Khukuri House Biltong "Visual" review:

[JimmyJimenez]

Khukuri House “Biltong” Visual Review:


I was searching around the internet and found a person selling Biltong khukuri knives. Being that my plan is to collect khukuris, I wanted to order a couple in hopes that at least one of these specimens would be worthy of being displayed (representing the smaller scale khukuris). The seller informed me that his khukuri knife source was the “Khukuri House” in Nepal.
Well, as my other recent “visual” review pointed out, I was not at all happy with the last two Khukuri House knives that I had ordered from another vendor. In other words, me ordering these two Biltongs would mean taking another chance with buying a Khukuri House product. In hope’s that the other two Khukuri House knives were flukes (a Service # 1 and Service #2), I decided to go ahead and take the chance on these two Biltongs.

Today I received two packages from two different sources.
The first package contained a Nepalese manufactured miniature khukuri (a Kagas Katne) and boy was I impressed with it! It was a dead ringer to a full sized version khukuri knife. More importantly, it had no rust and no fractures to blade or handle. It's a truly amazing little work of art, especially when compared to the previous two standard sized knives sent to me from Khukuri House USA (a Khukuri House authorized ebay store). Other than it being made in Nepal, I don’t know the source of this small knife, but the quality control was definitely there during it's manufacturing.

I then opened the other package containing the two Biltong khukuri knives.
The first knife I took out and inspected had an area in the handle with some wood fill. It detracted a bit from the handle, but I guess I could have lived with it. I then wiped the blade and noticed a bit of light rust freckling, I guess another thing that could be cleaned and overlooked. Then I gave a close look at the cho/kaudi area. Oh boy, FRACTURE CITY! The fractures are even worse then on the other two Khukuri House knives that I had previously received.
Though I was disappointed, I did order two Biltong knives and maybe the next specimen out of the box would finally be the Khukuri House specimen I’ve been hoping for.
No way, it was not to be. Along with finding some light rust freckling on the blade, I find the second Biltong has the same type of cho/kaudi fracturing as the first Biltong inspected. Both Biltong knives have poorly shaped cho's, but that is not something that some judicious time with a small needle file could not handle, it's the small fractures that lead out of the cho's that are the obvious defects.

Just as with my two previously received Khukuri House specimens, I was again left disappointed. You know what they say, “fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me”.
All in all I gained something here. I now have no doubt in my mind that my initial impressions of the Khukuri House product were and still are well founded. This is not based solely on these two Khukuri House knives, but the four total that have been sent to me. Four disappointments out of four tries is not good by any standard.


Here’s a link showing the two Khukuri House Biltong knives (even in this photo one can see one of the obvious fractures in the cho area on the bottom knife):

http://img423.imageshack.us/img423/3619/dscn03995fr.jpg


Here are some links showing close up photos of the many different cho/kaudi fractures and poor cho contouring:

http://img381.imageshack.us/img381/4636/dscn03940ha.jpg

http://img421.imageshack.us/img421/2387/dscn03967ai.jpg

http://img423.imageshack.us/img423/2198/dscn03971uy.jpg


Sad and ugly is all I can say

Other khukuri knives will eventually be heading my way and I’ll be reporting my impressions of them.

 

[JimmyJimenez]

Update on the Biltongs:

After writing up my impressions of the two received Khukuri House Biltongs, I decided to contact the vendor that sold them to me. I explained the main reason for me not being happy with them (the cho/kaudi fractures). I proposed a way to work things out where both of us would be happy with the transaction. I would keep one of the Biltongs in as is condition (keeping it as a desk drawer letter opener), and the other I'd send back to him in return for a carefully handpicked Biltong specimen (since I knew that he had more of them in his inventory).
He was more than okay with the idea, and told me that he would replace or reimburse me, the option was all mine.
I sent back the ugliest of the two Biltongs, the one having not only an ugly and fractured cho/kaudi area, but also having three or four ugly wood putty fill repairs in the handle.
Shortly after, I received the replacement Biltong.

My initial impression when seeing the replacement "Khukuri House" Biltong was.... "This Biltong khukuri is nice!"

I then proceeded to carefully check it. The scabbard was no different in quality to the other two Biltongs, and that is to say that it was well done in all regards. The handle of the khukuri had no wood fills, no fractures, had a smooth finish on it's nice looking rosewood, and it's grooves were well carved. The brass bolster was nicely shaped and nicely finished. The blade had no rust, no fractures anywhere (including the cho/kaudi area), and was nicely finished.
The sharpness of the blade is as all the Khukuri House specimens that I have handled have been, and that is to say sharp, but not the kind of razor sharpness that would make the edge weak (IMO, very well done). Even the ugly deformed cho/kaudi area that the other two Biltongs had was gone!

My final impression of this replacement Biltong is..... "This Biltong khukuri is nice!"

This specimen does show that "Khukuri House" can make a visually appealing knife, but it's apparently not the norm for them to do so, at least judging by my limited experiences with their products. Out of five Khukuri House products that have gone through my hands recently, only one was acceptable to me.
Actually, I can honestly say that I'm very happy with this last Khukuri House specimen

Photo of the replacement Khukuri House Biltong:
http://img467.imageshack.us/img467/4030/dscn04042ab.jpg


The vendor I made this transaction with has/does sell a limited amount of Khukuri House products, but his main sales involve other types of products (khukuris being only a small fraction of his business). Because of this, I have kept his company name out of this review.