So you want brass handled khukuris. Pala has them at better prices than anybody.

Selling multi-value products is very tricky. If your sales base is very small then obviously they will know the difference and problems are few. However as your sales base grows all kinds of problems arise. What about if someone buys a production khukuri and gives it to a friend without telling the whole story. The friend could walk away thinking what he has is a full HI khukuri and it does not take much effort to realize the problems that could cause.

Cold Steel sells what they call factory seconds. These are basically knives that have been rejected because of a flaw. They are sold at a much reduced price -and- they have a stamp on the butt (I think its an S). This is a very obvious reminder to anyone buying them that this is not a full quality CS knife. If you are going to offer lower than HI khukuris then my advice is to mark them in a very obvious way so they would not be confused with the real thing. Both for the consumers benefit, and in the long term, yours.

-Cliff
 
Many thanks, Cliffji, for your good advice. You and others are convincing me to forget about the lower quality khukuris and stick to our HI khukuris and village models.

Personally, I have no interest in offering khukuris that I would not buy myself but I thought that by offering these rail common khukuris I might be able to reach customers that could not afford a top quality HI khukuri and if I made these khukuris in a second shop I would be able to hire some of the many kamis who come to me looking for work. Perhaps this is a good idea but one that will not work well.

Again, thanks to all for your very kind and much appreciated advice. A man who does not listen to his customers will not be in business very long.

And, Cliffji, many thanks for the wonderful effort you put into your testing. The honesty and completeness of your tests have helped us much and I personally thank you for this.

But I still have to sell these brass handled rail common khukuris. They are as good or better than anyone else offers. How much are they worth? Make an offer.

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Pala (Kami Sherpa)
Owner, Himalayan Imports
http://members.aol.com/himimp/index.html
 
Namaskar Pala,

I don't think there is anything wrong with hiring kamis to make "rail common" khurkris. I do believe that they need to be marked accordngly. While you may not find that a lot of your customers here will be interested in these knives I do feel that there is a market for them. You could use the 'rail common" shop as a scouting area for promising new kamis. Ghurka House sells lots of these types of khurkris so selling them should not be difficult, you may just have to target a different audience. Personally, I'm happy to pay more for the real thing!

Mike
 
Ghostsix has that pegged. Mike, the "scouting process" is best done through the village model and visiting kami programs. I think picking out good village blades will suffice for the modest amounts of "lower end business" HI gets.

The "visiting kami" blades are only a tiny step down from a full-tilt HI if that and broaden the selection nicely; I assume these are the primary "scouting system" in use. Mine is such a specimen and I'm just thrilled with it.

I just don't see dropping down below village level.

Jim
 
If it means dropping quality below that of the village blades then I must agree with you. That would be unacceptable. I guess I was envisioning more of a "village shop". If quality could be kept to the higher end village models then I still don't see a problem. More work for the kamis and more great khuks for us.

Mike
 
I concur wholeheatedly with Jim's thoughts.

The village models are some of the best cutlery deals available anywhere and are only surpassed in value for the dollar by the Shop2 khuks, IMHO.

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Clay Fleischer
clay_fleischer@yahoo.com
AKTI Member A000847

Specialization is for insects.
 
As for providing work that is always a good thing but speaking from personal experience I never liked low quality work. It is a very bad enviroment to work in, you do not look forward to the next day, there is no learning, no advancing.

Of course any work is better than none, but would it be possible to provide better materials / tools to these kamis and have them upgrade their product? Maybe if they knew there was a market for a higher grade of khukuri they would start to seek this out themselves?

-Cliff
 
Cliff, I'm just making some guesses here but:

Almost a year ago I started an "upgrade their tools" discussion on the old KFC HI forum. Bill talked about the problems such as graft and 400% taxes on the incoming power tools, combined with lack of reliable electricity.

Now it appears that they're actually doing it in Shop2. It can't be easy. For starters it means operating in what passes for a town over there
wink.gif
and that means higher costs, at least for the building. Out in the villages powering tools would mean a generator(?); even without the power problems, Pala has gone to extreme lengths just to semi-mechanize ONE shop, and by US standards it barely qualifies as "mechanized". Most US forge-method makers such as Bill Bagwell have power hammers and a slack-belt grinder for fine polishing, and god(s) only know(s) what else. Expanding Shop2 and/or adding another in-town shop would have to take priority over modernizing small village operations?

As is, each power tool is shared by at least two kamis, more if there's a breakdown. I think he mentioned four power-polishers/grinders, four hairblower forges, eight kamis plus the Royal kami (errr...sorry, I'm bad with names). You can only maximize tool use to that degree in town versus a village, I'd think because a village normally couldn't support that many kamis?

For the conditions involved, Shop2 is progressing *rapidly*. "Hairdryer powered forges" may sound stupid but it's a huge development over kids operating hand-powered blowers.

I think the best way to maximize Shop2 would be to raise the average value of the output, something I can only fully discuss with Bill and Pala in person.

Jim
 
Pala is almost convinced to abandon the rail common khukuri project. He has some more coming and is thinking about giving them away. He appreciates your advice since he is not a marketeer. It gives him a different perspective. Since these two brass handled do not want to seem to sell Pala is thinking the reason people buy from HI is because of the quality and great variety of khukuris offered -- and I for one think he is right.
But he is the boss.

------------------
Uncle Bill
Himalayan Imports Website
http://members.aol.com/himimp/index.html
 
Pala and Uncle Bill, I'll take both of those brass handled rail common khukris. Please check your email. Thanks Joe.
 
If Pala wants to give away the "rail common" khukuris, I know of a good cause....me!

I have friends who are (or will be) knife knuts...Seriously, a lower priced line of blades would benefit someone like me looking for gifts for friends who are outdoorsmen/knife nuts. I can't afford to buy top quality HI blades for everyone on my Christmas list!

Even if they are "rail common" blades, I am sure that if Pala has hand-selected them, they are much better than the tourist-type junk that is (mostly) seen in the knife market.

I am not totally in favor of HI permanently carryin a low price line, but I am in favor of Pala offering for sale the blades he has already purchased.

Just my 2 pieces of copper...


--Mike L.



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Real men ride Moto Guzzis!
 
Uncle Bill is the reason that HI`s sell.Pala has a different style.It is most interesting to see it unfold.

------------------
 
By all means sell what's already coming
smile.gif
. I've been talking about not spending future effort on that sort of thing...

Jim
 
Mike L. Your observations about these knives were the same as mine. I'm giving them away as gifts to a couple of good guys who enjoy hunting and fishing. One goes to my deer hunting friend who lives in the same town as I do. The other one, goes to my favorite brother in law who lives outside of Portland, Oregon, who took me fishing on the Columbia River for sturgeon. I caught a 44" sturgeon. Someone told me that that fish was a slow grower and about 22 yrs old. OAL divided by two gives rough age estimate. Is this true?

------------------

 
And that's one of the things that makes HI what it is Uncle. You guy do tell it like it is. I'm sure we all appreciate that. I know I do.
 
FWIW a lot of American knifemakers are using homemade forges with a hairdryer for a blower, usually with propane. It works.
smile.gif


-Cougar Allen :{)
 
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