Monthly safety reminder -- read it and save some fingers.

When I was checking the village khukuris I was in a hurry. When pulling the blades from the scabbards I slit two scabbards near the top. If I had gripped the scabbard full grip near the top I'd have some very nasty cuts on my left fingers. So,

DON'T GRIP THE SCABBARD WITH ANY PART OF YOUR HAND ON THE CUTTING EDGE OF THE SCABBARD!

You all know the story: An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Safety first!

Uncle Bill
 
Rusty

Rusty

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Bill, you remember the carved wood scabbard on the 20" HI Chainpuri, and how it had brass strips along the spine and edge sides of it? Would it be possible, feasible, acceptable to the kamis if on all your leather covered scabbards they put the brass strips on over the wood, and then covered it up with leather? That would hold the wood more tightly and prevent the blade from wedging the scabbard apart. Plus the brass would give some protection even if the blade wedged the wood apart. Just a thought. May look at my collection and see if the brass could be retrofitted on top of the leather without destroying the looks of it.
 
Not a bad idea, Rusty, and thanks. When we call Kami next weekend I'll ask him about putting a layer of brass under the leather. We might be able to get this done at shop 2 but I fear at shop 1 they won't do it.

Uncle Bill
 
Uncle Bill.
I have a non-HI 16" sirupati whose scabbard is completely wrapped with sheet brass around the top. The brass is between the leather covering the scabbard & the frog, with 1/4" of brass showing above the top of the frog, which is much closer to the top of the scabbard than the HI version. Feels very sturdy & secure.

[This message has been edited by Berkley (edited 11 May 1999).]
 
I noticed the village khukuri scabbards looked very nice but I sliced the top of two when drawing the blade in a hurry which made me realize they were made for locals. This prompted me to put in a very visible warning with the guarantee reminding people to hold the scabbard properly when drawing the blade.

I explained these knives were made for local consumption to be used by Nepalese farmers who are intimately familiar with khukuris, scabbards, and safety precautions.

Never depend of a guard of any kind to save your fingers -- khukuris, bowies, or pen knives. If it's got a blade it can cut so exercise proper precaution.

I shaved from about age 13 to maybe 25 with a straight razor which taught me very quickly (I carry a couple of hairline scars as reminders)to be careful with anything that cuts.

Uncle Bill
 
Yes ~ “DON'T GRIP THE SCABBARD WITH ANY PART OF YOUR HAND ON THE CUTTING EDGE OF THE SCABBARD !”

The moment I received my 15” AK I gripped the scabbard full grip with my left hand & try to pull the blade with my right hand ! ~ My Kashmiri friend stop me from doing that & smilingly said ~ “Look here my friend ~ don’t grip the scabbard with your fingers on the cutting edge of the scabbard ~ you might lose your fingers !” ~ Then he demonstrated the safe khukkuri unsheathing technique to me.

From then on I always gripped the scabbard half grip whereby my palm is at the top spine part of the scabbard, my thumb at the one side of the scabbard & my other fingers at the other side of the scabbard & no part of my left hand on the cutting edge of the scabbard.

Later on I instinctively develop an additional safety procedure whereby I always pull khukuri blade by pressing the spine of the blade towards the top back part of the scabbard ! I think it helps ~ I just want to ensure that my hand is unhurt while the middle & top front part of the scabbard is not slit open by the sharp khukuri edge !

Anyhow it is better to equip the scabbard with an extra safety component such as the one suggested by Berkley & Rusty ~ sometimes, somewhere, somebody might just need to pull the blade spontaneously due to certain urgency which block the mind from doing the correct & safe unsheathing procedure ! Please convince the Kamis, Pakcik Bill !
 
Thank you for the safety input, nephew Mohd.

The kamis do not make the scabbards. This is done by people called "sarkis" which means cobbler (shoe maker or leather worker) and they may or may not take my advice about putting a brass safety strip under the leather. I will ask them and we will see what happens. If we succeed this will be another first.

Uncle Bill
 
It is interesting that in photos and video footage of Gurkhas in combat gear removing the khukuri that the hand grasps completely around the scabbard.
The physics and the logic being that when hung from the belt by the frog one reaches behind the back and automatically pushes hard up against the outside (back) of the blade and scabbard to pull it out. It is not possible to do it any other way.
But just picking up a knife to show off the blade it's very easy to do the reverse and have the edge cut through the sheath.


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JP
 
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