looking for me 
). So, i ordered a blem for my brother's birthday. Its here now and i thought a short side by side same-kami/size/model review might be interesting. I don't think i've seen many posted here.
I'll probably wait to write a field test once he's used it - i don't
wanna spoil that mirror finish before he's tried it.
New one:
Old one:
(If you get a red X, the pic is from this post)
first impressions - no tax/duty to pay this time. Bonus.
The new one is complete with nepali newspaper - what a novelty!!
The new khuk has quite a long handle - top of boulster to bottom of butcap=5"7/16. just under an inch longer than mine. I had to file the top point of the handle flare on mine to make it more comfortable on my palm. This one is perfect. Its got a slight curve to it, a la M43, which is real eye candy. Unwrapping this new one lets me see how rugged mine looks after only a couple of years!
Theres a 1"1/2 narrow, but deep crack in the new handle (blem) which i'm in two minds to fill with superglue or simply treat with hooflex to close... but the ridge is nice and uniform and the lines are straight (a bit scrappy on the older one)
The new boulster isn't finished quite as well as the old, though theyre both pretty near perfect: the line of silver colour solder has a few crevases in the new one.
The new scabbard is very nice. When the khuk is in it the handle is all the way to one side, which IMHO looks nicer than the handle coming out of the centre. The new one is tight too. Its got a really god grip on it, but the blade still slides in and out fine. The stitching isn't quite as tidy as the old one. . . but hey, Bura ddn't make the sheath - and the old one has had so many coats of kiwi polish it'd look tidy anyway.
The new karda and chackma have really nice looking handles - no grooves or lines at all. And theyre longer too .nice.
Now to draw them. . .
the new one is quite light in comparison, just 11/32" spine compared to 15/32". feels FAST in my hand (1lb 4oz), which i wasn't expecting, since my old one is a phat axe with a beefy convex edge (Just about textbook i'd say, Pen) that weighs in at 1lb 5.3/4oz.
about the edge.. .
The new spine is thinner - the blade is thinner. It feels straight, almost conCAVE instead of the classic shape of my older one.
I'll bet it chops deep, having to displace a significant ammount less
The new blade is quite a bit shorter too, even though i'd snapped the tip off the old one and got Tom Holt to regrind a point for me. As a result the balance point is further back than the older one. For me this is useful cause i like to keep the (recurve??) bottom of the inside curve quite sharp to use for finer work - its much easier to carve or whatever using the balance point of a khuk instead of the hefty tip. . . don't know about anyone else.
SO, i don't really know what else to comment on. Really, i was surprised at how different they were from the same Kami. It was the nicer handle on the new one which struck me the most. I got the old one before Bura was ill. . . could the new one be post-op Bura? or has it just been hanging around?
neway. I've never written a review before and it hink i'll have to reconsider the ammount of wordage i spout next time
). So, i ordered a blem for my brother's birthday. Its here now and i thought a short side by side same-kami/size/model review might be interesting. I don't think i've seen many posted here.I'll probably wait to write a field test once he's used it - i don't
wanna spoil that mirror finish before he's tried it.
New one:
Old one:
(If you get a red X, the pic is from this post)
first impressions - no tax/duty to pay this time. Bonus.
The new one is complete with nepali newspaper - what a novelty!!
The new khuk has quite a long handle - top of boulster to bottom of butcap=5"7/16. just under an inch longer than mine. I had to file the top point of the handle flare on mine to make it more comfortable on my palm. This one is perfect. Its got a slight curve to it, a la M43, which is real eye candy. Unwrapping this new one lets me see how rugged mine looks after only a couple of years!
Theres a 1"1/2 narrow, but deep crack in the new handle (blem) which i'm in two minds to fill with superglue or simply treat with hooflex to close... but the ridge is nice and uniform and the lines are straight (a bit scrappy on the older one)
The new boulster isn't finished quite as well as the old, though theyre both pretty near perfect: the line of silver colour solder has a few crevases in the new one.
The new scabbard is very nice. When the khuk is in it the handle is all the way to one side, which IMHO looks nicer than the handle coming out of the centre. The new one is tight too. Its got a really god grip on it, but the blade still slides in and out fine. The stitching isn't quite as tidy as the old one. . . but hey, Bura ddn't make the sheath - and the old one has had so many coats of kiwi polish it'd look tidy anyway.
The new karda and chackma have really nice looking handles - no grooves or lines at all. And theyre longer too .nice.
Now to draw them. . .
the new one is quite light in comparison, just 11/32" spine compared to 15/32". feels FAST in my hand (1lb 4oz), which i wasn't expecting, since my old one is a phat axe with a beefy convex edge (Just about textbook i'd say, Pen) that weighs in at 1lb 5.3/4oz.
about the edge.. .
The new spine is thinner - the blade is thinner. It feels straight, almost conCAVE instead of the classic shape of my older one.
I'll bet it chops deep, having to displace a significant ammount less
The new blade is quite a bit shorter too, even though i'd snapped the tip off the old one and got Tom Holt to regrind a point for me. As a result the balance point is further back than the older one. For me this is useful cause i like to keep the (recurve??) bottom of the inside curve quite sharp to use for finer work - its much easier to carve or whatever using the balance point of a khuk instead of the hefty tip. . . don't know about anyone else.
SO, i don't really know what else to comment on. Really, i was surprised at how different they were from the same Kami. It was the nicer handle on the new one which struck me the most. I got the old one before Bura was ill. . . could the new one be post-op Bura? or has it just been hanging around?
neway. I've never written a review before and it hink i'll have to reconsider the ammount of wordage i spout next time
