NOBODY gonna like this!

"....the idea is to keep all the Kamis busy..." Nasty



I feel I got a public education based on the same principle...


>>>>>>>>

It may be the Kamis represent a dying art form, and 'keeping busy' allows the tradition to continue. It may be hourly wage earners need hours. Bill was gifted I think in his ability to look at the whole picture. I haven't been to Nepal, and didn't live and love there. I'm betting he saw a lot of things we can't figure from here and knew what he was doing.


munk
 
Random thoughts on this:

Yangdu makes these decisions. She has the over-view of production/cost/ROI.

I've done my best over the years to mention, promote, brag on H.I. Khukuris on all the other forums I post on. I suspect others have done the same. I've wondered if there were a way for the Cantinistas to do this in an organized manner--but I think Bill had a negative reaction to such self-serving promotion.

I know I've responded to inquiries to my posts on other forums, asking about H.I. stuff, mostly at outdoors, camping, survival, etc. sites. Where possible, I've included a link, noting to the moderators of the respective forums that if it was in violation of the forum's rules, to delete the link.

There's a fine line between hawking H.I. stuff, and mentioning the quality and rarity of a hand-made edged tool.

I know they are under-priced by any comparison to American-made work. But my conjecture is that they are priced in accordance with the costs and efforts required to produce, ship and mail them.

I remember the delight of finding out that shipping was included, having been burned by other vendors soaking me on shipping and handling charges.

You make good points, Shane. (No pun intended.)
 
The prices of the kuks are low compared to what comparable knives are costing here in the US. However, don't forget that the kamis are also competing against other makers of kukris in Nepal, who can also charge relatively low prices for their wares as well. HI prices are already more than some of the cheaper kukris being made in Nepal, what keeps customers loyal is their rock solid guarantee of quality.

Part of the big price difference is the world economy, standard of living and costs of doing business in our two countries. Anything from HI is definitely a bargain compared to comparable knives made in this country. However, when compared to other kukris made in Nepal, that puts the pricing issue in a very different perspective. So in my book, the real reason all of us are benefiting so greatly by having these knives available is that Bill and Yangdu set up HI here in the US to import these great blades. If I had to pay the shipping from Nepal to get a Kukri, it's unlikely that I'd be able to afford it.
 
olpappyIf I had to pay the shipping from Nepal to get a Kukri said:
You probably could still afford it. However, I figure most people would probably feel a little safer buying from someone in North America. I probably wouldn't buy a khukuri directly from Nepal because of my own paranoia.
Click to expand...
 
I know I'm not taking my meds. 'cept the iron supplements. :rolleyes: :p

HI products do have absurdly low prices, especially compared with what you would pay from an American maker. There are a few other companies out there importing quality blades for similarly low prices (other Nepali khuk makers, and the golok company ?Valiant?. And when I say quality I mean functional working blades. Don't flame me on that point). A big chunk of the difference is US versus Nepali working conditions and expectations. Americans in general have much higher standards of living than many laborers, and American jobs are expected to pay at a similarly high level, so people can have a house, car, benefits, healthcare, etc. Those expectations are fulfilled by the market price for whatever goods or services that job provides. Knife makers are no exception.

In Nepal, expectations arent' so high, which is why HI can make prices dramatically lower than a comparable blade from an American smith, absorb international and US shipping costs, transfer fees, etc. etc., and still come out on top. I just had an interesting thought - what if HI commanded prices more in line with the US knife market. Bura would be cruising Kathmandu in a Mercedes!!!!

Anyway, I think HI is in a good position. Prices are appropriate given the demand and kami output. Maybe deals have been more frequent than in the past, but I'm sure Pala is trying to get as much out as possible in case ongoing unrest in Nepal affects HI. If you think your khuks are worth more, then pay more. Order from the website, rather than the daily deal. Chip in extra cash for "HI Health Insurance" or Ram's tuition. It's money still going to keep HI viable, just like a few hundred bux of a fancy custom meat cleaver goes to the maker's kid's yearly checkup or college fund.

YMMV
 
BruiseLeee said:
. . . I probably wouldn't buy a khukuri directly from Nepal because of my own paranoia.
Click to expand...

And as I keep reminding those that know me well, it isn't paranoia if it's real.

Noah
 
Guys,

Gonna be away from the computer for a few...whenI get back..I'll post some pics of Wendy's Kothimoda...notice I said "Wendy's Kothimoda"...it is her blade...

BUt you will get to see it nonetheless...

And as money allows I will always be a good HI customer...and I will do as was suggested by adding to the purchase price on each one I buy...

Since I don't have a fast enough computer to take advantage of the dailys....I buy from the regular site...

Shane
 
The price of today's khukuris makes up for what we early guys had to pay. IIRC the rather rough but dayumed tough excellently made Shop 2 18" AK was $145.00. I don't know what they're going for today as I don't pay much attention to the price unless I'm buying something.
I bought an as almost new Kothimoda with the fancy silver work used for $300.00 which was a helluva buy. But then the Kothimoda is just worth the premium paid.
What a lot of folks don't know is that some of the really early HI customers paid big bucks for their village models because of the high cost of advertising. I'm pretty sure I recall Uncle Bill saying $350.00 at one point and perhaps more and I'm glad those days are history!!!!
If it weren't for BFC and the HI Forum here we would still be paying a great deal more than we are.
As far as the day to day khuks I think Miss Yangdu gets a fair price or she wouldn't be selling them for what she does.

Face it guys, Miss Yangdu *is* a *shrewd* business woman and knows exactly what she is doing!!!! :D :cool: :D
Hooray for Miss Yangdu!!!! :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:
Hooray for Spark and BFC!!!! :D :thumbup: :cool:
 
perhaps they could go up a little, but the world is not swimming in folk wanting blades of that style, and from that part of the world..what the majority of knife buyers want is what the press tells them to want, and the press is not telling folk that what they need and want is a low technology knife from a low technology shop from a poor little country that most American buyers could not locate on a globe armed with an encylopedia and a dictionary...no slight on the HI line because I think they make one of the most honest and useful knife lines in the world, but I get the feeling that most buyers are not deep pocketed collectors and snobs, but blue collar types looking for the most knife for the money...the folks with all the money to burn buying $500+ blades from the latest flashy ad in a trade magazine or the gunslicks care more about superficialities like perfect and invisible joints, dead flat flats, current "tactical" trendiness selling angular plastic handled sharpened crowbars that break...the other market force in the knife world is the collector who buys nothing but western ideals of perfection from the finest smiths on this side of the world, those designs and designers then becoming the chic thing to advertise in the next glossy magazine as factories near and far gear up to start and feed a frenzy promising to make everything ever made by anyone else including themselves as obsolescent as the dodo bird just as soon as the next new design is bought by the gullible mass market...this same unfortunate situation exists in many markets for many items, from automobiles to firearms....do I think they are worth more? Yes. Could I afford to pay much more? No. Do I see a long line of folk waving handfuls of large denomination bills stepping in to shove me out of line for HI products? No. If the HI line were to dramatically improve the fit and finish of its knives to where the knife looked like it was spit out by a machine, but was still 100% handcrafted, THEN, I could see a significant markup possible that might even draw the snobs, but I would only see that from the periphery, if at all, having long since been priced out of the market,... but I don't think that is possible with the technology the shop has at hand, and I don't think it is desireable....the market is fickle, especially when it comes to very expensive knives, which is why so very few smiths over here actually make a full time living at their trade, for long, in any case...meanwhile, poor little low tech HI manages to have quite a few folk working full time and making a living, so I am not sure we should be telling them what to do at all.....
 
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