khukuri house??

nemesis

nemesis

Joined
Nov 5, 2005
Messages
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How is Khukuri Houses customer service? Have you guys had good experience buying from them? What type of time can I expect to get an order from them in? Thanks for the input guys.
 
I've only used them once. Placed the order, received it in about a month, no issues.
 
Decent enough blades if you know exactly what you want, but they're based in Nepal and (as far as I know) have no N. American presence. You'll be waiting 2-3 months for a turn around on an issue, if any arises. GK&CO is a better option - they know how to work their steel and they've got great customer service. They've got a local presence too, so they can deal with issues in a much more timely manner. The best bet, though, is Himalayan Imports. They've got a sub-forum here and have a LOT of loyal customers, for various reasons (the most obvious being their fantastic blades.) Awesome people to work with, and some of the most dedicated in the business to providing good service to the customer. I think the lady who runs it (not sure what her official title would be) is known as Auntie around here.
 
I will check out himalayan imports and gk & co. Shiflet, thanks for the help as well. A month wait isn't bad. How bad did the shipping hurt
 
Himalayan imports and gk & co don't have anywhere close to the selection that KH does so I guess I will take my chances there unless I hear some horror stories on dealing with them
 
What kind of kukri are you looking for. HI has a lot more models than their site suggests.
 
I bought a knife from Khukuri House and had it within a week all the way from Nepal...I was impressed!
 
My mate has (from memory) four KH blades, all shipped to him in Australia and he's had no dramas at all.
 
nemesis said:
I will check out himalayan imports and gk & co. Shiflet, thanks for the help as well. A month wait isn't bad. How bad did the shipping hurt
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Shipping was like $20 IIRC, so kinda rough, but then again, it's coming from Nepal. When I order something from Aranyik(shipping from Hawaii) shipping is usually like $15, and even ordering from the awesome Baryonxy Knife Company like I routinely do, based here in the continental US, shipping will usually run at least $12 so $20 isn't too terrible in the grand scheme of things.
 
nemesis said:
How is Khukuri Houses customer service? Have you guys had good experience buying from them? What type of time can I expect to get an order from them in? Thanks for the input guys.
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Do you urgently need the Khukuri?
IMVHO if you want to buy one or two good Khukuris then you don't have to worry much about the shipping cost and the waiting time!
You better go for the quality of the khukuri itself and the reliability of the supplier!
Now you know about KH and HI, so it's better to further check the product reviews as well as the integrity of the company!

mohd
 
I inquired about shipping in a email 2 says ago about a kukri,think it was khhi ,shipping was going to be 39.00 wowser.. definitely go himilayin imports.
 
HI is, potentially, one of the best knife shops on the Internet...and that is pretty good company. I had my HI BAS in two days and it is fantastic. While the blades are all made in Nepal, you are dealing with folks in Nevada USA. I cannot say anything about KH, never dealt with them. However, I find it hard to imagine not finding a traditional Kukri from what HI offers. Because everything is hand made, there are no two pieces exactly alike. Each model is a pattern which follows a specified geometry, handle style etc. Within each pattern there is variation. When you order you can ask for "the thickest one you have in stock" or "the shortest one you have in stock" or "the one with the longest handle you have in stock". You can ask for a specific smith (Kami)..."I'd like a Rajkumar if you have one in stock". This is just how these folks work.
 
I have a couple kh knives and as far as quality they are ok. Mine are overbuilt, have good heat treat, and hold up well to abuse. What they lack is refinement. Edge geometry isn't very consistent, blade finish is spotty or poor, and handle fit and construction could be better too.

Himalayan Imports blades stand head and shoulders above the brands you mentioned. Pick up a blemished blade from a DOTD (deal of the day) off the forum and it could be even cheaper that the other brands too. Plus you knife is shipped priority mail from Reno NV.
 
nemesis said:
Is he happy with the quality as well? I assume so if he bought 4 of them
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The number one thing with HI, besides product, is their integrity. All of their stuff is hand made. No fancy plasma cutters. Charcoal, hammers, anvils. Heat treated based on color. They make two levels of each thing more or less...regular and villager. The villager stuff is more roughly finished. Built the same way but they don't polish them.

Since their "regular" line is also handmade, there are flawed ones. If they are seriously flawed, they never leave Nepal. A lot of the minor flaws are shipping accidents (chips, scratches) and they get some handle shrikage and cracking from time to time because of the very dry air in Reno where their warehouse is. Those they sort our and sell as "blems" for a significantly reduced price.

The people at HI are extremely honorable people. While I cannot speak to their bottom line, in terms of their customer relations and customer service, they run a very good business.

HI makes all of their Kukris from recycled carbon steel from Mercedes leaf springs from heavy trucks. Semi trucks basically. They have a network down in India where there are probably millions of those trucks and when they die or wreck, they are scrapped. That steel is then purchased by HI agents and shipped up north (and up-hill!). So the upshot is that your HI Kukri will be made of high end German carbon steel.
 
HoosierQ said:
The number one thing with HI, besides product, is their integrity. All of their stuff is hand made. No fancy plasma cutters. Charcoal, hammers, anvils. Heat treated based on color. They make two levels of each thing more or less...regular and villager. The villager stuff is more roughly finished. Built the same way but they don't polish them.

Since their "regular" line is also handmade, there are flawed ones. If they are seriously flawed, they never leave Nepal. A lot of the minor flaws are shipping accidents (chips, scratches) and they get some handle shrikage and cracking from time to time because of the very dry air in Reno where their warehouse is. Those they sort our and sell as "blems" for a significantly reduced price.

The people at HI are extremely honorable people. While I cannot speak to their bottom line, in terms of their customer relations and customer service, they run a very good business.

HI makes all of their Kukris from recycled carbon steel from Mercedes leaf springs from heavy trucks. Semi trucks basically. They have a network down in India where there are probably millions of those trucks and when they die or wreck, they are scrapped. That steel is then purchased by HI agents and shipped up north (and up-hill!). So the upshot is that your HI Kukri will be made of high end German carbon steel.
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I will go back and look at their blades some more before I make my final decision. I was leaning towards KH because they advertise as being handmade (which I had no reason to doubt) and they had some modern twists on the khukuri
 
Come and hang out in the Himalayan Imports forum then you can get a good feel for their product and the following they have.
 
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