Khukuri vs. Hatchet

Cobalt

Cobalt

Platinum Member
Joined
Dec 23, 1998
Messages
17,721
Hey, over on the survival forum in tactics and training, there is a thread about camp knife or hatchet. There is obviously a lot of hatchet fanatics over there. Most have never handled a khukuri and claim the hatchet to be better at chopping. I have experience with both and the khukuri won hands down. If any of you have any experience with both, go post it over there.
 
That is not even close to some of the comments I have seen on the poor performance of khukuris. Awhile ago there was a thread on Jeff Randall's forum noting that khukuris were such poor choppers (on wood) that even cheap machetes and blunt hatchets easily outcut them. Take a look at this :

http://pub2.ezboard.com/frtaknivesgear.showMessage?topicID=5.topic

There were also threads on the Wilderness forum while you were gone about how the round handles on the traditional khukuris were unsuitable for heavy work as they are unstable and cause blisters easily. Ron Hood also recently commented that he could not even cut a hole for ice fishing with his GH khukuri and had to give up.

-Cliff
 

Cliff,
There seems to be a lot of misinformed people on that forum.It seems they have very little experience with khukuris.I know how well they cut and chop,I have taken down a
few trees in the 6" to 8" dia. with no problems. To each his own, I guess.
Terry
 
I was splitting Maple logs for the firepalce the other day with a Hanuman, A ganga ram specail and finally the 30" sirupati. all worked like a dream. I have used both. I will take a kukri any time any day. I think that I need to mosey on over and take a look.

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"Clear a path for the Kukhri or it will clear one for itself"
 
Did I miss it or haven't you posted on the 30" sirupati yet? And a ganga ram and hanuman along with it? Newbies aren't supposed to get smart so quick! VBG
 
:
Hey Matt!!
How about some specs on the Hanuman Blade?!?!?

I have the Hanuman special which is a Hanuman handle on an 18" WW II blade and it just ain't the same.
I absolutely love the one I have, but since the blade is different it would be nice to know how a standard Hanuma handles.
Evidently quite well to split maple logs along with a GR and a 30" Sirupati!!!!

Isn't the standard Hanuman blade kinda a dui chiarra style?


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>>>>---¥vsa---->®

"Know your own bone, gnaw at it, bury it, unearth it again."

'Thoreau'

Khukuri FAQ
 
Cliff, you use blades for chopping more than most. Is what you posted your opinion as well, that the khukuri cannot chop as well or any were near as well as a hatchet.
 
Originally posted by Cobalt:
Hey, over on the survival forum in tactics and training, there is a thread about camp knife or hatchet. There is obviously a lot of hatchet fanatics over there. Most have never handled a khukuri and claim the hatchet to be better at chopping. I have experience with both and the khukuri won hands down. If any of you have any experience with both, go post it over there.
Click to expand...

Hatchet fanatics? I don't think I would describe the posts in that thread as such. It would be nice to keep this discussion courteous. For comparisons, I'd like to see more specifics. Not all hatchets are equally comparable (surprise, surprise) and Brian is the only one who has offered any specific comparisons.

Rather than try to whip this into a flame by "rallying the troops," why not focus on honest comparisons and specifics. I assume we are all adults and can make up our own minds, given some decent data.



------------------
Hoodoo

The low, hoarse purr of the whirling stone—the light-press’d blade,
Diffusing, dropping, sideways-darting, in tiny showers of gold,
Sparkles from the wheel.

Walt Whitman
 
I think Cobalt's use of the word "fanatics" was more in jest than a serious indictment of anyone's state of mind. I certainly wouldn't consider it discourteous when taken in context.
 
Originally posted by Steven F:
I think Cobalt's use of the word "fanatics" was more in jest than a serious indictment of anyone's state of mind. I certainly wouldn't consider it discourteous when taken in context.
Click to expand...

You're probably right. There aren't any khukuri fanatics in this forum are there?
smile.gif


Most of the people I've seen in the survival forum tend to be big knife oriented, not hatchet oriented. But there are some people who like hatchets. And then there are hatchets and then there are hatchets. Would you say that the cold steel and ontario khukuris are equivalent to the WWII? Or even bigger khukuris? I'm guessing not.

I'd like to see some serious comparisons in this thread and less bias.

I'm not a "hatchet fanatic" but I know many a trapper's log cabin was built with nothing more than a good axe. I think it would be a long day if you tried to chop down enough logs to build a log cabin with a khukuri. Take inches off a full size axe and you get less and less of an axe and more and more of a hatchet. I certainly wouldn't want to try to build a cabin with a 13" hatchet. But my 3/4 Hudson Bay cruisin' axe is fairly effective at cutting down trees. Still would prefer an axe. How does the khukuri compare to a 22", 18" or 15" hatchet? I don't know because no one has posted an honest comparison. I'm more intersted in data than trying to get one group of people pitted against another. What's the point?


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Hoodoo

The low, hoarse purr of the whirling stone—the light-press’d blade,
Diffusing, dropping, sideways-darting, in tiny showers of gold,
Sparkles from the wheel.

Walt Whitman
 
Hoodoo,

I agree that this thread should be a fair comparison and not a p*ss*ng contest, and I don't think it has become such anyway. The thread on the other forum was quite spirited, yet was unfairly baised against the khukuri. There were folks over there saying that khukuris were not as good as hatchets period, and this after they admited that they had little or no experience with Khuks, and all their data was from one khukuri that was used. There are 200+ styles of khukuri. No one is saying that an axe won't chop trees faster and better than a khuk.--of course it will! I think what Cliff and others have taken exception to was people saying flat out that hatchets are better in all circumstances--and yes, that is what some were saying. Cliff has shown himself to be a very fair tester of all things sharp and pointy, admitting shortcomings khukuris have against other knives in various kinds of tests. I think with khukuris and hatchets it goes like this----some khuks when used by experienced users, will out chop regular hatchets. However, it may be true that some hatchets when used by experienced users will out chop a particular khukuri. And yes, there are khuk fanatics here. However, don't assume that we can't be fair and honest when it comes to testing our beloved khukuris
smile.gif

I don't mean to come across as having an attitude about this, its just that the posts on the other forum were IMHO quite biased and somewhat unfriendly in general. Just my opinion...


Rob.
 
Too bad Ghost isn't still around or we could throw high explosives into the comparison. Wonder if skilful use of dynamite would result in the tree being felled and split at the same time?

And substitute the phrase "avid afficionados" for fanatics, just to be politically correct. VBSEG
 
Rusty,
Maybe, I know with alittle detcord I could drop the tree on top of a stake. Setting things up to split it at the same time would take a while, of course that also depends on what the treeis like. For that matter, if you set it up right you could cut it in sections and split it at the same time as well, but it would take some time to find all of the pieces.
smile.gif
smile.gif
smile.gif
 
Hoodoo, I'll be the first to admit that I am a "Khukuri Fanatic"--and proud of it. If anyone 'accused' me of being such, I would happily agree without thinking twice about it. I don't see how anyone could reasonably take offense at the use of the term "hatchet fanatic". If the shoe doesn't fit, then don't try to put it on. And if it does fit, what reason is there to be offended by it? It's obvious that it wasn't meant as an insult, and there is nothing inherently derogatory about being a "fanatic"--simply that you are a devoted fan.

IMHO, we may be wearing our feelings on our sleeves here. I don't want to see these forums get to the point where everyone is so paranoid about every little thing they have to say, worrying so much about how they're going to word everything so that no one can possibly misconstrue and take offense, that forumites won't post comments, even when they have something significant and worthwhile to add.

My $.02, FWIW.

[This message has been edited by X-Head (edited 03-20-2000).]
 
Hoodoo, you take things personally and that is your problem, not mine. As for unbias, if you looked at the other thread, you should have noticed how many people were saying that hatchets are better without ever having tried a khukuri. Seems a little Biased to me. Hence my jest, "fanatics". I have used both once to chop wood, a lot of wood. It took me 3 weeks to chop it all.

Also, Hoodoo, were not talking about axes. Of course a large axe will win, simply because of size. The hatchets they are talking about are comparable to khukuri's dimensionally.
 
Cobalt :

Is what you posted your opinion as well
Click to expand...

No. There is a lot of opinion being thrown around which is not based on actual experience and more than is obtained after just some light work with improper technique. The last bit of extended wood chopping I did was when I was trying to determine on what size wood would I prefer a khukuri over the Busse Battle Mistress. I was doing about 30 to 45 minutes of chopping a day for about a week. Averaging about 5 logs a day (small ones, 6 to 8" at the butt), ten to 15 sections per log, and about a thousand chops per session.

I never did figure that out but that was because I got distracted and ended up working on my technique and focusing on the grips rather than the particulars of the relative blade performance as both are quality knives. Once the fall wood is in I will try to figure it out again.

-Cliff
 
I just went over to Randall's forum and read some of the posts. It rang a bell, and I checked back to a thread here in February:
http://www.bladeforums.com/ubb/Forum26/HTML/001270.html
I'm not as experienced as some of you, but I have put in some time with khuk, machete and hatchet in my time, and the opinions I expressed in my earlier post are still solid. Machete's for light juicy stuff, khuks for tougher woody stuff, (and hatchets for kindling.) The preference shown by some of the S.A. people is understandable, and I think that what some of us here perceive as 'machete bias', is more a widespread personal preference based on familiarity. ---gunhou--


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The sword cannot cut itself, the eye cannot see itself.
 
As a matter of fact, I went to see a man about a hatchet today. He turned out to be a former boss's son. May have time to turn one out for me this summer.

Another former boss ( who replaced the guy's mom ) had told me about the guy but not that he didn't work with steel. So of course it'll depend on whether he can find a good piece of Utah alabaster to shape.

Believe me, I couldn't make these things up.
 

That sounds really cool Rusty. How about some more information?

O.K., I like axes and hatchets. I like them for work and fighting. They're fun. I can say the same things about khuks too.
smile.gif
I go camping about 7 or 8 times over the course of the year, I'm not an expert but I know my way around a campsite. Well to get on with it I took my GRS out when the weather got nicer a couple of weeks ago with a friend. We just set up on another friends property, and while we were working I noticed that GRS pretty much out preformed the hatchet. I was heavier too, and I got tired more quickly. I also got more done. Thats really all. The GRS is a bit too heavy for my first choice as a campknife, but I wouldn't say no to it either. IMHO, a khuk works better than a hatchet for most stuff. It just ends up being more versital. Just thought I'd toss my two kroner in.

- D
 
Originally posted by X-Head:
IMHO, we may be wearing our feelings on our sleeves here. I don't want to see these forums get to the point where everyone is so paranoid about every little thing they have to say, worrying so much about how they're going to word everything so that no one can possibly misconstrue and take offense, that forumites won't post comments, even when they have something significant and worthwhile to add.

My $.02, FWIW.

[This message has been edited by X-Head (edited 03-20-2000).]
Click to expand...

Good points.
smile.gif


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Hoodoo

The low, hoarse purr of the whirling stone—the light-press’d blade,
Diffusing, dropping, sideways-darting, in tiny showers of gold,
Sparkles from the wheel.

Walt Whitman
 
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