Kukri information

Himalayan Imports is the best place to buy a modern khukuri. I think most of the fellows here would agree.:)

--Mike L.
 
Glad it was of use Dan.

Tony, Sadley Jps articles are rather dated in some in parts, he asked for it to be deleted &/or for evryone to ignore it a couple of years ago. But what he wrote 10 years ago is still visible. the best I can say for it is it is incouraging for newcomers to find something about old kukris, whoever innacurate it turns out to be.His input & articles helped inspire me many years ago.

Research has moved on since his early pioneering work & sadley due to health issues he wasnt able to keep up with it.

The old Nepal & Brit army kukris pre. 1945 were generaly tough as they come even if many had no finesse. mens lives depended on them, & a kami or sold or made a bad one would be swiftly dealt with, Personaly I think kukris are often not as solidly built as they were then, but some may disagree.

Kukris from Hi , tora, even or any of the main Nepali manufacturers may "sometimes" or even often be better steel, & harder tempered than ww2 & earlier kukri, which theoreticaly should all be able to be file sharpend in the field.

Atlanta modern ones are usualy Indian army rejects, or export models nowhere up to the grade of the ww2 issue pieces they are copied from.

Personly I would say if you like a kukri design of modern manufacture off any maker, buy 3 of them. you will usauly find one you love, one is ok & one isnt realy up to it. sell the 2 you dont love. keep the best. They are that individual. The nature of the handmade piece. Each kukri is an individual piece. evaluate it as such.

In the Nepal villages the Old Army kukris cost double any equivalent sized modern kukri, because they know it is a reliable blade at minimum. They say beneath the polish you cant tell if a new one is good till you realy batter it hard.

Hope this doesnt offend anyone, it realy is the truth as far as I can see.

Ive had around 550 or more antique ones, Ive kept 90 , maybe 15 or so came from the same maker, but even then each kukri needed its own appraisael. i would like to have kept about 150, but such is life. 1 in 3 is top notch.

There like women realy, one can Generalise on Russian,American, Jamiacan ,Philipeano,French or English women , whatever, but at the end of the day despite general charachteristics, they are all individual.
Find the one you want to live with. makes 1 in 3 sound much better, I think :D!





Spiral
 
spiraltwista said:
Personly I would say if you like a kukri design of modern manufacture off any maker, buy 3 of them. you will usauly find one you love, one is ok & one isnt realy up to it.
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That's pretty accurate.

I have three H.I. khukris.

In the order I purchased them:

20" AK - Kumar - good solid workhorse, took a good edge, but the handle is a bit on the fat side.

25" Sirupati - Vim - seems to have the hardest edge of the three, good balance for its size, but there's a bit of unevenness in the forging on one spot on one side of the edge bevel. This has not affected performance in any way though.

21.5" Chitlangi - Sher - absolute perfection. The balance, fit, and finish is impeccable. The handle is gracefully shaped and fits my hand perfectly. It's built very stout, but it handles like a sports car compared to the other two.
 
Aaaahhh but Id say buy 3 20" AK, 3 x 25"sirupati & 3x 21.5" chitlangi & keep the best one of each type!

Spiral
 
Or, if the blade's wondrous but the handle's not quite there ... modify the handle. I've got a great Sher 18" AK, that is even better after slow and careful tweaking.

After listening to Spiral talk about handles before, I did a couple of things to make it custom-fit me. Enhanced the handle's slight curve, while reducing the diameter as it approached the butt-flare. And re-shaped the cross-section to more upside-down egg shape. Careful work with a knife, sandpaper, and thin hacksaw blade preserved the rings.

Best handle I've got ... and the blade hits like a ton of bricks.

t.
 
spiraltwista said:
Aaaahhh but Id say buy 3 20" AK, 3 x 25"sirupati & 3x 21.5" chitlangi & keep the best one of each type!

Spiral
Click to expand...

There WILL be at least one more Chitlangi coming my way in the future.

I was tempted hard when Ms Yangdu posted a DotD featuring that 24" villager Chitlangi. Just didn't have the $ at the time.
 
tedwca said:
Welcome to the wonderful world of khukuris. You'll have an addiction soon if you don't already.
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That's no BS.

I special ordered a 20" Chiruwa-style Ang Khola about a month ago. Haven't even got it yet, and I already tried on 3 DOTDs, and scored ont he last one.
Don't even technically have one yet, and I'm addicted!
 
They are right. I was given the one you see pictures of as payment for a debt. The feel of it in my hand had me wanting to learn more. I have since bought two from AC; a pioneer 1943 and a smaller version of what AC calls the longleaf, (the one in the pictures). AC dates it before WWII, but Spiral has taught me to not believe everything you hear.

The Kukri is beautiful tool, but what makes it beautiful are the Gurkhas. Their sense of honor and duty, with their strong will, endurance, and strength has put them and the kukri in front of the pack. Just read about the Victoria Crosses the Gurkhas have earned. The Gurkhas live up to their motto, "KAPHAR HUNNU BHANDA MORNU RAMRO CHHAA."
IT IS BETTER TO DIE THAN LIVE A COWARD
 
Hello Mr.Right Wing! Well I try! :D ;)


Thanks Tom! Glad my expieriences & observations with kukri, have been been a practical advatage for you. Glad the grip worked. :thumbup:


Thanks Gorden, Atlanta imported 400 tons of old stuff from Nepal, I guess the intial pre. 1898 importation date on evrything, saved them a fortune on licensing, importation, tax etc.

i am sure some of there kukris are realy very old, but they vary.

Only one more Wolf??? :D Well see. ;)

Spiral
 
spiraltwista said:
Only one more Wolf??? :D Well see. ;)

Spiral
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l said at LEAST one more.:cool:

Ferguson was correct about the Chitlangis. They are beautiful blades. No pic on a URL does them justice.

Eventually I plan on obtaining a chitlangi of about 12" for my wife, with a horn handle of course because she covets mine. She's already tried to take over my truck. Perhaps that might keep her distracted for a while.

And before I got my current Chitlangi, I had been theorizing a few special designs for the BirGorkha crew to make for me, but that all changed after I got my paws on my Chitlangi. I do believe I have found perfection. Now I've been dreaming up a long Chitlangi of about 23" - 25" with a chiruwa horn handle... or one with a handle like the Chitlangi Bowie!

:D
 
Chit fever, Munk called it. I've had a case too; though in remission for a while now, I'm sure it will re-emerge.
 
spiraltwista said:
There like women realy, one can Generalise on Russian,American, Jamiacan ,Philipeano,French or English women , whatever, but at the end of the day despite general charachteristics, they are all individual.
Find the one you want to live with. makes 1 in 3 sound much better, I think :D!
Click to expand...

Heck, why not keep all the ones you like? :D
 
It worked for 3 months once with 3 of them in full knowledge of each other as they were all friends.



i smiled a lot.:p




Then it fell to pieces in the end, lost all 3. shame as they were good people.


Should have made a choice I guess, thats what they waited for I think, live & learn.


I though I was such a dude for a while! :D


Spiral
 
spiraltwista said:
It worked for 3 months once with 3 of them in full knowledge of each other as they were all friends.



i smiled a lot.:p




Then it fell to pieces in the end, lost all 3. shame as they were good people.


Should have made a choice I guess, thats what they waited for I think, live & learn.


I though I was such a dude for a while! :D


Spiral
Click to expand...


Whoah, for a second there I thought you were spying on me! :D

To make matters worse, the HIKV has flared up badly of late. I think a PM to Jaiofspam irritated the condition.
 
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