Khuk usage questions

[Fiddleback]

I started to post this on the "Would a kukri cut as well with a straight blade?" thread, but just decided its kinda OT and didn't want to hijack it.

I've read on the website that kids in Nepal are given a khuk very early, and they use it for everything. They dig, cut, chop, slice, etc. Then when its ghurka time its like an extention of their arm. I think I even remember UB talking about a woman slicing potatoes with a khuk. I know these knives wouldn't be 12", but what would their length be? I'm going to hazard a guess of 16-18". Am I right? If so with the proper amount of training wouldn't a khuk be pretty damn usable for all these chores with the right amount of practice? Is this just a case of training ourselves in the use of a curved blade for all these chores? What is the weight of these villager khuks? Hollow said of a bone cutter model, why haven't I seen more of those? Some of these questions are kinda unrelated, but I just been think of that bonecutter ever since he posted the pics. Thanks.

 

[Astrodada]

Once saw a picture of a young Nepali kid with a khukri in his hand, small khuk couldn't be more than 10" long.
And picture of nepali women using khuks to cut vegis. Khuk length (I guess) about 14" or shorter.

 

[munk]

I think the most commonly carried khuks are the shorter ones.

I imagine a kid is given a khuk when he's shown that he needs one through his work and usefulness. Very very few grow up to enlist in the British service. Poverty probably dictates which members of the household get which tools.

munk

 

[Thomas Linton]

Does anyone have a true "village" khukuri -- one made by a kami for local use -- that looks like an AK? I have a couple and they have a distinctly Sirupati form.

 

[munk]

I have a 20" 'AK' villager khuk that does not have fullers and does have a broad second half of blade.

If a Villager khuk started out looking like a AK in form, but was subsequently used a lot, and passed down to a son through several re-handlings and maybe a retemper also, it would end up looking like a Sirupate, wouldn't it?


munk

 

[Triquetra]

Does anyone have a true "village" khukuri -- one made by a kami for local use -- that looks like an AK? I have a couple and they have a distinctly Sirupati form.

I bought 4 "village" Khukuri back when Uncle Bill went through a phase of offerring 12" Village AK's. Seems like that is when these village models started showing up. One of them is distinctly different than the others and I have wondered lately if it is an actual village model. It has no markings on the blade at all but this particular one is much more blocky and wider at the base by the bolster. The others are fairly consistent with one or the other being a little more pointy or rounded on the end. Come to think of it though it must be an HI because I am looking at it now and it has a habaki bolster. I doubt that a real villager.
With all the new models that Yangdu is coming out with, I wish that she would bring out some models that are representative of the knives that are in actual use by the native people.

 

[Yvsa]

Andy I set out a long time ago to use a couple or three assorted khuks of different lengths to use in place of what we consider to be a standard knife. It was awkward at first but gradually I became somewhat used to using the khuks for everything and it wasn't to bad although I never did get fully acclimated to using the khuks like a Nepali would.
Like the old saying goes, "Beware of the man with only one gun (knife, axe, laser rifle, or whatever) as he knows how to use it.
But I must admit it was a relief to go back to what I was used too.
I'm sure that the khuk in Nepal is used for things we generally wouldn't use one for just out of necessity but generally most women around the world have their own dedicated kitchen tool(s).
Even the really poor ndns of South America that have been encroached on by timber and other companies are wearing man made clothes and using manufactured tools and they are just as poor as the Nepalis, maybe even poorer as they have never had to really work for a living. It has been shown many times over that the hunter gatherers only need 3 or 4 hours a day to obtain all they need for living. The rest of the time is theirs to do with as they please.

The Nepali kids raised on a farm or in a trade where a khuk is needed or used are the ones most likely to be totally acclimated to the khukuri. Every year when the Brits call for potential Ghorkas there are literally thousands that try out but only a few are needed and therefore picked.***
Those kids are the ultimate best of the crop no matter where they're from or what they have been doing for a living.
I imagine it's the kids who have carried the most loads on their back's up and down the mountains and therefore have the greatest stamina and strength and other physical attributes that are generally the ones that get picked. Fighting or other use of a khukuri would be far down the list of needed skills since with the advent of modern weapons the khukuri is seldom called on any more.

***

***Gurkha recruiting takes place once a year in Nepal. The British Army maintains a skeleton recruiting structure based on the British Gurkha Camp at Pokhara, in the West of Nepal. In a process that begins in September each year, local recruiters, known as Galla Wallahs, recruit a specified number of young men from their respective areas in the hills of both west and east Nepal. The pool of young hopefuls is further reduced at a second stage in the process. Here, senior retired Gurkha officers select a final tranche of potential recruits at a number of hill selection sites. These individuals then move down to Pokhara where a stringent and demanding final selection process is conducted by British and Gurkha officers. Once selected, the lucky few are flown to the UK to start recruit training and a career in the Brigade of Gurkhas. The number of Gurkhas recruited depends on the Brigade’s annual manning needs. The figure is currently around 230. Last year there were 28,000 applicants for 230 places.

 

[Bri in Chi]

Good info, Yvsa.
A fellow I met some time ago had a khukri given to him by a Nepali in the hills somewhere. It was 14 -15 inches long and sirupati-ish, but more leaf shaped. The handle was rather roughly carved, and I couldn't tell the material. Possibly wood darkened by age, use and grime to black. The blade was nicely forged, however. I wish now that I had taken a picture of it.

 

[Fiddleback]

Even the ones (My wife is sitting here with me. And she thinks we are all kookie.) who don't get selected have great skill with the khukuri right? I wasn't suggesting that all Nepalis are selected, or even try out. It's the skill with the knife I was pointing at. Yvsa had it. It was asked in the other thread whether a straight blade of the same weight would cut, or chop as well. The responses suggested using the knife appropriate to the job. Such as a Sarge knife for skinning. I was merely pointing out that we are trained to use the Sarge for skinning, and could probably be out skinned by a Nepali with a khukuri. Anyone agree or disagree?

 

[Yvsa]

The responses suggested using the knife appropriate to the job. Such as a Sarge knife for skinning. I was merely pointing out that we are trained to use the Sarge for skinning, and could probably be out skinned by a Nepali with a khukuri. Anyone agree or disagree?

I doubt a Nepali has any more skill with a khukuri than some of us do with a skinning knife.
Actually a khukuri isn't a good model for a skinner. Their advantage is as a chopper.:thumbup: