Kukri for outdoor activities?

[Triton]

The origins of the Kopis are probably in the ancient Thracians occupying Balkans, Macedonia, what it's today's Rumania and part of North Turkey alone with the Greeks occupying mostly their current territories.
They had a longer sword, on a longer handle, don't remember the name of it, but used Kopis type of short sword for close combat.
Greeks used to use/hire tribal Thracians for militia services in large cities and they had Kopis type short weapons with them. Macedonians and Thracians were
essentially same tribal cultures, occupying relatively same large area of the Balkans. Thracians were assimilated alone with the Slavic tribes by the Bulgars, who established the Bulgarian country in 681 BC and dominated the region and Byzantium (Greece) for a long time. The Classic Ottoman Yatagan is considered to be heavily influenced by the Kopis, but modified to be lighter and longer weapon.

I suspect you are thinking of the rhompeia (spelling?) Or the falx for your long handled sicklish blade needs.

It would be neat if the khukri was the descendant of the falcata or kopis but I do think it's more likely a case of parallel development than anything else.

 

[MolokaiRider]

I enjoy a few different Kukris.

My least favorite is a Condor that has round wooden handles.

They are slippery, and due to the rounded handle, the tool slips around when trying to strike wood. It is difficult to place chops with the edge directly inline with the medium I am cutting.

However, my other Kukri models are fine, and cut well. I especially like my Ka-Bar version, as it's fairly thin and excellent at cutting banana stumps and green coconuts.

I don't have any authentic versions that offer thick blades or the Karda and Chakmak.

 

[POCEH KOCEB]

I suspect you are thinking of the rhompeia (spelling?) Or the falx for your long handled sicklish blade needs.
It would be neat if the khukri was the descendant of the falcata or kopis but I do think it's more likely a case of parallel development than anything else.

Yes Sir, this is the word I was looking for, not sure about the spelling either but G-gl show exactly the same weapon I had in mind.
I'm with you on the kukri origins, there is too little information from that time for one to make any claims with certainty...
Still, very interesting subject

 

[The Grendels]

It's a proven design that's seen a lot of use over the centuries. I've got a military parade one (black handle) and a police model (brown handle) kukri. I'll probably use the police model at some point, but the other one less likely, since I also have a bunch of machetes that get regular use. That kind of weight of knife is probably not something I'm carrying more than 10km into the woods with though, unless I'm setting up a base camp for multiple days.

If you are going to be using it a lot in the bush, you probably need to sort out the handle ergonomics to make them a bit better, depending on how it fits your hand. For my main machete, I did a few wraps from cloth wrapping of a field dressing and then covered that with hockey tape. It gives it a slightly squeezy grip that is less likely to fly out of your hand. It turned a less than awesome wooden handle into a great handle. It also takes a bit of the shock out of the experience when you do a lot of chopping.

 

[Triton]

It's a proven design that's seen a lot of use over the centuries. I've got a military parade one (black handle) and a police model (brown handle) kukri. I'll probably use the police model at some point, but the other one less likely, since I also have a bunch of machetes that get regular use. That kind of weight of knife is probably not something I'm carrying more than 10km into the woods with though, unless I'm setting up a base camp for multiple days.

If you are going to be using it a lot in the bush, you probably need to sort out the handle ergonomics to make them a bit better, depending on how it fits your hand. For my main machete, I did a few wraps from cloth wrapping of a field dressing and then covered that with hockey tape. It gives it a slightly squeezy grip that is less likely to fly out of your hand. It turned a less than awesome wooden handle into a great handle. It also takes a bit of the shock out of the experience when you do a lot of chopping.

Agree with you on the weight thing. When hiking every ounce weighs a ton! On serious hikes I only carry a folder all my snazzy fixed blades are too darned heavy and truth be told I haven't missed them. (pretty sure that they will revoke my bf membership any second now). Like your setup, osprey makes a great pack and been thinking about one of those adamas folders myself. What's the kabar thing?

 

[The Grendels]

Agree with you on the weight thing. When hiking every ounce weighs a ton! On serious hikes I only carry a folder all my snazzy fixed blades are too darned heavy and truth be told I haven't missed them. (pretty sure that they will revoke my bf membership any second now). Like your setup, osprey makes a great pack and been thinking about one of those adamas folders myself. What's the kabar thing?

I've got a Deuter expedition pack for the really big multi-day hikes, but that Osprey Kestrel 38 is all the day pack I'll ever want, when I want to haul a lot of camera gear with me up into the hills. As much as I like my Deuter pack, the Osprey has the best suspension system I've ever used on the hip belt. I liked the Osprey enough that I recently picked up an Osprey Kestrel 48 to give me more overnight options, without being tempted to overfill my expedition pack for hikes of two or less nights.

The thing about that Adamas folder is that it's a case of I wanted it more than I use it. I tend to use my larger Cold Steel folders more (especially the AD-10). The mystery unit is a Ka-Bar Gun Tool (basically just a handy compact tool that folds out with 13 different hex keys).

I enjoy a few different Kukris.

My least favorite is a Condor that has round wooden handles.

They are slippery, and due to the rounded handle, the tool slips around when trying to strike wood. It is difficult to place chops with the edge directly inline with the medium I am cutting.

However, my other Kukri models are fine, and cut well. I especially like my Ka-Bar version, as it's fairly thin and excellent at cutting banana stumps and green coconuts.

I don't have any authentic versions that offer thick blades or the Karda and Chakmak.

It sounds like your Condor Kukri would definitely improve if you wrapped it with thin linen (like the cloth wrap from a field bandage) and then wrapped that with some hockey or gun tape. That's what I did with the machete pictured below. If I hadn't done that, I probably would have only used it a couple times and went looking for something else.

 

[MolokaiRider]

I've got a Deuter expedition pack for the really big multi-day hikes, but that Osprey Kestrel 38 is all the day pack I'll ever want, when I want to haul a lot of camera gear with me up into the hills. As much as I like my Deuter pack, the Osprey has the best suspension system I've ever used on the hip belt. I liked the Osprey enough that I recently picked up an Osprey Kestrel 48 to give me more overnight options, without being tempted to overfill my expedition pack for hikes of two or less nights.

The thing about that Adamas folder is that it's a case of I wanted it more than I use it. I tend to use my larger Cold Steel folders more (especially the AD-10). The mystery unit is a Ka-Bar Gun Tool (basically just a handy compact tool that folds out with 13 different hex keys).


It sounds like your Condor Kukri would definitely improve if you wrapped it with thin linen (like the cloth wrap from a field bandage) and then wrapped that with some hockey or gun tape. That's what I did with the machete pictured below. If I hadn't done that, I probably would have only used it a couple times and went looking for something else.

It sure would make it a better tool. I like the knife quite a bit.... I even stripped the coating off and sanded it up a bit.

 

[The Grendels]

It sure would make it a better tool. I like the knife quite a bit.... I even stripped the coating off and sanded it up a bit.

Just that little bit of a squeeze makes it feel like it was made for your hand and the tape seals in the linen, which is probably very important for your climate.