kukri machete

[maclaren27]

cold steel kukri machete , heard it is good but howw good ? They seem nice and fairly inexpensive but dose any one have any real experence with them.

 

[chipleyfla]

Noss over at Knifetests.com gives it a two thumbs up. I have only used mine on some pesky bananna trees. It cut through them like a knife through bananna's....... Oh waite.... anyway, I Likes!!

 

[maclaren27]

just so every one knows i want to hear of bolth kukri stile machetes.

 

[taurn]

I have one! I just bought it at a gun show for $15! It's a great machete for chopping, I'm happy with it. I wish I could've bought one more!!

When I first got mine, the edge was also coated, and had an ok edge. I removed the coating and improved the edge just a little, it was too easy to sharpen. It will only chip if you hit concrete, which i did.. accidentally.

They are good for the money! I've been a little skeptic to Cold Steel stuff, but this one is in my book.

 

[BarberFobic1992]

here is mine. obviously i modded mine a bit, but it still operates basically the same. definat;y a great value. i have had mine for about 2 years, and it has stood up to some pretty heavy use.

 

[CShepherd]

I have the smaller one and love it. It cuts way beyond it's size because of the weight forward and the belly. I like the fact that it's not too big so I can actually carry it in the woods if needed. Longer machetes are a pain unless you can strap them to a pack.

I did just recently acquire (got it in a trade for services) a 12" tramontina and am really looking forward to putting it through it's paces. I'm working on a bushbag similar to what Magnusen posted about recently. I'm working on a way to strap the 12" trammy to it.

Charlie

 

[frank k]

You will need to put an edge on it since the "edge" from the factory is horribly thick and uneven, but once you do get a good edge on it, the kukri machete is an excellent tool for the $.



Frank

 

[maclaren27]

thanks for the info

 

[lotoblades]

I've had 1 for a couple years, hated the handle at first, real sharp checkering on it. But after some use Its held up well, and the checkering has worn down a bit so it's now comfortable. Good size to carry around on your belt, short enough to stay out of the way when your climbing, hopping a fence etc, big enough to work! And of course not bad for the $$$

 

[Revolvergeek]

I wasn't too impressed with mine fresh out of the box, but after reprofiling the edge down much thinner and carving / grinding the handle down some to smooth it out it works quite well.

 

[savagesicslayer]

I whole-heartily agree with the value for the money factor with this knife.I bought mine sharpened it up (dremel) and gave it to my dad to get some fence rails with.he said it worked like a charm.I only stopped carrying it only after I got my HI Kukri.

 

[Joezilla]

shameless repost of kukri review insert here!


Kukris…. Many do not know much about them, except that sometimes they can be down right expensive. I’m a machete nut, but I’ve wanted to try out a Kukri for a while. About a year ago, RobG on the forums sent me a Himalayan import Kukri to re-sharpen. It was pretty hard, but after I got the edge, I had to try it out. I was completely impressed with its chopping power. This Cold Steel Kukri machete is now the second Kukri that I had the pleasure of trying out.
Cold Steel has been getting a lot of press associated with their hype on some of their other knives, but I’ve been more interested in their more economical knives. I found that the Latin machete was too flimsy, so when I was waiting for this Kukri machete, I was worried that it would be the same. I was pleased to find a solid design and a thick spine, an overall design that could take a beating.

Kukri Machete Specs:

Weight: 16 oz.

Thickness: 2.75mm

Blade: 13"

Overall: 18"

Suggested Retail Price: $24.99

The weight of the Kukri machete is great, not too heavy or unwieldy; it doesn’t put stress on the forearm like heavy chopping models I’ve worked with. Albeit a little getting used to, but once you find that sweet spot on the blade that makes the notorious Kukri chop, it really shines once the technique has been mastered.

The handle is of a more contemporary Kukri design, lacking the rings, tang caps and buttons of more classic Kukris and being made out of a checkered thermoplastic. I was disappointed in the texture of the handle, but I found that about 3 seconds with some 80-grit sandpaper took the harsher checkering down. There is horizontal jigging along the sides of the handle, they did not present a problem like the checkering did. The polypropylene handle itself stood up to abuse and drops; high temperatures at the edge of the fire; and salt and other chemicals very well. There was no discoloration, fading, or abrading of any of the finer edges due to use or rattling around in the back of the Jeep.

 

[Joezilla]

The blade edge, like any large chopping tool in this price range, needed a tiny bit of a touch up when I received it. It had a modest edge, but I chose to use a hand sanding pad to work it back to the bevel it was set at. You could easily use a file too. About two seconds with a diamond hone would also give it a biting edge. It took the edge from the sanding pad very well, and was easy to work with. Even those without belt sanders could produce a fine working edge on this blade. I couldn’t resist the temptation though, the edge took to screaming sharp after a belt sanding treatment. It only took half the time to get a good edge that other factory choppers take. The bevel was set well from the factory. The Kukri has a black coating, which did very well to protect it. Even in the salty environment of the Florida Keys, the rust was very minimal.

 

[Joezilla]

The Sheath is a Taiwan sheath, and does well to hold the knife safely. That’s about it though, as it becomes tangled when you try to take the knife out of the sheath or wear it on your belt. This Kukri might be a good candidate for a PVC sheath as well. Maybe a baldric rigging of some sorts would help facilitate this type of knife.



ALL TERRAIN! FROM THE JUNGLE TO THE MOUNTAINS


The Midlands:

The overall handiness of this workhorse is outstanding. Once you get use to the feel of the handle, it really powers its way through the undergrowth. In the piedmont region of North Carolina, you may hear a few hunters cussing at catbriers and blackberry vines throughout their walk to the stand. The Kukri machete cut through them well; it does even better with hardier vines . Grape vine clearing proved to be no challenge to the Kukri.

The Cold Steel Kukri machete was right at home chopping away on heavier items. It became clear that this Kukri would cut through even some of the harder woods. It did so with finesse. I was able to conduct more technical chopping with it than with other blades I’ve tested. It was like you could point with the hand and the blade would go straight to that spot. There was a point where I thought the Kukri might have developed a minor bend. However, it proved to be inconsequential and it bent itself back to true. I’m wondering if I imagined it.

I was able to check out this beetle bored hole deep within this aged cedar. Still could not ID what beetle made it, but held onto it for the Forest entomology guys.

 

[Joezilla]

The “Jungle�?:

Well, not technically jungle, but some of the sub tropical environments of the everglades and Keys of Florida come darn close.

The Kukri accompanied me on the latest snake hunting trip to the Keys, and it was lent out to friends to see what they thought. Kevin was immediately impressed with the knife. His love of Kukris showing as his eyes glowed when it was unveiled. Similar reactions were shared among other buddies in the group, mostly to the size and shape of the blade.

I ended up getting tangled in odd vines, these weren’t like normal cat briers of NC, these were thick, meaty thorny vines that went through by pants and boots like they were butter.

With tropical regions come tropical trees, and what kind of tropical diet would lack coconuts. Coconuts can be the bane of your existence if you don’t have something to smash them open with. Luckily with the Kukri, this wasn’t the case.

We were opening up coconuts like a Caribbean street vendor. The soft outsides hacked right off, and the forward weight of the Kukri pummeled into the coconuts like the Hulk through a brick wall. We were also able to just nick the top off and use the point of the Kukri to extract the sweet juice out of there. The obtuse point of the knife was not too wide, it was still able to dig out the top and do things that a normal knife would be used for. It would be neat to do a thick blade versus thin blade comparison of larger knives on coconuts.

 

[Joezilla]

Adrian sports the grin of a happy camper.


Crustacean sensation:

The use of big knives for cleaning small animals makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. And it makes me hungry. In the Keys we used spears to grab some tasty invertebrates and fish for our camp.

Both Adrian and Kevin used the Kukri for all the food preparation. Adrian cleaned the fish easily with the large knife. By choking up on the broad blade end, the fish could be split open and the guts were pulled out. The Kukri functioned well as a scaler too, and we munched on the fish for the rest of the night.

Kevin prepped smaller dead saplings to get a hot fire going. The Kukri did well for smaller chopping operations. With the use of a chopping block, it was able to lop straight cuts through 1�? diameter saplings as well. The back of the Kukri was used to smash these urchins and small guts for use in a improvised crab trap.

The Cold Steel Kukri machete was then used for spiny lobster preparation. The abdomen was separated from the cephalothorax cleanly, with just a light tap on the back of the blade to go through the exoskeleton. Kevin then proceeded to cut a horizontal line along the somites (those scutes on the tail) to let it cook thoroughly. It easily pried open the crab carapace as well. The Kukri was used for a variety of other chores on the trip too, and turned out to be a great hit among the participants. This Kukri was one heck of a camp knife.

 

[Joezilla]

The Mountains:


In the mountains of North Carolina, the Cold Steel Kukri machete accompanied me on many hikes. The large blade did well for dispatching invasive Bradford pears along the path. It lopped off smaller branches easily to make room for taking the spiny wooden devil down the old fashion way. In a power line clearing, I was able to find all the downed trees I needed to test on, instead of cutting down perfectly healthy trees. Sourwood, oaks, cedar, and pines all fell prey to the knife. I was extremely impressed with the chopping ability of the Kukri design. It had a completely different feel to it, as opposed to other large straight bladed knives. The blade angle dug in remarkably to the hard to the wood for such a thin blade, and didn’t glance at all. You can attribute this to the weight forward design a Kukri has. This large tree was chopped in half in just minutes with the Kukri.

Over the centuries, the Kukri has proven itself and earned a reputation for a great versatile chopper. The Cold Steel Kukri machete opens itself up to a much wider spectrum of uses rather than just chopping, and will perform excellently in most environments. This knife, coupled with a small knife, can really get things done all over the US. Make no mistake, the other Kukris that Cold Steel and Himalayan Imports have are well worth their price. I’m glad that I was able to try out this design. If this is any indication of what other Kukris are to be like, I can’t wait to try out some other models. I liked this Kukri so much that I got Kevin one as well.

A special Thanks goes out to Adrian Yirka and Kevin Messenger for input and knife usage in this article.


More Info:
http://www.coldsteel.com/97kms.html

Twowolves outdoors graciously provided the kukri machete for this review. Thank you for the chance to practice my writing skills, Lisa!
They sell the kukri Machete for $19.99 on their site. It has free shipping if you are a hoodlums member.
http://www.twowolvesoutdoor.com/kukrimachete.html

 

[Joezilla]

this has been a shameless re posting of an old review.

thank you for your time and bandwith
Joe

 

[tabeeb762]

Great job on the review Joe:thumbup:

I have the 12" Bowie and Barong models and agree with everything you said

 

[ZombaiO]

Joe,that's an awsome review,bro!You've convinced me to get a CS Khukri Machete !
Thanks,man !
Maybe,if convexed,it would be even better ?