Recommended model for dog walker and yardworker

S

stonefrog

Joined
Dec 20, 2023
Messages
61
Hi everyone!

Just a quick question for y’all, and of course anyone at Kailash Blades. I’m looking to purchase my first model and principally what attracted me to khukuris in the first place is their versatility as both a bush tool and also a weapon.

I hope to never use one against another human, but I will say my area has some feral dog and bobcat problems lately, and given I walk a 14lb chihuahua mix with a pink collar multiple times a day, I’m basically walking a rotisserie chicken around an increasing number of feral beasts. I have pepper spray but there was one incident that was close enough to warrant stitches on my face.

In short: What model would you recommend to double-duty for around the house yard work such as splitting kindling and also serving as last-ditch wild pitbull/bobcat defensive weapon? Length is kind of an issue because I wouldn’t want to walk around with an 18” sirupate, so I think the 9-12” blade range would be perfect for me. The kindling that I split would also tend to be seasoned oak, so I am thinking of more a standard grind than performance just to keep the edge intact.

Personally, I am leaning towards either the HSI or 11” Mk-1. I am eager to hear everyone else’s recommendations! Thanks!
 
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Hmmm ... I am thinking I wouldn't want any knife for protection from a wild animal with 10x my quickness and reflexes. This is a cheap option that would provide a heckuvallot more safety: https://www.taurususa.com/product/r...-poly-45-colt-410-bore-black-polymer-2-50-in/
load it up with .410 for a better pattern.

We are out in the country and "had" coyote issues - the neighbor got a pair of these pups.
caucasian-shepherd-dog-329b2640-f9f6-4fd3-a3d4-da65b52d465-resize-750.jpg
He lets them roam at night ... haven't seen a coyote since. I'd think a bobcat would taste relatively close to a coyote. Get your chihuahua a new buddy and I'll bet you won't have further issue.
 
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Ohhh trust me I’ve thought of all those options. And I agree, tangoing with a wild animal with only a knife (albeit a hefty chopper) is one of the last things on my bucket list to do.

For one, for the time being, I live in a state where CCW’s are scarcely provided and open carry of firearms are disallowed, but big knives are gtg. Trust me, if I could carry my SP101 I would. Second, we live in the worst of both worlds area of being rural enough to get wild animal problems but still populated enough to have neighborhood watch, so brandishing a gun in spite of laws would go very badly. Last, as dearly as I would live a 15-stone Irish wolfhound as my companion, it’s not in our cards due to our limited backyard space and cramped living conditions.

Now I do have a walking stick, but truthfully managing a leash already occupies one hand. A more compact and wieldy option for single handed use (IE a khukuri) would be more optimal.

This is all assuming for whatever reason my pepper spray is either ineffective or unavailable.

So I get your point totally, and in spite of the odds I still apply for my CCW, but for the here and now I’d still like to know if there is a good option that Kailash offers for this sort of thing. If nothing else, what model would be good as a compact kindling splitter for a woodstove?
 
stonefrog said:
Hi everyone!

Just a quick question for y’all, and of course anyone at Kailash Blades. I’m looking to purchase my first model and principally what attracted me to khukuris in the first place is their versatility as both a bush tool and also a weapon.

I hope to never use one against another human, but I will say my area has some feral dog and bobcat problems lately, and given I walk a 14lb chihuahua mix with a pink collar multiple times a day, I’m basically walking a rotisserie chicken around an increasing number of feral beasts. I have pepper spray but there was one incident that was close enough to warrant stitches on my face.

In short: What model would you recommend to double-duty for around the house yard work such as splitting kindling and also serving as last-ditch wild pitbull/bobcat defensive weapon? Length is kind of an issue because I wouldn’t want to walk around with an 18” sirupate, so I think the 9-12” blade range would be perfect for me. The kindling that I split would also tend to be seasoned oak, so I am thinking of more a standard grind than performance just to keep the edge intact.

Personally, I am leaning towards either the HSI or 11” Mk-1. I am eager to hear everyone else’s recommendations! Thanks!
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Hey there! For defence purposes, it's pretty hard to find a khukuri of ours that won't do a good job. The same traits that make them good as brush clearing and wood chopping tools, also make them good as weapons. The traits that tend to separate the better defence blades from the worse defence blades is longer reach to provide distance between yourself and your target, faster blade speeds with more nimble handling and in some cases, a more effective tip.

I'm glad you're being realistic about the effectiveness of a blade in such a situation- that it's a last ditch weapon after your primary tools (spray but most importantly good decision making) have failed you. I know that at least a few times a year, I get an email from someone wanting to buy a khukuri as defence against a bear. What I tell them is that while you'd rather have a khukuri than a hunting knife and rather have a hunting knife than nothing your chances of making it out alive probably aren't going to change much regardless. While bears are an extreme example we have issues with wild dogs in Australia too. While the khukuri definitely helps tip the odds against a dog it's generally not the dog you're pointing the knife at that you have to worry about- it's the two coming up behind you. As a result despite a trend of people carrying machetes for the job the best move is typically recognising the situation early and climbing a tree to wait it out- it has always worked well for goannas haha. With this said though you'll be happy to have something serious on your belt both in the worst case scenario but also to help give peace of mind the majority of the time when thins aren't going wrong.

For defence you'll be best suited by the longest, fastest blade you can. 12" chitlange, 12" mutiny, 12" sirupate would be top of the list here. Maybe stretch length a touch for an m43 martial or pensioner.
For chopping and splitting you'd probably be better off with a little extra beef than an 11.5" HSI. 11" mk1, 10" falo (more control for finer tasts) or 12" falo (more chopping power) would be top of the list and will all do an amazing job.
But for both? 12" rat tail sirupate, a custom spine thickness 12" mutiny, 13" pensioner and a 12" falo (unmodified if you're particularly strong, slimmed down a touch like this for a little more speed if you're a normal build). I also have an unreleased 11" option that's halfway between the scourge and the falo if that appeals (email me for more info if needed). I would consider a sharpened back edge portion to help with penetration on these but this will make batoning less efficient.

Take care,
Andrew and the team at Kailash
 
Kailash Blades said:
Hey there! For defence purposes, it's pretty hard to find a khukuri of ours that won't do a good job. The same traits that make them good as brush clearing and wood chopping tools, also make them good as weapons. The traits that tend to separate the better defence blades from the worse defence blades is longer reach to provide distance between yourself and your target, faster blade speeds with more nimble handling and in some cases, a more effective tip.

I'm glad you're being realistic about the effectiveness of a blade in such a situation- that it's a last ditch weapon after your primary tools (spray but most importantly good decision making) have failed you. I know that at least a few times a year, I get an email from someone wanting to buy a khukuri as defence against a bear. What I tell them is that while you'd rather have a khukuri than a hunting knife and rather have a hunting knife than nothing your chances of making it out alive probably aren't going to change much regardless. While bears are an extreme example we have issues with wild dogs in Australia too. While the khukuri definitely helps tip the odds against a dog it's generally not the dog you're pointing the knife at that you have to worry about- it's the two coming up behind you. As a result despite a trend of people carrying machetes for the job the best move is typically recognising the situation early and climbing a tree to wait it out- it has always worked well for goannas haha. With this said though you'll be happy to have something serious on your belt both in the worst case scenario but also to help give peace of mind the majority of the time when thins aren't going wrong.

For defence you'll be best suited by the longest, fastest blade you can. 12" chitlange, 12" mutiny, 12" sirupate would be top of the list here. Maybe stretch length a touch for an m43 martial or pensioner.
For chopping and splitting you'd probably be better off with a little extra beef than an 11.5" HSI. 11" mk1, 10" falo (more control for finer tasts) or 12" falo (more chopping power) would be top of the list and will all do an amazing job.
But for both? 12" rat tail sirupate, a custom spine thickness 12" mutiny, 13" pensioner and a 12" falo (unmodified if you're particularly strong, slimmed down a touch like this for a little more speed if you're a normal build). I also have an unreleased 11" option that's halfway between the scourge and the falo if that appeals (email me for more info if needed). I would consider a sharpened back edge portion to help with penetration on these but this will make batoning less efficient.

Take care,
Andrew and the team at Kailash
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Dang, what a speedy reply! I very much appreciate your input.

I do have two questions before I pull the trigger. For one, what would make a Sirupate style good for an inbetweener that could also do chopping? Would it be the more obtuse edge angle and relatively high tip speed? I have several khukuris from different manufacturers (mainly Himalayan Imports) and trend towards the larger fish-belly models than the straighter ones, so I’d love to hear the mechanics from your point of view.

Additionally, on those models Kailash has with bigger bellies like the Mk-1 and Falo, would a performance grind still be durable enough to split seasoned dry oak? Given you live down under I trust you understand hardwoods better than someone from a more northern climate where softer evergreens dominate.

Chopping dead standing or already-cut wood is principally the type of yard work I intend to do, and it’d be much more convenient to already be wearing a dual-purpose tool than to take off and strap on one type of knife for another.

Again, thanks a lot for the input. You guys are top drawer!
 
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Generally, sirupates are a little longer, which means that they have mass that is further away from the handle. This means that despite often being a little lighter than their broader brothers and sisters, they have a similar maximum chopping power. I think the big difference though is in how you reach this chopping power. To get this peak chopping power from a sirupate, you need to use more energy and get the blade moving faster, including a strong amount of wrist flick at the end. On the contrary, a shorter and heavier blade, like a 13 inch MK1, is more of a slower and lower energy chopping style, which in some cases can be less tiring after a long day of use. You can imagine that gravity is helping you partially, and if you were chopping against a very solid target, then this slower, heavier blade will be able to deliver its power very efficiently, whereas it may struggle to move fast enough to cut through a flexible target before it bends out of the way.

Generally, I think that performance grinds are tough enough for any woodcutting task. However, I don't have any experience with frozen wood, and so I don't quite know where this lands. I have a feeling that it splits similarly to regular hardwood, but I think that the cross-cutting across the grain would be uniquely challenging. In my experience performance grinds show a significant difference when cutting very hard wood as thicker geometry can often "bounce out of the cut". I think if you have concerns about the durability of a performance grind, then the standard grind is not a bad option. It is still quite an efficient cutter, and provides a little bit of extra insurance for situations where you swing and maybe don't hit wood. For example, you over-swing into a rock or fencing. For me, though, all of my blades would be performance grind, except for a full tang knife that I am using for very rough tasks, and in this case, I would still probably only go to a standard. At the same time, though, I don't mind giving my edge a little repair once every few years.
 
Get real good proven bear spray if you can’t get a gun. You can’t defend yourself and your dog with a knife if a wild animal attacks. It’s just not going to happen.
 
It would not take much for you to turn a std grind into a performance grind, especially if you have a few diamond plates or a belt sander.

I'm always in the minority on this but I still like a finger guard added to a Khukuri. Most of us here grew up with finger guards. They may save fingers on a thrust. I realize a khukuri is a slashing, chopping blade. I have one with and one without and wish they both did. They can adjust the weight for you if you add one for balance.

What attracted me to these blades was the MK1. That was what I originally wanted even though it might have proven too heavy for me to handle. Many of us buy these, use them for a season and then move to something else. Get what you really want. It is wise to seek information before buying and also valuable in the long run for the tasks you want to put this through. If you are a big, strong guy, you could go heavier in a defensive blade which would make a great chopper. If not, you'd want lighter and faster. My guess is you are buying a chopper and a security blanket on your belt. I know. I once grabbed a machete for my belt when I thought we might be overrun in VN and have had big knives ever since.

Personally, I can't visualize a good outcome against multiple dogs with any knife. The best blade I could imagine in such a situation would be a lighter, faster combat knife that could slash and stab once these dogs got you down. While on your feet and trying to protect a small dog, you are pretty much toast without bear spray or a gun you are very good with.
 
For an effective "protection" from what you described - look at cold steel sjambok - it is a stout flexible weapon. With a little force will raise a welt - with more force - will impact them greatly- with more force will cut to the bone....I is quick to get into action and would take care of anything that you would run into.
take a look
 
Recce said:
For an effective "protection" from what you described - look at cold steel sjambok - it is a stout flexible weapon. With a little force will raise a welt - with more force - will impact them greatly- with more force will cut to the bone....I is quick to get into action and would take care of anything that you would run into.
take a look
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A sjambok and a M43 would be a sweet system.
 
A good stick is hard to beat, as well! There have been a number of cases where people have defended themselves and others from bear, mountain lion, even African lion, with only a small knife! It's ugly business, but better than fingernails and teeth. I haven't checked the M43 model, but it was created as a fighting blade in WWII. I have a original period M43 and, while the handle is too small, it's an incredible fighting khukuri. If the Kailash version is true to the original, it should work well. But, the catalog does show so many wonderful blades that you'd be hard pressed to find a bad one!
 
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