Please Help Me Identify This Khukuri!

G

Grime

Joined
Jun 1, 2006
Messages
165
In an antique shop in Hong Kong I found this khukuri for sale, among others. Most of them were old and damaged, save this one, which was still in great condition, and the blade was still keen. So I bought it.

I can tell it has been well used, but also well looked after. Its also quite a small khukuri as you can see. The guy in the shop said it was a corporals knife (Ghurkha I’m sure), and was 40 years old. I didnt get most of what he said because his english was poor.

I’ve never seen a knife on the net like this one... The insignia is unusual. The 3 'coins' on the sheath are supposed to be a symbol of rank, I think. Its very beautiful, no?

The blade is also an interesting shape. Now that I’ve sharpened it, I’m sure it could slice a small tree clean in half.
And I wonder what the engravings on the blade might mean? Notice the small gold pattern on the top of the belly section.
The sheath seems to flaunt a symbol of military status.

Anyway, antique or not, I’m still going to use it. The fact that it’s had 40 years in use and is still strong shows its a good, sturdy knife. As they say, 'stood the test of time'.

Check it out:


khukuri4.jpg


khukuri3.jpg


khukuri2.jpg
 
Have you tested its edge yet?
Looks like a tourist model to me, but it could be an antique and I wouldn't know....some of the Khuk experts will show up presently with more info. Yeah, my first impression may be waaay off, it does look well done upon a second examination. I love these mystery stories. We'll find the answer.



munk
 
i have no idea as to what it is or when/where it came from, but even if it was complete junk made for tourists (it doesnt look to be, that handle is really nice looking) - that sheath is bueatiful.
 
Welcome Grime,
Standard tourist knife. Not old, and not used by Gurkhas. But it's a nice small khukuri. Use it and enjoy it. Military knives used by the Gurkhas had no decoration on the scabbards.

The engraving on the spine that starts at the bolster and comes to the point is called the Sword of Shiva. The remaining engraving is decoration. The brass decoration is applied by pounding brass wire into chiselled grooves in the steel.

Enjoy your khukuri, and again, welcome.

Steve
 
I agree with Steve, Its a standard tourist kukri Grime, probably the commonest type one sees hawked by street vendors in Kathmandu.

It could still be tempered though. If you like its decorations thats brilliant & if its tempered even better, It would do for cutting kindling.

Always nice to find a kukri, when on holiday!

Spiral
 
I know its very old. If you look, you can see its been sharpened many many times through the ages. There’s some deep, worn scratches on the blade which suggests heavy use. It holds the edge very well. When I bought it, I could get the blade pretty sharp just by using the chakma.
The handle is made of horn, and has a great feel to it.

...Yeah well Im sure youre right. But it couldnt be a piece of junk if its been used as much as it appears to be! The small knife and the chakma have also been well used, and are pretty worn by use (as you can see)
 
Well that sucks! Good thing I bargained well for it. Oh well Its still really qute a good knife I reckon.
Would have been cool if someone was like 'COR! Why that’s the Khukuri of the great Leopard King of Nepal!' But oh well. Its still very functional.

Anyway, I did get a couple more in HK (cheap). Though one of which is interesting. Not decorated. And I paid quite a lot for it. The guy was angry with me for trying to get a discount (unusual). He said that he was offering a very good price for the knife. I hope I didn’t get ripped :(
Ill put it up here tomorrow and ask your opinions!

Thanks for the replies and welcomes!
 
Grime said:
I know its very old. If you look, you can see its been sharpened many many times through the ages. There’s some deep, worn scratches on the blade which suggests heavy use. It holds the edge very well. When I bought it, I could get the blade pretty sharp just by using the chakma.
The handle is made of horn, and has a great feel to it.

...Yeah well Im sure youre right. But it couldnt be a piece of junk if its been used as much as it appears to be! The small knife and the chakma have also been well used, and are pretty worn by use (as you can see)
Click to expand...

If it is a good tool, (as the wear you mention and edgeholding would imply) then it is a good tool, regardless of whether the initial owner was a tourist or a Gorkha warrior.
 
Many Nepali tourist kukris are useable if well tempered. I probably wouldnt trust my life to it though.

either way,

enjoy!

Spiral
 
Tourist or not they did a nice job on the handle and bolster. It would be fun to etch that one and see how they hardened the blade.

I have a tourist "patan newari" spcicial, a little bilton with coins on the scabbard. One of the coins was missing (replaced with a Chinese coin) so I got it cheap. A couple of folks have pointed out that they are sold very cheaply in Nepal, but I'm not in Nepal and the price was very fair for what I paid. The knife blade has no decorations, but the handle does, and it is obvious that a lot of effort went into it. The bottom line is that for a little 9" OAL knife it has a lot of beauty and is well done and cuts very well.

Many of the BAS/BSI line are also tourists of a sort, and are widely sold, but many of them still do great work. Like Spiral said, whatever works for you.

Welcome and hang around a while and compare your knives to some of the specials Yangdu puts up here, and see if anything appeals to you. Once you get an HI knife and compare it to the ones you have, you may get a better idea of some of the nuances of construction you may have missed so far.

Regards,

Norm
 
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