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- Sep 30, 2005
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- 580
Visual review of a Nepalese manufactured miniature khukuri knife (Kagas Katne/Paper Cutter):
I ordered this knife around the same time that I ordered a few Biltongs khukuris (but from a different vendor). I ordered it and the two Biltongs because I kinda liked the idea of having some miniatures being represented in my newly started khukuri collection.
Yesterday I received both the Biltongs and the miniature khukuri. Though I was not happy with the two Biltongs (explained in a separate review), I was very happy with the miniature.
The knife is Nepalese made, but I do not know the source in Nepal that manufactures it.
The scabbard is what many may consider the bling bling type (excuse the modern description). What I mean is that it would be considered a bit gaudy by most American knife enthusiast standards. Its made using the typical leather over wood with brass tip, but it goes further than that. It also has brass along its sides, a brass strap towards and around the blade entrance area, and a couple of rows of brass tacks along its front. Gaudy, but somehow cute. No defects were found on this scabbard and the knife fit snug inside of it.
Anyhow, though kind of cute, its not the scabbard that impressed me. What was refreshing was the very decently manufactured mini khukuri knife itself. The blade was free of any rust and has a nice polished finish. The blade also has a very nicely done blade grooves (one on each side). There were no fractures anywhere on the blade, including the cho/kaudi area. The buffalo horn handle and brass bolster have no fractures of any kind and are both very nicely polished. The handles grooves are also very well done, much better than on the two full size Khukuri House Service #1 & #2 knives that I had previously received and not kept because of defects (again, explained in another review).
I did not know exactly what to expect from this little knife. I just figured that the knifes blade would have the correct side view profile, but would probably just be a real flimsy facsimile of a khukuri knife. Well, that was far from what I received. This knife not only has the side view profile of a khukuri, but even when looking at it from its spine view, the knife truly replicates a full size khukuri. Except for it not having a pommel, it very much has the appearance of a scaled down Service #1 khukuri. The photo links below will better explain my description (a picture is worth a thousand words comes into play here). The size of the blade is about 3 7/8 and its handle is about 2 ½. The knife has a sharp edge, not razor sharp, but most definitely sharp.
I wont even try to understand why this no name brand $10 + $3 S&H miniature khukuri knife is so much more carefully made than the other full sized khukuri knives that had previously been sent to me by another vendor. So this knife that was purchased more as a ha-ha for my collection, is right now the crown jewel of my khukuri collection. Though Im very happy with this knife, Its sad that what is supposed to be a toy-ish object, has more quality behind it then some full sized offerings by some of the so called established khukuri firms.
Here are a few photo links of this mini khukuri (the cell phone and quarter will give you an idea of the knifes size):
http://img384.imageshack.us/img384/9089/dscn04000pc.jpg
http://img384.imageshack.us/img384/9730/dscn04027hz.jpg
This knife was purchased from the World Knives company. I purchased it via one of their ebay auctions for $10 plus $3 shipping, but it's also available directly off of their website for $19.99 plus shipping. As of this writing, the item is again being offered on one of their ebay auctions ($9.99 opening bid). Here is their company website:
www.worldknives.com
I ordered this knife around the same time that I ordered a few Biltongs khukuris (but from a different vendor). I ordered it and the two Biltongs because I kinda liked the idea of having some miniatures being represented in my newly started khukuri collection.
Yesterday I received both the Biltongs and the miniature khukuri. Though I was not happy with the two Biltongs (explained in a separate review), I was very happy with the miniature.
The knife is Nepalese made, but I do not know the source in Nepal that manufactures it.
The scabbard is what many may consider the bling bling type (excuse the modern description). What I mean is that it would be considered a bit gaudy by most American knife enthusiast standards. Its made using the typical leather over wood with brass tip, but it goes further than that. It also has brass along its sides, a brass strap towards and around the blade entrance area, and a couple of rows of brass tacks along its front. Gaudy, but somehow cute. No defects were found on this scabbard and the knife fit snug inside of it.
Anyhow, though kind of cute, its not the scabbard that impressed me. What was refreshing was the very decently manufactured mini khukuri knife itself. The blade was free of any rust and has a nice polished finish. The blade also has a very nicely done blade grooves (one on each side). There were no fractures anywhere on the blade, including the cho/kaudi area. The buffalo horn handle and brass bolster have no fractures of any kind and are both very nicely polished. The handles grooves are also very well done, much better than on the two full size Khukuri House Service #1 & #2 knives that I had previously received and not kept because of defects (again, explained in another review).
I did not know exactly what to expect from this little knife. I just figured that the knifes blade would have the correct side view profile, but would probably just be a real flimsy facsimile of a khukuri knife. Well, that was far from what I received. This knife not only has the side view profile of a khukuri, but even when looking at it from its spine view, the knife truly replicates a full size khukuri. Except for it not having a pommel, it very much has the appearance of a scaled down Service #1 khukuri. The photo links below will better explain my description (a picture is worth a thousand words comes into play here). The size of the blade is about 3 7/8 and its handle is about 2 ½. The knife has a sharp edge, not razor sharp, but most definitely sharp.
I wont even try to understand why this no name brand $10 + $3 S&H miniature khukuri knife is so much more carefully made than the other full sized khukuri knives that had previously been sent to me by another vendor. So this knife that was purchased more as a ha-ha for my collection, is right now the crown jewel of my khukuri collection. Though Im very happy with this knife, Its sad that what is supposed to be a toy-ish object, has more quality behind it then some full sized offerings by some of the so called established khukuri firms.
Here are a few photo links of this mini khukuri (the cell phone and quarter will give you an idea of the knifes size):
http://img384.imageshack.us/img384/9089/dscn04000pc.jpg
http://img384.imageshack.us/img384/9730/dscn04027hz.jpg
This knife was purchased from the World Knives company. I purchased it via one of their ebay auctions for $10 plus $3 shipping, but it's also available directly off of their website for $19.99 plus shipping. As of this writing, the item is again being offered on one of their ebay auctions ($9.99 opening bid). Here is their company website:
www.worldknives.com
