During the deer season I had the opportunity to finish skinning a deer. The deer was a buck approximately 2 years old. It was fairly large for its age due to an abundance of food in the area. Unfortunately, I did not shoot the deer.
The deer had been gutted when it was brought in. The khukuri and a small Falkiniven neck knife were used to remove the skin. The khukuri is from the original batch of Village khukuris. Mine is 14 OAL and approximately ¾ LB. In the past this khukuri has proven to be strong and durable. The khukuri was surprisingly effective at removing the skin and was controllable enough to do the job as well as the neck knife. Both knives were easy to use and a gathering of experienced hunters nodded their approval.
The khukuri was used to chop through the brisket. I had originally started to bash the khukuri through the brisket by striking the back of the blade. The blade did not progress through the brisket very fast. Next I tried gentle and easily controlled chops. In about 4 chops I was completely through the brisket. This activity impressed the onlookers. Apparently knives can easily be damaged chopping through the brisket. If control was not an issue I think I could have cleaved through the brisket with 2 hard blows. Chopping through the brisket did not damage the khukuri.
Removing the head and legs provided the khukuri with more of a challenge. The head was severed quickly with 3 blows. The head was hanging by its own weight. The edge was undamaged after this task was completed. The two front legs were chopped off next. The right leg was removed with 3 blows with no edge damage. One of the other hunters (a very brave man) held the leg out for me. The left leg provided more of a challenge. I started with 2 bad hits. The blows were about ¾ apart. In the end I required 13 blows to remove this leg. The khukuri received some minor damage. The worst was about ½ from the start of the re-curve where the steel is softer. The edge folded over in two spots about 1/16 deep x 1/8 long. The harder zone, where the sweet spot is located was also dented. The damage is barely visible, most likely in the order of 1/32 deep. There was no chipping on the edge. Any damage could probably have been fixed with the chakma and a bit of hard work. I suspect most of the damage is due to increased stress on the edge. The blows were coming in at angles further from perpendicular than when I did the first leg. This time I produced a significant amount of bone fragments and bits of meat. The poor guy holding the leg got quite messy as well as my back. The khukuri will still cut meat and skin as well as when I started but will not shave hair.
It appears the khukuri impressed the audience. I did not bother to work out the damage and simply sharpened the knife. I was very impressed with how easily the khukuri cut through the meat, bone, and vertabrate. This village khukuri would make an impressive weapon as well as tool.
The deer had been gutted when it was brought in. The khukuri and a small Falkiniven neck knife were used to remove the skin. The khukuri is from the original batch of Village khukuris. Mine is 14 OAL and approximately ¾ LB. In the past this khukuri has proven to be strong and durable. The khukuri was surprisingly effective at removing the skin and was controllable enough to do the job as well as the neck knife. Both knives were easy to use and a gathering of experienced hunters nodded their approval.
The khukuri was used to chop through the brisket. I had originally started to bash the khukuri through the brisket by striking the back of the blade. The blade did not progress through the brisket very fast. Next I tried gentle and easily controlled chops. In about 4 chops I was completely through the brisket. This activity impressed the onlookers. Apparently knives can easily be damaged chopping through the brisket. If control was not an issue I think I could have cleaved through the brisket with 2 hard blows. Chopping through the brisket did not damage the khukuri.
Removing the head and legs provided the khukuri with more of a challenge. The head was severed quickly with 3 blows. The head was hanging by its own weight. The edge was undamaged after this task was completed. The two front legs were chopped off next. The right leg was removed with 3 blows with no edge damage. One of the other hunters (a very brave man) held the leg out for me. The left leg provided more of a challenge. I started with 2 bad hits. The blows were about ¾ apart. In the end I required 13 blows to remove this leg. The khukuri received some minor damage. The worst was about ½ from the start of the re-curve where the steel is softer. The edge folded over in two spots about 1/16 deep x 1/8 long. The harder zone, where the sweet spot is located was also dented. The damage is barely visible, most likely in the order of 1/32 deep. There was no chipping on the edge. Any damage could probably have been fixed with the chakma and a bit of hard work. I suspect most of the damage is due to increased stress on the edge. The blows were coming in at angles further from perpendicular than when I did the first leg. This time I produced a significant amount of bone fragments and bits of meat. The poor guy holding the leg got quite messy as well as my back. The khukuri will still cut meat and skin as well as when I started but will not shave hair.
It appears the khukuri impressed the audience. I did not bother to work out the damage and simply sharpened the knife. I was very impressed with how easily the khukuri cut through the meat, bone, and vertabrate. This village khukuri would make an impressive weapon as well as tool.
