Lofty Wiseman "kukri"?

Daniel L

Daniel L

Gold Member
Joined
Nov 2, 1998
Messages
1,978
hi all,
Well it's not quite a kukri: www.loftywiseman.co.uk
But I wanted to know if anyone here has one and how does it compare to something like a WWII? Has anyone used one of these?

The steel is 440A stainless and it doesn't have a convex grind... but surely Lofty knows his stuff?

Thanks
 
At roughly $204 US, that seems like a heck of a lot of money for an 11 inch blade in 440A steel.

Also, the upper tip of the blade is sharpened(supposedly for chopping), but with that fitted finger grip handle, I can't imagine going through a nights worth of wood like I can with my 18" AK.

Another thing that bugs me about this(from what I can see on the page, I've never actually handled one) is that the sheath looks like it is a 2 handed one, IE one hand has to pop some snaps while the other hand draws the blade. Not exactly what I want to be doing if I need the blade quickly.

It looks nice, but I'll take the time proven design of my 18"AK anyday.

Also, if it's only 6mm thick(roughly 1/4") with only an 11" blade, how the heck does it weigh a full kilo(2.2 lbs)? My 18" AK is only an ounce or 2 heavier, and it's close to 1/2" thick.

Well, there's my views on the Lofty tool.

If anyone actually has personal experience with one, please post.

TC
 
Sort of like my thought....

It looks sort of like some traditional knives - bolo, golok, etc.

Based solely on appearance, you could easily have worse things in a survival situation. However, I think a khuk would make a better weapon, because the wiseman knife doesn't have much of a point. Also, I'm a bit sceptical of the different sharpening for different parts of the edge. It seems a little hokey.

YMMV
 
Actually the weight of 1 kilo apparently includes the sheath - I've heard the knife itself is about 1.5 pounds.

I did a search on the forum - lots of speculation and theorising, but not many user opinions - which is what I'm looking for! Looks like its not that common in the USA - and since I live in New Zealand, whatever I buy I have to ship in anyway...

Hopefully someone has had some usage reports...
 
There's lot of good reviews available on HI products... ;)

Out in your part of the world you may also want to take a gander at what Valiant Co. has to offer. You don't get Uncle Bill or the HI guarantee, but they've got a lot of choices in the blade style you're looking at and they're decent folks to do business with.
 
Actually I bought a Valiant Parang from Australia - and I subsequently managed to knock out a crescent shaped chip on fresh wood. The parang was an absolutley awesome chopper (17" blade!) with NO binding - even surpassing my trusty 17.5" WWII. But the heat treat was bad.... so swapped it for a Valiant Survival Golok - convex grind, excellent chopping (about the same as my WWII) but managed to generate small chips. Once again, HT was not as good as the HI kuks (Cliff Stamp has had similar problems initially).

While I love my HI WWII, I'm always on the lookout for a kukri-like tool made with modern materials like cordura sheaths, micarta handles etc - though 5160 steel is always a good bet. And I keep finding (so far) that nothing compares with "traditional" cutlery....kukris, goloks etc
 
Dunno about that handle "sculpting"...
Sometimes I think folks struggle really hard to change something that was OK to "differentiate" their essentially similar product.

Yeah, now it is different--worse.

Finally, I find it fairly fugly.
 
SpanishSpecialOperationsBoloii.jpg


...to finding something that performs like a khukuri (although a small one).

n2s
 
Actually I don't mind the Cold Steel Kukri - if they chnaged the handle to something like Micarta rather than kraton (rubber). I can easily get the edge convexed and probably regrind the whole damn thing!
I also had (sold recently) one of the Brigrade Quartermasters kukris made by ontario: www.actiongear.com - it was poorly made with soft steel and too light for heavy work and too heavy for light work!!

I also have a Newt Livesay WASP http://www.newtlivesay.com/newt_livesay_WASP.htm - which is an awesome compromise between chopper and machete.
And so the search continues....
 
I've never understood the need to "build a better mousetrap" when the old one works just fine. Hi-tech alloy steels don't cut any better for me than plain old high carbon, and for handles I've yet to find anything better than deer antler for looks, comfort, and durability.
One of my "round-tuit" projects will be a good old fashioned antler hilted bowie, a style of knife I'm extremely familiar and comfortable with.

Greg
 
Daniel L :

[chipping on valiant products]

Cliff Stamp has had similar problems initially
Click to expand...

Yes, the grind is fairly thin and the blades are not that difficult to damage on harder woods. The edges are also only fully hardnened in a rather small area, a lot of the tip and base of the blade are soft. The soft tip makes limbing difficult as that is the part that actually is used to cut the wood, and that is the hardest wood cutting task. They are very good blades for a lot of use but are not a direct replacement for a khukuri by any means.

In regards to the Wiseman, there have been reports on use by Greenjacket in the survivial forum. His experience (tips cracker off) mirrors my main problem which is the use of stainless steel which has no part in any kind of chopping knife. The design would be much better with a simple carbon steel like 1084, not to mention it would be much cheaper to make. There are some odd elements to the design though such as the handle and sharpened back swedge conflict mentioned in the above.

-Cliff
 
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