kukri's?

"Whatever leaf springs are available" though, actually usually make for a pretty decent chop blade...
 
Lots of good input here. Thanks guys. Now I'm looking at the WW2 style and the newer British no.1. I'm kind of favoring the old style (mainly because I can get it with a full tang). Anything about the newer blade style of the newer one that would make it a better choice?
 
Clampdaddy I have a Kabar Kukri machete, I've used it heavily, but its been replaced with a custom chopper, The Kukri is yours if you want to try it out, just looking to find a home for it , no charge.

 
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That is really cool of you, Cookie. I sincerely appreciate it. At least let me send you something to put a few brews in you refrigerator.
 
clampdaddy said:
Anything about the newer blade style of the newer one that would make it a better choice?
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I would say balance, it's a little lighter, and they are not usually overbuilt. By the way, the overbuilt comments coming from me are directed at useless overbuilding. Making a WWII model with a 1/2 inch spine is like driving a dually VW Bug. Needless weight and it throws off the balance and feel that forged the original design. Keep in mind that these designs were not thought up on a high speed computer program and perfected on a CNC machine, they were battle tested and carried by soldiers.

Also, just because a kukri is a full tang doesn't mean that's better. And to be honest it usually means it's worst and going to be heavy overall and weighted too much at the handle. In my experience, the "only" handle failures were from full tang kukri. None totally broke but many of them get loose and unusable with very little work.
 
Clampdaddy, finding an authentic Mk. II (which is what I believe you are wanting by saying full-tang) can be frustrating. They're out there, but can be hard to locate. The most (only) authentic Mk. II/M43 I've held is my Tora World War Mk. II. It would be my favorite, but it has some edge warping/forging issues. It is 21 oz. and is pretty much a dead ringer for a WWII M43. Even with the warping, it's an awesome khuk.

This is it with the handle ring removed and smoothed, like many Mk. II.
1384621316-Tora_MkII_rehandle.jpg


Here it is with some WWII era pieces. From top: WWII M43, Tora Mk. II Reproduction, an early or pre-WWII "MI" marked khuk, and a Pioneer Calcutta 1943 Mk. II at bottom.
1384481663-kukris_MkII_comparison.jpg


As you can see, the Tora matches perfectly.

On another note, that Kabar might be just the ticket for you. People will dismiss the khukuri machete, but my Cold Steel LTC is freakin' awesome.
 
Hey. John, who would have guessed you loved the MkII??? I really love your M43 and the "MI" model!

I think what Clampdaddy was referring to is the kukri house and/or HI WWII model, which is not intended to be like the MkII. It is supposed to be an early WWII version of the Standard Issue.
 
shortwinger said:
Hey. John, who would have guessed you loved the MkII??? I really love your M43 and the "MI" model!

I think what Clampdaddy was referring to is the kukri house and/or HI WWII model, which is not intended to be like the MkII. It is supposed to be an early WWII version of the Standard Issue.
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Ah, gotcha. I am a big fan of the HI 16.5" WWII model. They currently seem to be running heavy for my taste. Mine is nice at 25 oz., but when they were popping up at 21 oz., I almost grabbed one. It's a really handy, general purpose khukuri. I highly recommend the OP picking one up if the weight suits him. Watching the Deal of the Day gives that option of seeing the specs.

On the partial tang, I agree it's not as important as I once thought. For one, it definitely can affect balance. It depends on many thing whether the effect is good or bad. The second is that it doesn't matter whether it's the CS Gurkha, Ontario Spec Plus, or HI, these "rat tail" tangs are beefy. I don't question the strength of any of them.
 
Shoot me an email Clampdaddy. if you want to cover shipping that's all I'd expect. I'll get it sharpened and clean some of the mud off first, lol.
 
Ive got 3 Nepalese Kukris and a BK4 Machaxe. I would take the Becker over the 3 Nepalese Kukris sad to say and my kukris are no joke. BK4 is a western style kukri. Its made of 1095 cro van by an extremely notable American knife company using modern technology. The BK4 has a coated blade to help prevent rust. It comes with a pretty decent sheath and you can upgrade the handle to micarta. My BK4 came unbelievably sharp. It smokes my other 3 kukris in every way...sorry it does and for what a BK4 costs with micarta is still less than what I paid for my Khukri House 3 Chirra the Beast
 
Big thanks to Cookie for setting me up with the Ka-Bar. I can't thank you enough. The Kukri always looked like it would be an awkward handling blade due to its shape but now after actually handling one I was pleasantly surprised to see that it actually has a very natural feel to it. I'm still going back and forth between different variants of Nepalese blades but I definitely see myself ending up with a few of these.
 
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