Khukri House

D

DPris

Joined
Nov 27, 2003
Messages
1,317
I give up, I'm obviously doing something wrong, but I can't get the Search function to be as selective as I need it to be. It doesn't seem to be able to search two words together, and when I try "Khukuri House" I get pages of generic khukri posts.
I imagine it's been asked a number of times, and I apologize for the repetitive question, but can somebody tell me how well the Khukuri House products compare to the HIs?
I'm not looking for a reason to go somewhere else, I just got my second HI khukri this morning (at the reckless rate of one every ten years this could lead to madness) and I'm very pleased with it, I'm just wondering. Came across a mention of the other place on another forum today.
Thanks for any help.
DPris
 
Dpris-- I don't own any Khukuri House Khukuris, but from what I have read, they are of decent quality, just not up to HI standards. If I'm not mistaken, Ghurka House khukuris were supplied by Khukuri House. You might want to check the defunct Ghurka House forum in the archives.
--Josh
 
Go to the archives and find the Gurkha House forum. Khukuri House was their supplier. Try different spellings of the K word.
 
I have a few of those khukuris. They're "ok". You get what you pay for but the quality is far below that of the H.I. khukuris. They are smaller generally especially the grips. In my opinion H.I. khukuris are the best khukuris available. Bar none.
 
Do you mean Nepalese Khukuri House? If so it's

http://www.nepalesekhukuri.com/index.html

I don't own any but I have heard they are decent. However as far as I know you have to order them from Nepal, and while they are slightly cheaper than HI the shipping would probably make them slightly more expensive. The other problem is if you get a bad one it is a lot more tough to send back for a replacement to Nepal rather than Nevada.

I do like the look of the sickle they make and some of the models int the 12 to 14" range not offered here by HI. However I have never ordered any due to the shipping and the unknown quality.
 
Originally posted by BruiseLeee
I didn't know that. Thanks :)
Click to expand...
Just don't bet on it.
Sometimes it works,
sometimes not.

Right after I checked that search I tried:
gurkha*house
And it failed, repeatedly.
Though: gurkha house
does return several threads.

The search function in this software
is very unpredictable.

:confused:
 
That all helps a lot, especially on the background of HI.
Thanks very much, and Dean thanks for the * tip. I'm not much of a computer person.
DPris
 
The majority of their khuhuries seem to have ornate carvings on the blade belly, antler handles that don't look extremely functional, and fancy sheaths that would hardly be appropos in the field. I like the concept of an antler handle, with the buttcap encompassing the inside of the antler's button (#3 in the gallery).

I can't help but feel a "touristy look" in many of the models. Even the photo of the outside of their store in Nepal surely draws the tourist crowd, many of whom don't know khukuris from a kris. You've surely been to areas of cities perhaps even in other countries. Would you venture in the tailor shop on the left to buy clothes, or do a bit of research before you purchased?

Ask the Nepalese Khukuri House some specific questions concerning their blades. Do the same here on the forum. Before you purchase anything, DPris, do your homeowrk, so you might make an informed decision. Read some of the tests performed on HI khukuris listed on HI's webstite too, while you're at it. HI offers a no nonsense, 100% satisfaction guarantee on any blade you purchase, unless noted otherwise. You have a free forum to help you on any aspect concerning your khukuri, tips on upgrading the aesthetics, maintaining it, and even advice on what to purchase your sweetheart on her bithday! :D What more can I say?

Dan :)
 
Thanks Dan,
I wasn't looking to buy anything from them, I'm quite happy here, I was just curious about their quality, and their claim to be the official army suppliers.
I don't like touristy khukris, but I do have to admit the first one I bought 30 years ago was a tourist model in the town market in Cambridge, England. The design interested me, and I didn't know any better at the time. I don't like fancy in a khukri or any other knife, I like a user.
My only complaint with any of the khukris is with the scabbards, I realize they're traditional, but they're just not very practical for carrying the khukri the way I want. Terry Sisco will be earning some of my money soon.
DPris
 
Try one of Terry's "quick draw" sheaths. Slickest thing going. He does fine work.
 
When Gurkha House first came out a bunch of us compared the products to HI khukuris, in short they were similar in size, weight, balance and geometry, however the performance of the steel was signficantly lower. A lot of chipping and denting, Cobalt had some impressive pictures. I bent a couple, even twisted one so it looked like the stripe in a candy cane. However they were a lot cheaper than the HI products and from a price perspective could still be attractive.

I recently got offered two new ones, both Service #1, 3/8" thick, one well finished (typical near mirror polish), one left very rough villager style with no polishing, rough grinder marks and square edges everywhere, there is even a burr which can be felt along the spine. I filed that off right away as it just felt so wrong. Did a couple of hardness checks with a file and it seems decent enough for both.

The initial sharpness is really low as in you can't cut anything, can't catch on a finger nail for example, you can readily see light reflecting from the edges, and viewed side on you can even see bits missing about 0.5 mm deep. The one with a nice finish also had a massive crack in the handle, 3/4 of the way down. Filled that in with epoxy after drilling out the bottom, see if that holds.

Perspective is a funny thing, I see both of these as very light knives, small utility blades. This is because khukuri to me means, 22" Ang Khola. For perspective both of these are the same size as my SH Battle Mistress, which is usually thought of as a large knife, usually critized as too heavy to carry, the khukuris are of similar weight and much more forward balanced.

I have to sharpen them up, that I should be able to do tonight or tomorrow and then do some cutting and see that nothing odd happens and then I can report on the general edge durablity, edge retention and performance. I'll then try out some general extended work and discuss with the donator if more difficult tasks want to be looked at as well.

Lots of ice and snow here now (30-40 cm across the island on friday past) so there will also be some cutting of ice for fishing, digging in crusty snow and cutting boughs and sticks for shelters, fire building, etc. .

Ref :

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=280785

-Cliff
 
Thanks Cliff,
No ice here, but since we were never able to come up with a definitive fog knife, I may use this new Chiruwa on the fog we've still got.
My wife was in your part of the world year before last & enjoyed her visit, said it was very nice up there.
I asked Bill for a 15-incher, it undoubtedly doesn't chop as well as a larger blade, but I wanted something that wasn't much bigger than a Trailmaster for ATV carry & on foot. Don't want it too long or too heavy.
Now, what's the purpose of the little leather loop on the top of the frog?
DPris
 
Indeed the khukuris by Ghurkha House were not up to the standards of HI. Dr. Ron Hood wrote an article in Tactical Knives Mag about them. He experienced the chipping and denting of the blade edge too. They definitely don't have the finish of an HI and the karda and chakma are no where near the quality of the HI ones.
 
Originally posted by Josh Feltman
Nah, Stephen is no troll. He's been around for a while. I think the :cool: and the "heh" denote humor.
--Josh
Click to expand...

Oh, I missed the humor in joking about hanging somebody you were making fun of. I'll have to work on that;)
 
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