Kukri for outdoor activities?

el gigantor

el gigantor

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Just wondering if any of you folks who spend some time in the woods camping and doing bushcraft stuff ever bring a kukri along for the ride. The fellow who won season 1 of Alone was rocking one for his primary cutting tool and while at first it caught me off guard, he seemed to make it work quite well.

I've already got a fleet of fixed blades but the more I think about the curvature of that kukri, the more I dig it. I'd love to get some input from those with hands on experience. Cheers!
 
Kukris are fun, but somewhat heavy.
They can be used instead of hatchets, to a limited degree as drawknives, machetes and are quite versatile. Most people will perceive them as weapons.
It can be your favorite fixed blade, if you are comfortable with the blade heavy forward balance.
 
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I really like the smaller Kuhkris, 7-9" blade, but not the larger hatchet sized ones. Much easier to carry and much more useful for me. At that size, they can be used for food prep without throwing food around and I finf them a good size for basic shelter building and woodscraft.

The Kailash mini kuhkri is the size I'm talking about, which I think is the same size as a tops bushcraft kuhkri. They aren't great for splitting cords of wood or bucking trees, but it does a lot of crafting work well without being exhausting to use.

The foxy folly is the only larger kuhkri I liked, from HI. Probably shoulda kept it as that thing was a lot of fun and still thin enough to do slicing tasks.
 
I think the trick is to not go overboard on size or weight. My usual woods knife is a BK 9, or a BK 4 if I want something lighter. When I carry a Kukri, the max I want to deal with is about 15" or it is less nimble for smaller tasks. Larger Kukris put on weight fast, and I don't really want that on my belt. I could pack it, but one of the big reasons I carry a knife on my belt is a**hole deterrence--I would still want a belt knife too. I tried a 12", and that worked but made me work harder than the 15" for about the same result. I'm not chopping trees down, mostly I process down wood into walking sticks or carve for fun while my kids do kid things. This is where the Kukri shape really rocks, it's great for safe wood work away from quick access to EMS. Between a Kukri and a GEC whittler sold to me by a generous forumite, I don't really need anything else in the woods.
 
el gigantor said:
Sorry folks, I forgot to include the kukri I'm considering:

View attachment 2089979
Click to expand...

I think those are a good size but I prefer the more tradionally crafted ones for less weight in the handle. But, I have not personally used the tops buschraft kukri. Something about the angles always seemed just a touch off to me, traditional ones are cheaper, and I prefer not having the coating if there is a comparable option.

Tops makes pretty good stuff.
 
I have a Tops Bestia that’s like a hybrid kukri machete and it’s a tank. Chops like a beast but has a fine enough edge for small stuff
 
I picked up a hand-forged, Nepal-made kukri in Edmonton about 20 years ago for around $60, and used it on a number of moose hunting trips. Very handy, great for splitting kindling, clearing campsites, even splitting rib cages. It has a bit of a wow at the edge which in no ways affects its cutting performance. Not something I'd backpack but great on car/canoe/boat trips.
 
Khukuris make for great outdoor blades.
When I was younger, I would pack an 18" overall length khukuri all over hells half acre.

As I have gotten older, I find that even the smaller khuks can out chop similarly sized straight knives, and just because it won't split a log in one swing, the recurve of a smaller khukuri still gets a lot of work done.

Generally, when I pack one, I go with a 12" Ang Khola from HI. That's about 7" of blade and comes in around 14 oz. Only small by khukuri standards. I have one that is sharpened like a wedge and is more like a pocket axe. It will shave and cut, but it doesn't bite clean. Great for stomping around in the woods and digging in stumps. My favorite one is actually much thinner at the edge and more "knife like".

HI also makes a model called the Pen Knife. I call it a tactical spatula. It's more "tracker" like. Much more blade forward and bulbus but made from thinner stock and comes around 12-13" and 11-12 oz.

I've got about 100 khuks. All of them have various character and no two are alike.
 
Bad pic of my woods companions.
w9xcKpi.jpg

Zombie Tools Vakra
 
Steely_Gunz said:
Khukuris make for great outdoor blades.
When I was younger, I would pack an 18" overall length khukuri all over hells half acre.

As I have gotten older, I find that even the smaller khuks can out chop similarly sized straight knives, and just because it won't split a log in one swing, the recurve of a smaller khukuri still gets a lot of work done.

Generally, when I pack one, I go with a 12" Ang Khola from HI. That's about 7" of blade and comes in around 14 oz. Only small by khukuri standards. I have one that is sharpened like a wedge and is more like a pocket axe. It will shave and cut, but it doesn't bite clean. Great for stomping around in the woods and digging in stumps. My favorite one is actually much thinner at the edge and more "knife like".

HI also makes a model called the Pen Knife. I call it a tactical spatula. It's more "tracker" like. Much more blade forward and bulbus but made from thinner stock and comes around 12-13" and 11-12 oz.

I've got about 100 khuks. All of them have various character and no two are alike.
Click to expand...

^This guy knows his khuks.

My personal preference, seems like between 1 lb to 1.5 lbs is good for a heavy knife aimed at a little bit of everything, including chopping and splitting. Your 14oz seems perfect and I feel like that's right about where my Kailash mini kukhris weigh. Also comparable to the RTAK ii, BK9, and junglas knives weights. I actually prefer closer to the 1lb range as my hands seem to tire more quickly at the 1.5 lb end of things, but decent for shorter spells.

I really like my mini kukhuri far more than the trackers/WSK styles I've tried. Just a lot more intuitive to use and I like the styling more, personally.
 
Because of course I'm a weirdo, I actually have two Pen knives at my office. You can see how they have a lot more belly toward the tip.
PXL_20230221_163646948~2.jpg

The top one is my rough and tumble beater. The grip took a whack in transit and cracked on the way here. I wrapped it in fiber fix to patch it up and make it grippy.

The bottom one was gifted to me by an old forum friend who was curating it. It was carried by a US Sargent in Afghanistan back at the start of the conflict over there. It served him. It was crafted by the Royal Kami of Nepal over 20 years ago (obviously). It sits in a presentation box above my desk and is one of the most special knives in my collection.
 
The slightly longer one is mine, the shorter mini kukhuri is my 4 yr olds. Both from Kailash. The rajah id a pretty solid size as well once you improve the finish on the scales (get rid of sharp plastic edges).

Other knafs for reference.
20230221_114952.jpg20230221_114957.jpg
 
I had read "somewhere" that the kukri was derived from a style of hacking sword brought east by the soldiers of Alexander The Great.. Dunno how true that is, but it sounds plausible. Alexander conquered a large part of the ancient world from Greece , south to Egypt and East into India/Packistan. That the bent-bolo blade form was not adopted anywhere else but the the mountain areas of South Asia must say something about that knife type in regard to its general, overall usefulness.

A similar example is the Egyptian 'Sycle Sword" . The Egyptians and those they fought with used them for a while during the Bronze Age, but no one else hase ever since . . whether made from bronze or iron.
 
VorpelSword said:
I had read "somewhere" that the kukri was derived from a style of hacking sword brought east by the soldiers of Alexander The Great.. Dunno how true that is, but it sounds plausible. Alexander conquered a large part of the ancient world from Greece , south to Egypt and East into India/Packistan. That the bent-bolo blade form was not adopted anywhere else but the the mountain areas of South Asia must say something about that knife type in regard to its general, overall usefulness.

A similar example is the Egyptian 'Sycle Sword" . The Egyptians and those they fought with used them for a while during the Bronze Age, but no one else hase ever since . . whether made from bronze or iron.
Click to expand...

There is some resemblence to a kopis sword, for sure. Not sure who predates who though.
 
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