many thanks

T

TomFetter

Joined
Dec 6, 2004
Messages
1,103
The Kumar 16 1/2 inch WWII villager arrived on New Year's Eve, and is my first HI purchase. Now I see what all the fuss is about.

Ladies and gentlemen, this IS a knife. Wow.

Lovely balance, feeling much lighter in the hand than I'd expected. The horn handle is comfortable, and combination of the flare at the butt and the raised ring holds my hand securely. I took a few minutes to simply split some kindling - which it did effortlessly, far surpassing the Estwing hatchet which has been my gold-standard for this task for 20 years. Similar experience quickly chopping some 1-3 inch maple branches to stove-length.

I was looking for a superior "user" tool which would not be too bulky or heavy to carry, and would be more versatile than an axe, knife, or hatchet alone. I couldn't be more satisfied. Thanks especially to Kumar for crafting it, also to Yangdu and Bill for making these available to unsuspecting folks like me. And to the people here on the forum whose various threads helped me narrow down my choice of khuk model.

Now my 11 year old son has a birthday in about 2 months ... perhaps as a coming-of-age present, a BAS? Hmmm.......

Tom.
 
Congratulations Tom. I received my first khukuri just before Christmas. I too am extremely pleased and am already thinking of getting another.

Ice
 
You made an excellent choice Tom...no matter what follows, you will find *that* particular Khukri a *Go-To* for years to come and it will eventually end up in the hands of your great-great-great grandson. It may need to be rehandled by then.
 
For a young person just learning woodcraft skills, I think even a 12" sirupati would be quite a handful, unless he's really big for his age and already into handling big knives. I certainly wasn't at 11. As you mentioned "coming-of-age," I think a bilton might be appropriate. Big enough to be useful, but still within the size range of a "normal" sized knife.
If he gets caught at school with it in his backback, they probably won't think it's "little."
Just my $.02
---
Note to T. L.
The EDC reference was to the "Electric Dui Chirra" which was offered in limited quantities on late night TV adds. Ron Popiel got out of the khukuri business soon afterward.
 
TomFetter said:
The Kumar 16 1/2 inch WWII villager arrived on New Year's Eve, and is my first HI purchase. Now I see what all the fuss is about.

Ladies and gentlemen, this IS a knife. Wow.

Lovely balance, feeling much lighter in the hand than I'd expected. The horn handle is comfortable, and combination of the flare at the butt and the raised ring holds my hand securely. I took a few minutes to simply split some kindling - which it did effortlessly, far surpassing the Estwing hatchet which has been my gold-standard for this task for 20 years. Similar experience quickly chopping some 1-3 inch maple branches to stove-length...
Click to expand...

Tom, you don't mean to say that you CUT things with your khuk, do you? Horrors! You're supposed to polish out the handle and give a mirror buffing to the blade, then lovingly place it into your shoe-polished buffed scabbard and put it on the shelf! Keep a silicon cloth nearby to wipe the whole thing down
thoroughly after you periodically take it out to admire it for a few minutes every couple of weeks. (Slices and parry cuts to the air are allowed.)

All this is basic "khuk care" stuff that should have been explained to you early on. Jeez! Next you know you'll be clearing brush with it and digging up chunks of sod! Hey, that's what the Woodsman's Pal is for! ;)

Norm (Just trying to help!)
 
God forbid that I should actually use a tool for what it's designed to do, I know. But it's done now, the blade is scuffed, and there's no way out except through ...

BTW, I appreciate the observation that a BAS would be too much tool for most soon-to-be-12 year old boys. Though a second purchase would probably be required a few years down the road, it may make much more sense to get him something like a Bilton, or at most, a 12 inch Sirupati this time.

As to the school thinking that even such a knife would not be "small" if it showed up in his backpack at school ... Harrumph. My lad would have more serious troubles than what the Principal might think, if anything other than a pocketknife of his ever made that trip!

t.
 
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