When I was little, my mom used to read me some stories out of books. One story I recall was about a sheepdog called Black Bob. So when I received some kind answers to my question in this forum, one of the contributors became Black Bob in my twisted mind. So the other contributor with a similar name became...(you guessed it!)..Big Dog!
I wish to convey my sincerest thanks to Black Dog, Big Bob and Chris22 for their answers to my question. I now have a clear picture of what was to me the SN1/Ceremonial controversy. I wish I could personally meet you guys and view your khuk collections.
I have one other problem, which I sincerely hope you can help me with. First of all let me state that I was happy to learn that Khukuri House in Nepal is the official khukuri knife suppliers to the British and Nepal Ghurka regiments. It says so on one of their pamphlets. So, if this is true, it means an SN1 or SN1 Ceremonial that I get from these guys, are exactly the same as those made for the regiments. Which brings me to the problem. My Ceremonial has got Nepal and 1999" stamped on the blade. What does this mean? I was told a newly recruited soldier gets his khukuri with his year date of recruitment stamped on it. I assumed that to mean he cant get one stamped for the previous year, or any other year. So Khukuri House surely has to be notified before manufacture of the number of khukuris required by the regiments for any specific year. If I understand the process correctly, the name and number has to be stamped on the blade before tempering! How is this done? On the other hand, if it is not true that they work excusively on the year of recruitment, it means a recruit can get a khukuri issued to him with any year on it, maybe last years date, or one issued ten years ago with 1989 on it, which might have been recalled and re-issued. That means if you take a regiment of Gurkhas and inspect their SN1's youd get a motley assortment of year dates! This information is of relevance IF my khukuri is original, which I now believe it to be. If mine was made especially for the tourist trade, the year date stamp could have token significance only. Then questions such as mine would be irrelevant. So this is why I ask.
Then we come to the Nepal bit. I was told the blade gets Nepal on it if the recruit is from Nepal itself. So this brings up the same problem of demand and supply. It also means that the khukuri in question cannot be recalled and re-issued to anyone but a soldier from Nepal itself. It also raised the question, which other country of origen could be stamped on the blades. To make the problem worse, how can the regiments know beforehand how many Nepals and other country stamps must be ordered from Khukuri House?.
Am I missing something here? Please do try to get me out of my muddle!
