My New 18" ASTK-V

warty

warty

Joined
Mar 2, 2010
Messages
1,416
It was a hard wait for me, I bought this one while I was away in Florida visiting my parents. This meant that I knew it was waiting for me all the time I was down there. You think waiting for one to come in the mail is bad, try waiting for an extra two weeks all the while knowing it is wait for you back home! :eek: I finally made it back and boy was I happy when I tore into the box of goodies Yangdu had sent me. It contained all the sharked goodies from while I was away along with the 18" ASTK-V I had asked her for a while ago. I was so pleased to get it but I do want to ask some of you all to help me with the markings since they are not what I was expecting. First, there is no "U.B." on the blade so I am assuming this is one she must have had "in the warehouse" for a while. It also has different marking on the non-kami marked side of the blade that I would like to have IDed...

Anyway, I made the pix pretty big, I hope this isn't a problem. :o

Here we have the first side along with two close ups of the markings on it.
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now the other side...
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The typical Kami markings... (which Kami is this though?)
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Here is something I thought was pretty cool, the way the handle's metal was shaped and cut the same way as the wood of the handle. I have others that have this done too but this one is really well done. Every time I see this kind f detail I am amazed by it and the way they are able to do this with the tools they use.
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now in hand...
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This one is a perfect fit for me. I have found The One Khukuri for me. This is it. I think I'm even going to sell of a few that I had thought might be the ones previous to this... This is the chopper and the all around outdoor user I have been looking for! If ya'll don''t have an ASTK in the 18" range and you are the outdoorsy type, I would suggest giving one a try. Even the Karda and Chakmak are sweet and completely useful on this one...
 
Warty,

Sweet piece of Greatness!

I feel glad that you found the One you were seeking.

The thickness of the blade is menacing and the Villager finish gives a no-frills, gotta get my game-face on mode.

Hopefully in a few weeks, when my 18" ASTK-V is here, i should be able to join you for some reviews.

Tooooo Nice!:thumbup:


Jay
 
Alright, that does it. I can't take it anymore! Guess who's gonna buy that lonely DOTD ASTK?

Beautiful pics by the way, let us know how it handles the work.
 
Well 7rip13a, I gotta tell you something. You won't be sorry. But don't say I didn't warn you about looking for one n the 18" range. The one you grabbed is a 15" and while I know you are taken buy your "Pocket Battleship" now, these are somewhat different in the way they handle. CAKs and AKs are very front heavy and really made for shopping while the ASTKs and ASTK-Vs are a more balanced knife over all. They will certainly chop and have even been added to the warranty but they are more of a finesse blade.

I plan on doing a bit of a trial with this over the weekend though.
Not quite sure what all I am going to do with it but I want to give it a bit of a work out.

Hopefully though, someone will give me the skinny on the markings on this thing too...
 
im not sure about this but the kami mark could it be either A tara bhadur or B get kami as they both seem to share bits of the same mark?
mick
 
Hi Warty, here's what I'm reading on your khukuri - the first set of markings near the bolster read "U.B." except it's wrtten in Devanagiri instead of the usually seen English initials (first initials are the Devanagiri alphabets 'ya' and 'uu' combined to form the sound for the English 'U' whiles the second initials are Devanagiri alphabets "ba' and 'ee' forming the sound for the English 'B'). Further up the blade are the initials "Bi Go" (Bi pronounced as "Bee")for Bir Gorkha. The second set of initials on the other side of the blade read as "Di Ba" perhaps for "Dil Bahadur"??? followed below it by Kami markings - tree? sun?

Hope you find this useful!
 
sta94 said:
Hi Warty, here's what I'm reading on your khukuri - the first set of markings near the bolster read "U.B." except it's wrtten in Devanagiri instead of the usually seen English initials (first initials are the Devanagiri alphabets 'ya' and 'uu' combined to form the sound for the English 'U' whiles the second initials are Devanagiri alphabets "ba' and 'ee' forming the sound for the English 'B'). Further up the blade are the initials "Bi Go" (Bi pronounced as "Bee")for Bir Gorkha. The second set of initials on the other side of the blade read as "Di Ba" perhaps for "Dil Bahadur"??? followed below it by Kami markings - tree? sun?

Hope you find this useful!
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Thank You Very Much, Sta94!
My ASTK has the same markings.
Dil would be the most likely. I wasnt having much luck in deciphering these.
I find if my western eyes look at Devangari too much for too long they get confused and everything looks more or less the same. :D

Now that i look at the thread "collection breakdown by Kami", i realize i had already figured it out somehow. Dang Alzheimers got me again.:p
 
I didn't get mine through the thread or as a DOTD though...

Cool, thanks sta94... I sort of wondered if it was "U.B." in Devanagari. I think that is a cool way to do it too, sort of gives him the tribute he deserves in the tongue of the nation that he had such a deep feeling for, it is fitting. Makes my ASTK-V even more special to me now.
 
Hey Warty, Nice pictures of your ASTK. Mine weighs in at about 26oz, how much does yours weigh? Also, comparing your picture to mine in hand, I noticed that yours is more curved then mine. Wonder how that effects the chopping if everything else was the same.

By the way, I finally got to do some chopping with mine this weekend and it's awesome!! Cuts through Willow, Aspen and Lodge Pole Pine really well, better then my 20" 22oz Sirupati for sure!

Heber
 
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