Khukri in N.A. survival??

L

lmalterna

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Dec 12, 2002
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Understanding the Khuk was desiign in Asia vs. our N.A. forests... anyone use one as a primary for shelter building/bushcraft?? A search of this forum did not turn up much.
Thanks,
Bill
 
Lot's of people do. They use them much like a large bowie/machete. To me they seem like they chop better than a bowie but I still can't see how anyone does any fine cutting with them. I'm sure it's doable though same as it's doable with an axe.
 
Don't have one currently though I'm itching to put one through it's paces.

The best use I've seen of them in a woods setting is as chopper combined with a smaller, 3" or so, general utility knife. There are a few kydex sheath makers out there making combo sheaths that carry both the Khukri and the smaller knife as well. Looks real nice.

Charles
 
My avatar shows a WWII Khuk that I keep in our gear. It has an 11 1/2" blade and is a pretty fair chopper. As to doing any fine work with it, it is possible, but why not just carry a smaller knife for those duties.

If I had my druthers, I would take a short limbing axe, like my Wetterling 19" Hunters axe over the Khukuri for heavy woodworking, but the khuk will do just fine if the axe isn't available.
 
Isn't the front of the khuri meant for more detail work? No personal experience, just what my dad told me when I was a kid.
 
Real khuks (e.g., Himalayan Imports) almost always come with two smaller steel-bladed items in the same scabbard. One, called a "chakma", is a sharpening steel. The other, called a "karda", is a little knife, with a blade usually in the 2-3 inch range. The karda is the natural go-to tool for fine detail work. If the karda supplied with your khukuri isn't all that great (and they do tend to be a bit of an afterthought), you could always swap it out for another small knife that would fit into its place in the scabbard--like one of the smaller Mora knives, for example.
 
lmalterna said:
Understanding the Khuk was desiign in Asia vs. our N.A. forests... anyone use one as a primary for shelter building/bushcraft?? A search of this forum did not turn up much.
Thanks,
Bill
Click to expand...
Much of Nepal was forested with hardwoods when the khukuri was developed. Those traditionally used in the lower, more jungled areas were longer and slimmer. The indigs used the Khukri to chop, dig, draw cut, hammer. As pointed out, they were typically paired with a small knife. Some of those I have came with a 9" OA "small knife" - a fairly serious knife.

If you lay a traditional khukuri over a hand axe, you will see what is going on. The cutting edges ("sweet spot" on the khukuri) pretty much match if the axe has a proper "angle of attack."

(The "chakma" was also used to strike sparks with a piece of flint carried in a small pouch in a pocket on the scabbard, which also carried some tinder. One of mine came with the flint and [mouldy] tinder. Can you say "PSK"?)
 
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