New Member New Blades

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halloran

Joined
May 1, 2016
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Hey everyone, just wanted to post that I am a new member and recently acquired a few blades from Yangdu at Himalayan Imports. I live here in Carson City so I thought I would post a few pictures of the blades I received. I absolutely love the Bowie blades and she had two so I purchased them both. One is an absolute monster with a very thick spine and the other is much thinner maybe for skinning/kitchen use. I really don't know much about the blades but I only hear great remarks from the people that buy her blades and am going to be putting my new chiruwa chopper to the test very soon once camping season starts. I can't thank Yangdu enough for these awesome works of art! Full tangs, razor sharp and finely balanced. Each one feels great in the hand...even the little baby lime slicer :) I'm sure these won't be my last ones! I'll never go back to Cold Steel or Gerber as long as HI is around very impressed!

Nick


P.S. Yangdu mentioned something about the thinner Bowie being more rare and has traveled back and forth to Nepal quite a few times. Maybe she can shed a little more history on this?

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The thinner slicer knife you mention is a Western blank acquired by Mr. Howard Wallace. Close friends with Yangdu and her father who has traveled all over the place and to the shop in Nepal.

I don't recall how he acquired them but he hand carried numerous of those knives over as blanks. Purna worked them over, basically finished them and put handles on.

I think they turned out spectacular myself. I don't have one but like so many others I hope to one day before they are all gone.

Those are one of the models that when they are gone, they will be gone. Not an unlimited quantity.

Your off to a fine start. I too am a lover of the bowies in all sizes.
 
Bawanna said:
The thinner slicer knife you mention is a Western blank acquired by Mr. Howard Wallace. Close friends with Yangdu and her father who has traveled all over the place and to the shop in Nepal.

I don't recall how he acquired them but he hand carried numerous of those knives over as blanks. Purna worked them over, basically finished them and put handles on.

I think they turned out spectacular myself. I don't have one but like so many others I hope to one day before they are all gone.

Those are one of the models that when they are gone, they will be gone. Not an unlimited quantity.

Your off to a fine start. I too am a lover of the bowies in all sizes.
Click to expand...


Thanks for letting me know! There's something to be said about hand crafted knives...there's a story and an aura about each one. Each one is different and none are ever the same. I'd like to know how many actual master Kami still forge knives in Nepal and/if one Kami makes or is known for making better blades than others. The only master Kami listed on HI's website is Nara Bishwakarma. I know the markings on the blades are of the people that crafted it but some of the markings on my knives are just symbols. Most of mine have a U.B on them but the rest are symbols I can't even describe. If I posted them I wonder if Yangdu or anyone here would know who made them.
 
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Many here could tell you.

The UB is in remembrance of Uncle Bill, Yangdu's husband who kicked off Himalayan Imports. Since his passing all the kami's mark a UB on every blade they make.

Each knife with a few exceptions has a makers mark (symbol) that tells us who made the knife.

The other script is a little foggy to me but it's devanagari and says which shop it was made in and I believe the makers name or initials.

None of it is just decoration, it all means something.
 
HI blades have carried the "U.B." since Uncle Bill Martino (Yangdu's husband and co-founder of HI) passed in 2005. Sometimes the "U.B." is engraved in Devangari, hence unreadable by most westerners. I prefer the Devangari myself (though I can't read it). Older HI blades (pre-2005) do not have the "U.B."

Most of the kamis working for HI would be considered masters by any standard. Some of us have favorite kamis, but any knife that Yangdu sells will live up to HI standards. If a knife has a blemish (usually things like a small crack in the handle due to changes in climate), Yangdu makes that clear and sells the blade (here on the forum as a DOTD) at a greatly reduced price. Those "blems" are usually pretty easy to repair with superglue, epoxy or a bit of Flitz to remove tarnish. Not all the DOTDs are "blems." Some are in perfect condition, but still sold at bargain prices.

By the way, the HI web site store only shows a subset of the available models, and only a subset of lengths and weights that are made. The best way to get information and knives is through this forum. Here you can see photos and specs (length, weight) of the actual knife, whereas the information at the HI web site is generic.

If you post pictures of the markings on the left side of the blade near the handle, we can probably identify the kamis for you.

Added later: My reply crossposted with Bawanna's; hence the duplication of information.
 
davidf99 said:
HI blades have carried the "U.B." since Uncle Bill Martino (Yangdu's husband and co-founder of HI) passed in 2005. Sometimes the "U.B." is engraved in Devangari, hence unreadable by most westerners. I prefer the Devangari myself (though I can't read it). Older HI blades (pre-2005) do not have the "U.B."

Most of the kamis working for HI would be considered masters by any standard. Some of us have favorite kamis, but any knife that Yangdu sells will live up to HI standards. If a knife has a blemish (usually things like a small crack in the handle due to changes in climate), Yangdu makes that clear and sells the blade (here on the forum as a DOTD) at a greatly reduced price. Those "blems" are usually pretty easy to repair with superglue, epoxy or a bit of Flitz to remove tarnish. Not all the DOTDs are "blems." Some are in perfect condition, but still sold at bargain prices.

By the way, the HI web site store only shows a subset of the available models, and only a subset of lengths and weights that are made. The best way to get information and knives is through this forum. Here you can see photos and specs (length, weight) of the actual knife, whereas the information at the HI web site is generic.

If you post pictures of the markings on the left side of the blade near the handle, we can probably identify the kamis for you.

Added later: My reply crossposted with Bawanna's; hence the duplication of information.
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These are what I got:

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The horn handled bowie, Howard's Bowie, was made by Purna, who just left. His mark is a bull's head, and has changed a bit through his time at HI. The other 2 blades were done by Kumar, with the Star of David mark. He is one of my favorites, if not my favorite, but every Kami that makes blades for HI is phenomenal. I don't think I've seen many Kumar AK Bowies, so that one is special. What's the mark on your Baby lime-slicing Chitlangi?

There was a thread Howard started about those knives. Don't have time to look right now, but search "Lost in Translation" on the HI forum page and you should find it. I believe he had acquired some W-49 blanks and had them sent to the shop to be turned into knives. Something along those lines.
 
That's the story except Mr. Wallace didn't have them sent. He hand carried them over to the shop. I think he's been everywhere sometimes.

I didn't know that Purna actually marked the W-49 blanks but obviously he did. That's pretty cool.
 
SingleGrind said:
The horn handled bowie, Howard's Bowie, was made by Purna, who just left. His mark is a bull's head, and has changed a bit through his time at HI. The other 2 blades were done by Kumar, with the Star of David mark. He is one of my favorites, if not my favorite, but every Kami that makes blades for HI is phenomenal. I don't think I've seen many Kumar AK Bowies, so that one is special. What's the mark on your Baby lime-slicing Chitlangi?

There was a thread Howard started about those knives. Don't have time to look right now, but search "Lost in Translation" on the HI forum page and you should find it. I believe he had acquired some W-49 blanks and had them sent to the shop to be turned into knives. Something along those lines.
Click to expand...

Thanks again for all the info! I didn't mean to leave the little baby khukuri out but here are it's markings:

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I could have swore both Auntie and Mr. Wallace told me he took them over himself. Never believe half the stuff you read on the internet. I'm on the internet.
 
Great pix and post, thank you for sharing
Warm welcome to the blade forum and HI
 
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