- Joined
- Feb 26, 2002
- Messages
- 618
At Uncle Bill's half price sale a few weeks ago, I asked Bill for a lightweight sirupati. He sent me a beautifully made unbelievably light 20 inch Bura sirupati . About three or four weeks before that I had also bought a 20.5 inch chandan handled sirupati from John Powell. This particular chandan sirupati previously belonged to Uncle Bill's private collection before it ended up with John Powell (and now it's mine - the pride of my collection). It has the serial number 63 on it which indicated that it was the 63rd khukuri made in shop 2 in 1999. Unfortunately for me, it had trouble getting past the Fish and Wildlife Dept in the US and took about five weeks to get here and only arrived yesterday. I described its remarkable history in a thread on 04/18/03. It's one magnificent well balanced khukuri.
The stats for the two khukuries are listed below:
Chandan Sirupati : Bura Sirupati
Overall length 20.5 inches : 20 inches
Blade weight 27.69 ounces : 22.43 ounces
Sheathed weight 36.23 ounces : 30.94 ounces
Thickness above chow 0.413 inches : 0.359 inches
Thickness one inch from tip 0.299 inches : 0.240 inches
Belly width 1.461 inches : 1.669 inches
Wood handle length 5.228 inches : 4.921 inches
Thickness of wood at pommel 1.437 inches : 1.319 inches
Basically, the older shop 2 chandan khukuri is much thicker and heavier, has a significantly larger handle (in length and cross section), but an extremely narrow, slim profiled blade with the sharpest, longest point I have seen in a khukuri. It looks mean, it looks tough, and has a very appealing appearance.
The Bura sirupati must be at the lower extreme of weight in 20 inch sirupatis with a hollow grind blade - only Bura could do this and still have a strong blade with a distinct distal taper. It feels very machete like. In comparison to the Chandan, it's shape is more World War II in style - fairly wide in profile - but still with a nasty point at the end. It's engravings on the blade are a better quality than the Chandan one but all other fittings are of equivalent standard - except for the karda and chakma.
John Powell told me that he wasn't happy with the quality of the karda and chakma that originally came with the Chandan sirupati. He replaced them with two remarkable tools. The Karda he sent me is 7.325 inches long with a steel pommel and a round cross-sectioned, curved bone handle that ends in a sharp point. I have nothing anything like this in my collection. It looks to be relatively old and I will eventually give it a repolish. It is a collector's item on its own. The chakma is shaped like a miniature khukuri right down to having a chow. It has hatching on it that indicates that it was made from an old file and I suspect it will be the hardest chakma I own. All HI khukuries are magic, but the purchase of this Chandan sirupati is the best purchase I have made - it has pure character.
I have also realised that these larger sirupatis have a very desirable feature. I love all khukuries but especially those that are light enough to carry on a belt. The first thing I noticed about both sirupatis is that their sheaths are lighter than similar blade weight non-sirupati styles. This makes the sirupati style very attractive for carrying on a belt relative to the weight of the blades. I have found that both these sirupatis travel easily on a belt.
So far, I have only been able to test the Bura on one inch branches which it handled with ridiculous ease and little effort. I think I will save it for these light to middle weight duties - the sort of duties you would use a machete for - it's quite a fast formidable weapon and Bura has made it perfectly.
The Chandan khukuri looks tough and aggressive. I am so tempted to give it a thorough workout but I so want to keep this one in pristine condition - it's a collector's item but it almost screams to be taken out and used - but I've got to resist the temptation. I keep telling myself that this one belonged to Uncle Bill and John Powell, keep it in the display case, don't use it, but I don't know....I must resist.......
I can't say which is the better sirupati, one is so amazingly light for a big blade you hardly know it's there and it was made by that man Bura; the other so strong, lean and mean looking and just has something about it. It's a tie - no, maybe a hair's breath win to the Chandan sirupati. I think I am now in Khukuri Heaven.
The stats for the two khukuries are listed below:
Chandan Sirupati : Bura Sirupati
Overall length 20.5 inches : 20 inches
Blade weight 27.69 ounces : 22.43 ounces
Sheathed weight 36.23 ounces : 30.94 ounces
Thickness above chow 0.413 inches : 0.359 inches
Thickness one inch from tip 0.299 inches : 0.240 inches
Belly width 1.461 inches : 1.669 inches
Wood handle length 5.228 inches : 4.921 inches
Thickness of wood at pommel 1.437 inches : 1.319 inches
Basically, the older shop 2 chandan khukuri is much thicker and heavier, has a significantly larger handle (in length and cross section), but an extremely narrow, slim profiled blade with the sharpest, longest point I have seen in a khukuri. It looks mean, it looks tough, and has a very appealing appearance.
The Bura sirupati must be at the lower extreme of weight in 20 inch sirupatis with a hollow grind blade - only Bura could do this and still have a strong blade with a distinct distal taper. It feels very machete like. In comparison to the Chandan, it's shape is more World War II in style - fairly wide in profile - but still with a nasty point at the end. It's engravings on the blade are a better quality than the Chandan one but all other fittings are of equivalent standard - except for the karda and chakma.
John Powell told me that he wasn't happy with the quality of the karda and chakma that originally came with the Chandan sirupati. He replaced them with two remarkable tools. The Karda he sent me is 7.325 inches long with a steel pommel and a round cross-sectioned, curved bone handle that ends in a sharp point. I have nothing anything like this in my collection. It looks to be relatively old and I will eventually give it a repolish. It is a collector's item on its own. The chakma is shaped like a miniature khukuri right down to having a chow. It has hatching on it that indicates that it was made from an old file and I suspect it will be the hardest chakma I own. All HI khukuries are magic, but the purchase of this Chandan sirupati is the best purchase I have made - it has pure character.
I have also realised that these larger sirupatis have a very desirable feature. I love all khukuries but especially those that are light enough to carry on a belt. The first thing I noticed about both sirupatis is that their sheaths are lighter than similar blade weight non-sirupati styles. This makes the sirupati style very attractive for carrying on a belt relative to the weight of the blades. I have found that both these sirupatis travel easily on a belt.
So far, I have only been able to test the Bura on one inch branches which it handled with ridiculous ease and little effort. I think I will save it for these light to middle weight duties - the sort of duties you would use a machete for - it's quite a fast formidable weapon and Bura has made it perfectly.
The Chandan khukuri looks tough and aggressive. I am so tempted to give it a thorough workout but I so want to keep this one in pristine condition - it's a collector's item but it almost screams to be taken out and used - but I've got to resist the temptation. I keep telling myself that this one belonged to Uncle Bill and John Powell, keep it in the display case, don't use it, but I don't know....I must resist.......
I can't say which is the better sirupati, one is so amazingly light for a big blade you hardly know it's there and it was made by that man Bura; the other so strong, lean and mean looking and just has something about it. It's a tie - no, maybe a hair's breath win to the Chandan sirupati. I think I am now in Khukuri Heaven.
