SO...How did you meet Uncle?

C

Cuttin' Craig

Joined
Jun 9, 2001
Messages
346
Like I said in a reply to the Nighttime Khuk test, I ran into James "Mike" Standeford today. We had a great and lively discussion about Khuks and future plans. What's neat about Mike is the fact that he intro'd me to Uncle Bill and allowed me to take his beloved 18" WWII by Sanu home to test out. A pretty trusting and bold step on his part, but that allowed me to see how great a Khuk could be.

In my youth I fell victim to a crappy $18 government contract Khukuri. Yeah, I can hear the groans. I thought this to be a true representation of the genre. The field trip Mike's WWII took to my house changed my opinion immediately ( If not faster )

In our dicussion today I asked Mike if he thought a " How'dya meet Uncle Bill" thread might bring some interesting replies from the forum.
SO, How did You meet Uncle???

-Craig
 
A few years ago I ordered the HI brochure. When I saw that he had a website I took a look, saw the forum, and the rest is history.

Bob
 
Same deal. Saw an advertisement in one of the magazines, sent away for the brochure, and drooled awhile and forgot it. Then saw the site on the old KF. Spent the next five days reading every last thread, and posted the sixth day. ( And on the seventh day I rested. )

A week or two later I called Uncle on the phone one Monday, and went from zero khuks that day to one on Tuesday, called and ordered two more on Wednesday, and had three khuks in my sweaty little hands by Thursday afternoon.

Followed the forum to BF in 3/99, and ended up filling in while he and Yangdu went to Nepal and then came back just in time for Uncle to have a heart attack. Then back to the hospital for an infected leg where they took out the graft.

Danged if I remember when we actually met. But Uncle seems to draw good ( if weird ) people and pretty soon I observed the HI forum reminded me of the Cantina scene in Star Wars.

It obviously deteriorated from there.
 
I had seen the Himalayan Imports ad in Blades and thought I would check things out here.
When I saw the ads I thought, "yeah that's got to be some kind of kukri like the government issue I had bought and I'm not falling for that again!!!!"
Then when I 1st came into the forum I lurked for a while and read all the back posts.
When I saw the results of HIKV and the fact that about 80% or so of the buyers were repeat customers that made a Real Impression on me.
But the biggest impression was the way Uncle Bill treated All the people here.
Uncle Bill's absolute fairness and willingness to help even those who sometimes thought they knew more than he did about khukuris cinched it for me.

I had to have an H.I.Khukuri and like all the other people new to the forum asked the famous, "What khukuri should I get?"
question.:)
And back then Uncle Bill almost always recommended the 15" AK and he shipped one out to me without any payment which further impressed
me.
I had pretty much made up my mind at that time to get an 18" AK and when I got the 15" I gave it to my sweet wife and immediately ordered an 18" AK.
The 15" AK just wasn't what I thought a khukuri should be like. The 18" AK fullfiled a long time dream.
The rest is history as "they" say. :D

And after many, many e-mails Uncle Bill, also of some Cherokee heritage, and myself decided that we were indeed Brothers and that's the way it is and has been since.:D

Barb and me finally got to meet Uncle Bill and several other forumites in person at the Reno Khonvention at Reno last year.
That further confirmed our relationship.
There is no difference when you meet the people in person as they are the same as they are here. What you see is what you get. :)
Barb had a time of her life there as did I. And Barb was deeply impressed with the others there.
I have heard of the comaraderie of knife folks and was impressed with the demeanor of everyone there.
There was good talk, drink, fellowship and all because of
Uncle Bill.
Uncle Bill has brought a group of people together that is very unusual in this day and age.
This group reminds me of people back in the 40's and 50's when everyone you met was a friend.
And I'm not alone in missing those days.

No doubt more than you asked or wanted to know. It's just because of the fondness we all have for Uncle Bill that makes us brag on him so much.:D
 
Well Craig I don't have as long a history as some with Uncle Bill but I feel like I do. He has been nothing but a true gentleman and friend since my first encounter with HI, and that is on the endangered species list when you consider that I was just going to buy a mail order Khukuri. I had read three articles in Tactical Knives mags on Khukuris. Two on HI kuks and one on Ghurka House kuks. I went on the web back and forth was almost ready to buy a Ghurka House blade and my little voice said not to, so I read thru the articles one more time, called Uncle Bill on the phone, talked with him a few minutes and realized I had come to the right place and ordered a 18" WW II. After I received my first kuk I knew I NEEDED another. But couldn't find one that talked to me in the standard models. I called Uncle up he suggested the forum, saw a Gelbu Special with a standard cho by Bura, that sold in a milli second. I called up Uncle again, crushed that I had missed THE kuk, but Uncle comforted me and said OH, no problem we can make you one! My second kuk in less than one month and a forumite with a recent case of HIKV, its GREAT. The other thing that really attracted me was why HI was started and what it is accomplishing for the Kamis and other folks in Nepal. That one fact told me a whole story about Uncle and that I wanted to be part of it in some small way.
 
I met Uncle Bill and the rest of you kind souls right here in the Cantina. I look forward to the day I can meet you all in person.
 
I follwed Yvsa home one day - we'd been out chasing sticks -and Uncle Bill tossed me a JKM-1. Been hangin' around the kitchen door ever since :D
 
I appreciate the feedback so far, Keep it coming. Yvsa-- fear not! That isn't more information than I wanted to know. That is the type of info I was looking for. It's great to hear the details of how your kinship with Uncle evolved.

I agree with your statement about Uncle's fairness and willingness to help. In this era of customer "dis"service, his approach is like a breath of fresh air. His way of doing business brings about loyal patrons and keeps us! Don't let Uncle know I'm braggin' on him like this-- he might get the big head!!;) :D

Keep up the good feedback, I'm interested to hear from everyone! :D

-Craig
 
My good buddy and cyberpal Brian Caffrey told me in no uncertain terms that I needed to explore the HI forum and get me a khukuri or two. That was about a year and a half and 14 HI offerings ago.

The same day Brian "lured" me on to the site I called Uncle Bill and asked if he had a blem BAS available, which he did, and two days later it was in my hands. It's been riding shotgun with me in my government vehicle ever since.

Since that day I've had many phone and email conversations with our esteemed uncle, and had the pleasure of meeting him and some of our other brethren at the Florida Konvention earlier this year.

Looking forward to the next opportunity to do so again.

The Cantina has been responsible for the birth and nurturing of some good friendships.
 
I first met Uncle on the phone about 2 yrs back? I was ordering my first khukuri--20" AK. I was amazed when he said "it'll ship tomorrow and just send a check when you get a chance"! I actually argued with him and said "are you sure? don't you want my credit card #?!?!" I was not used to that level of trust and old fashioned great customer service/respect. Then I started posting on the forums. Most of my early posts were gushing about my 1st blade,(which still has a special place in my heart). I was in a panic the first time plant juices stained the blade and asked everyone how I could bring my magnificent blade back to its shiny newness--to my surprise Uncle said "don't bother", and so did alot of other more knowledgeable regulars:) Well, being a hardheaded know it all like I was back then (just out of college and very, very smart--Ha Ha:rolleyes: )I went out and bought some Flitz and polished it back up after each use and finally understood that as usual, Uncle and Yvsa, Rusty, Harry, Ray, et al, were right!:o :D
Uncle Bill is one of the good guys. I absolutely must change my plane tickets so as to finally meet him in person. As Yvsa has said, and I second, "you have no idea how much this forum has/does mean to me":) And the reason it is like this, and the crowd that is here, is here--is because of Uncle Bill. Well, Sorry for rambling on, but sometimes you just need to tell people how you feel--as much for them to hear it, as it is important for me to say it.
 
When I was in school (Ohio University) one gentlemen showed me a 20"sirupati and told me a little about our Uncle. I was in awe of that knife.
I had read many aricles about the khukri in magazines (SOF was a big part of that) and books. One day while I was at work I had a little time on the computer and I found the HI website. what a trip! I have been in love with these knives ever since.

Thanks for all the great times and great knives Uncle!

-Matt
 
It seems I have known Bill for many lifetimes.

It gets kind of foggy. When did we meet? I can't quite remember.
 
I also found Uncle Bill in a 1993 Blade Mag. I gave him a call and ordered a 9 inch Dahnkuta and the rest is just history!!!!
 
I made first contact with Uncle Bill almost 2 years ago, thanks in part to the infamous Kysa(that is a story in itself!:eek: ) It was a few days before Uncle Bill's birthday and my first khukuri was a 15 inch Ang Khola. I joined the UBDOTD feeding frenzies right after that...;) :p :D :cool:

It has and continues to be a pleasure to hang out with the inhabitants of Uncle Bill's Mutant Khukuri Cantina.:D :D :D :D
 
Met Bill about 30 years ago while wandering the desert. We were both on a spiritual journey, although we didn't know it at the time. We had been brought together by Karmic forces, but we didn't know that either.

Our paths have crossed many times over the years and we both beleive we have learned something about Karma and the Spiritual Reality, but we won't know for sure until the journey is over. Maybe not even then. Maybe the journey never ends.

In the meantime one foot in front of the other keeps us on the path.
 
Met Bill at the Fl. Konv. Had my hands full trying to keep Blues out of tbl(full time job)!I WAS BODYGARDING BLUES EACH TIME HE WENT FOR BEER! All the barmaids & women wanted him, you would have thought he was a movie star! Bill is great
JIM!
 
I have never really "met" Uncle, I speak with him all the time over e-mail, but I have never called or spoken with him. (I prefer free forms of communication because every penny counts when you are in college and prefer the company of large knives with lots of curves ;) ) I look forward to going to the Catoosa Konvention and meeting Uncle face to face for the first time.

I ran upon HI through the FAQ pages that Howard Wallace has posted (Which is a must read if you have not!!!). I was researching Alexander the Great and the spread of Helenistic ideas for a religion class and remembered the Khukri and how it was somehow related to Greek weaponry. The rest really is history.

After telling Uncle that I was saving for one of his many kuks he offered me a 20" Kobra after I explained that I was in martial arts. I have been hooked ever since, HIKV from day one.

By the way, that Kobra is now officially my fathers. After using it to clear some brush he decided that he wasn't going to give it back without a fight.;)

Bottom line is great knives and even better customer service! :D
 
I first "met" Uncle Bill about three years ago. I had seen HI khuks mentioned several times over on Sword Forum. One of the sword makers posted his impressions (favorable) of of an HI WWII he had received in a trade. After that I checked out the HI website, which in turn led me to this forum.

After watching the forum for a couple of months, I e-mailed Bill about pricing of a 16.5 WWII. That was when HI had shop 1 and shop 2. As I recall the price for a shop 1 was $175, and a shop 2 was $125. I opted for a shop 2 after Bill explained the differences. Bill didn't have any shop 2's in stock, so he offered me a shop 1 at the shop 2 price. Of course I accepted.

Like others, I was impressed with how Bill does business. Like someone else mentioned, he sent the khuk before receiving my check. It goes without saying that I ended up with more than one khuk. :)
 
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