Kukri question. Axe-related enough?

[FSCJedi]

Ok, so I'm curious about a kukri, and figured that it's similar enough to an axe to post it up to you guys. If not, well, ehh... I can move the thread.

So I came across these guys yesterday, and I'm REALLY interested in them. I'm curious if anyone here has any experience with them? Input on the steel used? Quality product?

 

[fishiker]

You may get a better response here:http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/forumdisplay.php/739-Himalayan-Imports

 

[FSCJedi]

You may get a better response here:http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/forumdisplay.php/739-Himalayan-Imports

Yeah, I thought about it, but didn't want to ask about a competitor's blades in a company-specific forum.

 

[Dirtbiker]

I have a huge kukri collection. Do yourself a favor and check out the himalayan imports page here. Much better quality and if you buy a dotd there it might be cheaper too

 

[fishiker]

Yeah, I thought about it, but didn't want to ask about a competitor's blades in a company-specific forum.

You're probably correct, sorry.

 

[DarthTaco123]

HI is the only way to go. I've used khukuri ranging from tourist pieces to HI and their competitors. I own the keshar all villager utility knife, and I can say it's been the best I've used. It is a good user blade that withstands a major beating. I have some images on a thread I made there I'll link when I get on my PC.

 

[300Six]

"this is the current issue of troops in Afghanistan" is your huge clue here. Says who? The seedy little guy with a Blackberry doing global marketing while his uncle/father and brother hammer out scavenged blanks in the garage and his sister packages the products for export. That being said they (the picture: is this the model they are using to copy, or is this the finished product) do look outright sharp (figuratively) and $75 is not much of a risk for reshaped and hammer-pounded leaf springs from an IED bombed out Hummer or some other version of spring steel, providing the craftsmanship is good.
Sorry for being a sceptic. Get together with a bunch of folks to go in on financially (and be prepared to write-off) the initial purchase, or be the very first to write an appraisal of what it is you actually receive in the mail.

 

[killa_concept]

Yeah I used to be rather into kukris - they're a great jack of all trades tool and you can't argue that they have a certain flair to them. Since a lot of the blacksmiths over there tend to go to scrap yards and just use the springs out of old trucks, you can't really be 100% sure of the steel being used so advertising those as being made of 5160 is a bit of a misnomer. However, any spring steel that's expertly forged and heat treated is going to hold up pretty well.

I stuck with Himilayan Imports in the time I collected them. Their products were amazing and the heat treat was always expertly done - they also back their products up with a very good warranty and solid support. The company has an awesome vibe and a very personal, familial feel to it. There's also the fact that their forum is just full of great helpful people. If you lurk around and keep a tab on their DotDs, you can get some pretty nice deals too..

It was a lot of fun being over there and a part of that community. Lots of good discussions about usage and such. Heck, they even took one of my sketches in response to someone's conceptual idea and turned it into a product! I'd like to think they sold pretty well too - used to pop up on the DotDs pretty often and they were always snatched up fairly quickly:

That all said though, I eventually came to the realization that kukris weren't as practical as an axe for the area I lived in and the sort of wood processing I tend to do. I sold off a good chunk of my collection but still have a couple lying around.