Magic in the Steel

M

Matt B

Joined
Oct 16, 2000
Messages
118
Hi Guys,

Now, I know that there are plenty of khuks and a decent amount Himalayan swords out there, and I know that they are all magical in their own way, but do any of you folks have experience with a blade (HI or otherwise) that you thought had tangible, real magic about it?

Insofar as Nepal,Ganga Ram talked about how there are methods of forging a very special blade that are done quite rarely nowadays, he claimed that only he was privy to the secrets, but we know how the kamis are, and who's to say that there aren't others who know how?.

I'd say anyone who has some of the early stuff, back in the misty days of HI where a wandering smith would come in, forge a blade, and leave...would do well to hold onto it, even in light of the terrific beauty of the Kami's latest works...

At the risk of sounding like a nut...
Magical swords and tales of them have been around for many centuries, and they are a focal point of many stories and legends, but have any of ya seen or owned something that you thought was the real deal? something that went above and beyond the normal levels of edge retention and durability, or did it just have that "feel" around it that your other pieces don't have?


I'm very curious to find out
wink.gif

Matt

 
Matt,
I know of 4 members of the K Brotherhood that can answer you:
1)John P.
2)Ray
3)tHE lURKER
4)tHE sCOTSMAN.
jim
 
A magic blade? An age-old secret, known to only a special few? Can this be true?

It matters not, for the fascination lies in the contemplation of things lost in the past. As the inscriptions on the old maps say, "Here there be Dragons", and this be the stuff of legend. It don't get no better than that
wink.gif
 
Dear Matt,
the only 'off the shelf' knife which has evoked that feeling was the AK I recently bought from HI. This is partly because of the history of the Khukuri, and partly because of the knowledge that it was hand forged in Nepal, so taking on the feel of the people and the country.
Another way to produce that feeling is to use a knife in ritual. I have a dagger I use for magical workings which is special to me, but I don't know if others would feel it. Some knives are so brutally functional as to provoke fear (my Khukuri 'Kallisti' does that to others who see it, but makes me warm with affection to it, strangely), or so beautiful as to make your jaw drop.
Is it a tangible, real, affect? one which exists 'in the blade' itself? I don't doubt it with the khukuris. I have yet to handle medieval blades, maybe they have a real power we can only imagine!
I love this aspect of the hobby. It's something a lot of people just don't understand though.
Keep searching for the blade that makes your heart miss a beat!

Jeff & 'Kallisti'
 
I used to spend 60-80 bucks on a knife. During this period of time I would ask, "Why would anyone spend over 100 bucks on a knife?"

After I bought my 20" Kobra, my first knife, I could truely feel something different in these blades. After my 12" AK, quickly becoming my favorite, I know there is a little magic (if not much more) in each of Uncle Bill's blades.

The more you handle a Kuk the more this becomes obvious to the user. I don't know if this is true of all hand forged knives, but the satisfaction does not exist in any of my other CNC knives. Spyderco, Cold Steel, Kershaw, they can all go take a leap... I will stick with my 12" AK by the unnamed trio.
 
Another thing... The more I hear about Rusty's 12" Sirupati the more I think my little 12" AK needs a brother for my other hand.

HIKV a.k.a. Magic... Naw... couldent be...
well then again......
 
When I pick up a blade I can usually tell the quality of craftsmanship by a cursory glance, but the weight, the balance, the feel of the blade count for much more. I beleive in the power of magic - not the witchy crap that gets passed off as "enchanted", or (God forbid) "eldritch", but in what the senses tell you is real in an intangible way.

What you call tangible, real magic can manifest itself in several different ways. This ususally seems to come about via ritual. You can pick up seemingly identical handforged blades and they may feel completely different. One may ask you to peel (a fruit) and the other to stab. It may depend on the use for which the blade was created, the frame of mind of the creator, or the purpose for which it was used. (And how it was actually used.)

I've handled many many blades, of many sizes, ethnic origins and ages, and heard many stories of blades with spiritual power, some from trusted teachers or friends. What I know for myself is what feeling a blade evokes when it's in my hand. Most mass produced blades evoke the feeling of a tool - with the exception of a few of the 19th century swords I've handled. Some hand-forged blades elicit the same response. A very few feel like fighting weapons (that is, weapons which elicit the desire for combat), and seem to demand it.

Blades have power, and my experience with khukuris is that they can be magical.

P.S. Please excuse me if this makes no sense, I'm in the Dalmore this evening.
 
One bit of the magic is the part of a human spirit that comes with the blade. I never met Kumar and wouldn't know him from Adam if I saw him, but I certainly know something about him from the knife he made. It's an 18" sirupati, and one scrappy little b*****d. It wants to jump out of its sheath and shine and tear through something, and then look around for more. I think it has a bit of the same spirit Audrey has. If it was on my belt and I was in trouble I think it would be swinging for blood before my hand even touched it.

Likewise, from what Uncle Bill has said about Kesar, the sirupati he made certainly carries his spirit. Uncle Bill once called him "Ol' Faithful" and that's what I call this knife. It will chop all day and be there waiting by the door the next day, solid as a rock. I remember a thread a while back on why people collect khukuris, and someone mentioned how a khukuri carries a sense of duty; being ready to build a fire, make a shelter, or defend your family. I think of Kesar's family that he's feeding by working at BirGorkha and I get it. Nothing that comes out of a factory is going to teach you anything. These knives talk to you. And that's good ju-ju.
 
I'll tell my experiece...

I have 12 swords, but 15 have passed through my hands. I have practiced and tested with most of them (some of them antiques)and they are all nice in their own way...but there is one piece that really stands out.

As I ripped open the package from HI I encountered the same joy I always do. What was in the package was one of Himalayan Imports very first swords...the kind that was done by a wandering kami who stopped into the forge one day-the way things worked when HI just began. The moment I picked it up, I felt something different about it, it felt special.

But there was more. I polish all my new blades down to satin finish for less scratching...However this sword would not lose it's mirror sheen. I polished and polished, but no matter what I did, the mirror like finish of the steel would not leave...in every other HI piece I've ever owned, the polish would go down to satin a a couple of minutes. Over half an hour of effort to take the mirror sheen off the sword was fruitless.

Than...I was practicing was the sword and doing a little testing...repeatedly smashing it into a thick block of wood and measuring the gashes. Before I had done this I had measured it's fine-edge ability with tests on slicing effort and speed. After I had put it through heavy cutting practice, it's performance on fine cutting had improved.

Finally, the other day I decided to really test it. I was confident enough to do something that is a major no no, and considered abuse, but I had to try. I picked up a antique Burmese Dha, very sharp. Than I picked up my "magical" sword. I swung them towards eachother, edge-to-edge...at very high speed. There was a very loud clang. The result...a 2 centimeter gash in the edge of the Burmese Dha, and no damage at all to the edge the "magical" sword.

Magic? maybe...
just an exteremely well forged blade? maybe
all I know is that I'm lucky to own it.

regards
Matt
 
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