Khukuris in in Tactical Knives magazine!

Roadrunner

Roadrunner

Joined
Jun 9, 1999
Messages
4,729
I just picked up the latest issue of Tactical Knives from Dick's Sporting Goods and lo and behold, right in the middle was an article featuring khukuris of the Himalayas! It was a really interesting article all around. The author writes about a trip he took to Sikkim, which I believe is near Nepal, and I'm sure is in the Himilayas. The author is on a guided trek through the country, and he takes an interest in his guides khukuri. He and the guide talk knives for a while, and then the guide tells the author that his son is a kami! They go to visit after picking up a Jeep spring and the kami makes the author a khukuri using a practically nothing but a hammer and a hammer head sunk into the ground as an anvil. Then they visit another village where another local kami has a shop. They talk with the locals about their khuks, then the author returns to the city. He talked a lot in the article about the cultural significance of the khukuri and what an effective tool it is. I thought it was really cool that a Tactical Knife magazine would put together an article on traditional khukuris. It's nice to know that others see that the ancient design is also often the most effective one. I definitely have to get a subscription to this magazine!
 
Sikkim is the part of India between Bhutan and Nepal. What interests me is that it narrows between Nepal and Bhutan, then expands again to the north placing the majority of it's land in a "peninsula" surrounded by China.
 
I bought the magazine after Matt mentioned it. Does anyone know anything about the authors comments about stainless khukuri's in Nepal and black khukuri's in India? Perhaps the real meaning got lost in the translation.

Will
 
I was a little confused by the stainless reference myself. Could be that the Sikkimese don't polish their forged blades while the Nepalese do. Or it could just be the translation.
 
:
I wonder about that stainless statment as well.
There is a pillar of iron or the wootz steel located in India that's not supposed to have tarnished or rusted in all the years it has been there.
Kinda makes me wonder if someone might still have the secret to the wootz there and access to the ore from which it was made.
That would be really exciteing if it is!!!!
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Even if the blades aren't available except to the local people.


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Yvsa-G@WebTV.net

"VEGETARIAN".............
Indin word for lousy hunter.
 
<A HREF="http://www.india-emb.org.eg/Section13E/Engl4L.html" TARGET=_blank>
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Wrought iron contains iron silicate slag, which gives it the high corrosion resistance as well as its ductility and toughness. It is a very sought after material especially in Japan for the laminated blades.

-Cliff
 
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