Kailash Blades
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
- Joined
- Nov 21, 2015
- Messages
- 1,056
When we first started Kailash we started with a bunch of standard offerings that we knew had been popular in the past, then over time we've been introducing some unique, highly refined khukuris slowly as we establish our style and reputation. First there was the Pensioner, then the Mutiny and now the Salyani.
This style of khukuri is the oldest there is and this is really where it all started for this blade style. The deeply curved, crescent shape makes this a Hanshee khukuri, or a Lambendh khukuri and is common to knives at this time. These blades were very lithe, fast and lethal with a serious bend to them that caused them to bite deep and grab into soft targets. Some examples had more of an agricultural lean to them, but for the most part these blades were weapons either carried by villagers daily or specifically during war or conflict. This specific blade is of a more ornate style from the province of Salyan and would also have functioned as a status symbol, with the engraving in the fuller (known as Butta), the carving on the handle and the fine smithing work all displaying the wealth and power of the user.
As it stands this knife is the lightest and fastest for it's size that we've ever made. Up to now a lot of our blades have had more of a utilitarian focus but we really wanted to offer up a martial arts khukuri for some of our more demanding and extreme khukuri fans.
With a blade length of 15.5" this blade weighs in at a meagre 415g- in comparison the 1970's british standard issue, a particularly revered fighting blade comes in at ~460g when 11.5" long. A 5mm spine at the bolster tapers down to 3mm nearing the end of the blade for a balance point that's 5" ahead of the bolster, meaning that while fast this knife has a great deal of power when you commit to a swing.
There were two main challenges with developing this knife. The first of which is the very lean and slender construction. Making a knife that's this thin and has such gradual taper over the entire length is a huge challenge for our blacksmiths, especially when you consider that this blade is hand forged down from 12mm stock. The second challenge is the handle design. While most khukuris have very similar handles nowadays, the handles from this period are longer and a lot more slender, meaning changes to processes that our smiths usually do on autopilot. At the time these knives were often used with two hands, which when you consider how small the handle is for a two handed blade gives you an idea of how small the nepalese men of that period must have been and how MASSIVE this knife would have been in comparison.
It wouldn't be fair to leave without mentioning the sheath here. The buffalo leather in this salyani style sheath isn't made in factories but is treated by hand in remote villages. The leather is soaked in a mixture of brine, lime, crushed roots and herbs for up to 4 weeks, while periodically being scrubbed, kneaded and rubbed with the villager’s feet. Finally it is removed and treated with mustard paste then given a final kneading and scrubbing process which goes on for hours. The end result is a supremely soft and supple leather, which has substantially increased longevity and resistance to rotting. It also has a beautiful mottled texture and can be imprinted with subtle traditional patterns as we've done with this sheath.
This knife has a lot of history attached to it, an amazing feel in hand and a great deal of craftmanship required to bring it into reality. All in all it's a blade we're very proud of.
If you've got any questions let us know.
Take care,
Andrew and the team at Kailash.
This style of khukuri is the oldest there is and this is really where it all started for this blade style. The deeply curved, crescent shape makes this a Hanshee khukuri, or a Lambendh khukuri and is common to knives at this time. These blades were very lithe, fast and lethal with a serious bend to them that caused them to bite deep and grab into soft targets. Some examples had more of an agricultural lean to them, but for the most part these blades were weapons either carried by villagers daily or specifically during war or conflict. This specific blade is of a more ornate style from the province of Salyan and would also have functioned as a status symbol, with the engraving in the fuller (known as Butta), the carving on the handle and the fine smithing work all displaying the wealth and power of the user.
As it stands this knife is the lightest and fastest for it's size that we've ever made. Up to now a lot of our blades have had more of a utilitarian focus but we really wanted to offer up a martial arts khukuri for some of our more demanding and extreme khukuri fans.
With a blade length of 15.5" this blade weighs in at a meagre 415g- in comparison the 1970's british standard issue, a particularly revered fighting blade comes in at ~460g when 11.5" long. A 5mm spine at the bolster tapers down to 3mm nearing the end of the blade for a balance point that's 5" ahead of the bolster, meaning that while fast this knife has a great deal of power when you commit to a swing.
There were two main challenges with developing this knife. The first of which is the very lean and slender construction. Making a knife that's this thin and has such gradual taper over the entire length is a huge challenge for our blacksmiths, especially when you consider that this blade is hand forged down from 12mm stock. The second challenge is the handle design. While most khukuris have very similar handles nowadays, the handles from this period are longer and a lot more slender, meaning changes to processes that our smiths usually do on autopilot. At the time these knives were often used with two hands, which when you consider how small the handle is for a two handed blade gives you an idea of how small the nepalese men of that period must have been and how MASSIVE this knife would have been in comparison.
It wouldn't be fair to leave without mentioning the sheath here. The buffalo leather in this salyani style sheath isn't made in factories but is treated by hand in remote villages. The leather is soaked in a mixture of brine, lime, crushed roots and herbs for up to 4 weeks, while periodically being scrubbed, kneaded and rubbed with the villager’s feet. Finally it is removed and treated with mustard paste then given a final kneading and scrubbing process which goes on for hours. The end result is a supremely soft and supple leather, which has substantially increased longevity and resistance to rotting. It also has a beautiful mottled texture and can be imprinted with subtle traditional patterns as we've done with this sheath.
This knife has a lot of history attached to it, an amazing feel in hand and a great deal of craftmanship required to bring it into reality. All in all it's a blade we're very proud of.
If you've got any questions let us know.
Take care,
Andrew and the team at Kailash.
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Please show more of the sheath too. The sheath is so often a perfunctory effort but this one looks worthy of its noble charge.
