Did anybody catch the vids of the kuk abuse? I found it highly interesting that the severe blows did not actually break the blade. This was a smaller knife, but while the tip was bent, the blade remained intact. I wonder why the rating was not higher, especially since even the Busse flagship model was broken after being subjected to harsh hammer blows.
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Khukri abuse by the masked fellow
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These_Nutz
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Link?.
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This is going to be a Noss thread, and that's OK. Some people are going to find his findings to be science, some people are going to find them to be hogwash, some are going to find them entertaining, some are going to see them as a waste.
I'm staying out of this one as much as possible, but lets try to be gentle with one another, deal?
I'm staying out of this one as much as possible, but lets try to be gentle with one another, deal?
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What Jake said. Here's the link http://www.knifetests.com/himalayanimportsangkholadtest.html
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Yup. I think the review would have been higher if he had been testing a CAK.
Andy
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Hey Folks,
I watched the video series a week or so ago, with trepidation. To my surprise, I thought it turned out really good for what it was. It was kinda obvious that Noss had no real idea of what kind of blade he was dealing with, I think he had done an overview on HI Kuks, but what he had read did not really sink in. He was shocked when it bend...but said he knew that the spine was left soft. He complained that the handle was small and that the horn might crack.....well yeah, it's a small Khukuri, and horn cannot be compared to micarta! But aside from that, it was amazing to me that a little Kuk like that compared right up there or better than any of his other blades used in his videos. It was almost as though he did not want to like it....but did anyway?!
I watched the video series a week or so ago, with trepidation. To my surprise, I thought it turned out really good for what it was. It was kinda obvious that Noss had no real idea of what kind of blade he was dealing with, I think he had done an overview on HI Kuks, but what he had read did not really sink in. He was shocked when it bend...but said he knew that the spine was left soft. He complained that the handle was small and that the horn might crack.....well yeah, it's a small Khukuri, and horn cannot be compared to micarta! But aside from that, it was amazing to me that a little Kuk like that compared right up there or better than any of his other blades used in his videos. It was almost as though he did not want to like it....but did anyway?!
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When you set out with the purpose of destroying something, it's going to get destroyed.
The knife did fine! Great spirit in that little blade. He's going on about the handle but a 12" is a little khuk, whaddya expect. Otherwise pretty complimentary, which is to say, he fairly reported it's brave death.
Bad karma for the dude, to deliberately "kill" a blessed blade.
Mike
The knife did fine! Great spirit in that little blade. He's going on about the handle but a 12" is a little khuk, whaddya expect. Otherwise pretty complimentary, which is to say, he fairly reported it's brave death.
Bad karma for the dude, to deliberately "kill" a blessed blade.
Mike
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Well, considering that he picked (was sent) what is arguably the smallest, and weakest Ang Khola, and with its hidden tang and horn handle is the least capable of handling the abuse, it did exceedingly well.
Seems his big complaint was the horn handle.
I'm not sure he understood the reasoning behind a differential heat treat, though. Yes, it held the bend, because the blade, for the most part, is soft. Only the edge, and that near the sweet spot, is really hard. The blade did exactly what it should do. Only if it was hardened all the way through would it spring back (or break) after being bent.
I really doubt most people will ever use a sledgehammer to baton their kukri through cement blocks or metal, I doubt something like an HI kukri will ever break doing what it was designed for.
But we already knew that, eh?
Seems his big complaint was the horn handle.
I'm not sure he understood the reasoning behind a differential heat treat, though. Yes, it held the bend, because the blade, for the most part, is soft. Only the edge, and that near the sweet spot, is really hard. The blade did exactly what it should do. Only if it was hardened all the way through would it spring back (or break) after being bent.
I really doubt most people will ever use a sledgehammer to baton their kukri through cement blocks or metal, I doubt something like an HI kukri will ever break doing what it was designed for.
But we already knew that, eh?
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Either:
1.) He doesn't know how a kukri works
or
2.) He was deliberately using it wrong to see how it would handle it.
CallsThunder
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That says it all.
I heartily agree on that point ,mister. I feel the 'lil pocket khuk did a very nice job of annoying noss and making him work a little for these vids , until he had to play unfair and pull out the hammer, anybody knows a horn handle peened onto a rat-tail isnt going to take that Sheet for very long.
I watched a couple or so of the vids but i cant stand the way noss feels the need to repeat everything he says during these tests 3 or 4 friggen times. I also found his comments on the bending kinda amusing, i got the impression that he was trying to say it should'nt have bent like that. And watching him trying to peel that 1/2 handle off with his fingers.... that laha is tenaciously sticky and theres only one way to go from there even on the small khuks, ya gotta hammer the handle the rest of the way off....LoL
and watching him chop with the tip thru those blocks, while impressive, was kinda painful for me to watch.
If I didnt know better i'd believe that this is the first time Noss has ever laid eyes on a real honest to goodness old skool khukuri.
And i still hold no stock in any of his "tests"
I'll continue to enjoy using and collecting the finest khukuris in the world with the first class service
JTR357
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Let me first say,"I don't let these tests influence my buying at all",However the test did bring up questions/suggestions as to what I would want in a khukri.
1.Full tang
2.A guard(even a small one)
3.Micarta or G10(grippier handles)
Now I know nothing about khukris,& I know,who am I to suggest they change their 100 or 1000 yr old design?This is purely my opinion.Plus I think it would have faired a lot better if it had these 3 attributes.
I think it did very well as it is.I couldn't believe the way it chopped & hammered through that concrete,with no serious edge damage.
1.Full tang
2.A guard(even a small one)
3.Micarta or G10(grippier handles)
Now I know nothing about khukris,& I know,who am I to suggest they change their 100 or 1000 yr old design?This is purely my opinion.Plus I think it would have faired a lot better if it had these 3 attributes.
I think it did very well as it is.I couldn't believe the way it chopped & hammered through that concrete,with no serious edge damage.
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Couldn't view the vids, but the pics were interesting.
Note sure quite how useful such tests are, but I guess there's a school of thought out there that enjoys this sort of thing.
1. Full tang khuks are also available, they're known as chiruwa khukuri. When folk here refer to the "CAK" for example, it's an abbreviation for the Chiruwa Ang Khola.
2. Hmm, the odd "True Villager" khuks that have been turning up now and then are about all there is in the line of khuks with guards right now.
Given that the khuk is predominantly used in a swinging motion, though, a guard probably wasn't considered necessary over the years, as it's unlikely the hand would slip onto the blade unless you're thrusting with it. They're kind of like the Filippino barong in that sense.
3. These synthetics would certainly be tougher than the traditional wood and horn. Mind you, the latter are had to come by in Nepal, where the steel for the blades themselves comes from junked Mercedes Benz truck leaf springs. But that's okay by me, since I prefer natural materials in my blades anyway. As a note, horn could be made grippier with a coarse grit of sandpaper, as many here have noted in a myriad of other threads.
Note sure quite how useful such tests are, but I guess there's a school of thought out there that enjoys this sort of thing.
1. Full tang khuks are also available, they're known as chiruwa khukuri. When folk here refer to the "CAK" for example, it's an abbreviation for the Chiruwa Ang Khola.
2. Hmm, the odd "True Villager" khuks that have been turning up now and then are about all there is in the line of khuks with guards right now.
Given that the khuk is predominantly used in a swinging motion, though, a guard probably wasn't considered necessary over the years, as it's unlikely the hand would slip onto the blade unless you're thrusting with it. They're kind of like the Filippino barong in that sense.
3. These synthetics would certainly be tougher than the traditional wood and horn. Mind you, the latter are had to come by in Nepal, where the steel for the blades themselves comes from junked Mercedes Benz truck leaf springs. But that's okay by me, since I prefer natural materials in my blades anyway. As a note, horn could be made grippier with a coarse grit of sandpaper, as many here have noted in a myriad of other threads.
I think the test would've been a little better if the guy had done enough research to learn what the "unsharpened little knife" was for and what part of the blade to cut with [oh well].
I bet he would've made twice the progress cutting through the 2x4 if he used the correct technique.
Anyway - we all knew the handle was going to be the weak part of the test. That blade did HI proud though!
The take home message I got was that HI blades can take as much, if not more abuse as anything out there as long as you avoid beating your horn handle with a maul - I agree that a 16" CAK would've been a fairer comparison - but I think we can all fill in the blanks regarding where it would've performed better.
I bet he would've made twice the progress cutting through the 2x4 if he used the correct technique.
Anyway - we all knew the handle was going to be the weak part of the test. That blade did HI proud though!
The take home message I got was that HI blades can take as much, if not more abuse as anything out there as long as you avoid beating your horn handle with a maul - I agree that a 16" CAK would've been a fairer comparison - but I think we can all fill in the blanks regarding where it would've performed better.