There are some great deals here and it is tough seeing a great collection broken up because someone has fallen on tough time.
Having said that, I'm buying the 20 inch HI "Chadan" (sandalwood)handled sirupati (number 8) from John. I had a lot of pleasure searching the HI archives for the history of this particular sirupati and it has quite a history. After hours of searching, I worked out that there were originally only four of these chadan sirupatis made and they were amongst the first khukuries made at HI's shop 2, so it is an important khukuri for that reason alone. In fact, I believe there may only be one other chadan gripped sirupati surviving and it was the first made at shop 2 and belongs to Berkley (initially each khukuri made at shop 2 was given a serial number as it was made and Berkley has number one). The chadan apparently came from a derelict farm building in Nepal. The first four (of which one was ordered by John) were "lost" somewhere between HI shop 2 and Uncle Bill and took a long, long time to arrive. Apparently, a postal official in Nepal had taken a liking to the khukuri shipment and then later threads indicated that USA custom officials were also suitably impressed by the Chadan handles and held things up for a while. Bill knew how nice the chadan handles were and was going to keep one of these original four for his own personal collection, but by the time they arrived it appears demand was too high and Bill weakened and sold all four to customers. However, in a thread dated 27/7/99 called "A lost order mysteriously appears", he indicated that he had another one made for his personal collection shortly afterwards (as it turned out, it appears this is the one John is selling to me and has the serial number 63). Unfortunately, the original group of chadan handles were absolutely stunning but turned out to be prone to splitting and most were later replaced with horn handles. The handle on John's sirupati was one of those original four that failed, and Uncle Bill being Uncle Bill, gave John the Chadan sirupati from his own personal collection. So, if I have researched the HI archives correctly, I end up with a khukuri that at one time belonged to and was cherished by two of the very most significant people (and thorough gentlemen) in khukuri circles, Uncle Bill and John Powell, and that means a lot to me personally. I can only hope that the chadan handle on this khukuri does not have the same weaknesses that others had and lasts forever.
I would like to buy more of John's khukuries but do not have the funds. They all look like they have a history and are great value for the price. I hope John's circumstances improve, thank him for the opportunity to own this sirupati, and I look forward to buying a copy of his book in the future.
BUY! BUY!
