Production kukris -what do you think of them?

I have a CS LTC and, although it has a khukuri shape, IMO it is more of a heavy machete than a true khukuri. While it is a nice knife, there are a few things that hold it back from having the chopping performance of a real khukuri. I haven't handled either of CS's other models but they do share some common characteristics:
[*] Checkered kraton handles on all CS models, while good for a number of applications, can quickly raise blisters when used for hard chopping.
[*] Blade thickness of 1/8" & weight of approximately 1 lb (LTC & Gurkha Light) can cause the blade to stick into the wood, rather than chipping it out, requiring more effort to complete the cut.

I found the LTC to be more effective than a small machete at cutting woody materials, such as limbing a downed tree, but it loses its effectiveness when used on thicker branches that can't be severed in a single blow. Although heavier, thicker, khukuris can also hang up occasionally, I am much more confident in freeing them with a quick movement perpendicular to the cut than I would be with the thinner blade. Also, each of my HI khukuris, even the smaller Sirupati models, are much better at splitting kindling than the LTC.

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Cheers,

--+Brian+--

I may be goin' to hell in a bucket, Babe, but at least I'm enjoyin' the ride.


 
Back around 90-91 sometime I broke a Cold Steel Kukri while hacking through a small bamboo forrest on Okinawa. The kukri started out rather sharp but it dulled quickly with lots of dings in the blade, then I got more violent with swinging into the thickets of bamboo. After about 5 min of hacking somehow I got it stuck into a clump and twisted/pulled to free the blade. After the blade was freed I continued to hack away for another min or so, upon stopping and looking at the blade again I noticed about a 2inch chunk of the tip was mising along with the blade being really chiped and dinged.

I've got no idea how the tip broke other than my abuseive hacking and chopping without paying attention to details.

Now I've got a GH WWIII on order and can't wait till it gets here.
 
I still tend to gravitate towards the traditional khukuri's. The handles are more durable and the geometry more suited for chopping with the traditional khukuri's. The traditional khukuri's probably have more lateral strength as well.

The CS Gurkha is probably the best of the production khukuri's.

Will
 
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