Khuk on MythBusters

Tohatchi NM

Tohatchi NM

Joined
Mar 26, 2002
Messages
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Any Myth Busters fans out there? I saw a re-run of the Pirate Special (episode 71). They were testing whether you could use a knife to slide down a sail, a la Errol Flynn. There was a pool of four knives for the test, one of which was a khukuri (ultimately not selected for the test).

There was a very clear, but brief, blade shot. Overall shape was similar to a full-bellied balance or small AK (minus the fuller). Spine engraving was similar to HI sirupati or balance models, with brass inlay. Cho was the close heart/hoof shape. The tip was fairly angular - more like a balance or Sgt. Khadka AK than a WWII. Finish was either a slightly worn mirror polish, or something just below mirror. Handle was black horn, and bolster looked like traditional style.

If you have the bandwidth, here's a clip on YouTube. Relevant image of the "Ghurka dagger" around 4:27 and 4:34.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AK4TI1I_eOQ&mode=related&search=

Thoughts on the identification? HI balance or something else?
 
A recurve would be a poor choice for their application...they cut too well. You'd always have motion on the blade, thus always at least a sawing action on the sail cloth. They might have figured that out and decided that if a khukuri was involved, there would be no contest on busting the myth.

It'd make for a pretty short episode.
 
We caught most of that episode this past weekend. Everyone in the room noticed the khukuri.

Eric
 
I saw that episode and noticed the Kuk, as I recall it was nixed as not being likely pirate gear. Which begged the question though, then why was it ordered? Methinks a producer or someone on the show padded the "knife budget" and bought a new kukri with TV show money! I gotta get a TV job....
 
i love the show. keri, tori, and grant are not the smartest of the group. i agree with you guys in that the khukuri wouldnt have worked. as to why it was there, well, who knows. it is them. maybe adam owns one and decided to come to work with it that day and just sat it down and forgot.

adam and jamie should have tested that one anyway. they are the smart ones..............i think ;)
 
i thought they'd over-simplified the test a bit, a real sail would have had some belly in it from the wind, so the downward path would not have been perfectly vertical and there would have been friction between the sail and the test body. the old movie clip they used clearly shows this....myth un-busted.

and they should have tested the kuk......
 
They also blew the splinter test. The warships of the day were far thicker hulled and better gunned. The HMS Victory for instance had solid oak beams two feet thick and carried 24 and 32 lb guns (not the punny 6lb field piece they tested). The impact energy would have been 20-30 times greater and those splinters would have been massive and may have included chunks of that multi-ton cannon that you had just serviced.

Like all TV facts (news); you have to take the evidence with a grain of salt and filter out the unsupported and exaggerated conclusion. Perhaps, if they had repeated the test a few dozen times, they may have been able to conclude that a short haul merchant sloop firing a 6lb cannon would not be able to generate significant spinter damage on pirates attacking from a long boat. But, to extrapolate that to what was experienced in naval combat is both irresponsible and disingenous.

Once again our Freedom of Speech is perverted into a license to lie.

n2s
 
Yeah, all we need is for khuks to be classified as "daggers" and most of us will be headed to the pokey for owning/carrying "daggers, dirks, or dangerous knives" which is the language in many knife laws.
 
Tohatchi NM said:
Yeah, all we need is for khuks to be classified as "daggers" and most of us will be headed to the pokey for owning/carrying "daggers, dirks, or dangerous knives" which is the language in many knife laws.
Click to expand...

Regardless what the 2nd Amendment says.

It IS about more than just firearms you know.
 
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