Hello everyone,
I used to hang around here at the cantina and was known by a different handle then but now I only drop in on occasion to see how things are going. The following is a copy of an e-mail I sent to Uncle Bill a little while back and I am now posting here at his request.
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Hi Uncle Bill,
I just got back on-line this week after taking a lay off from the internet and life in general due to some health problems. At the age of 37 my heart has decided to start giving me problems. Nothing serious just some warnings.
But that is not what this is about. Like I said, I just got back on line and I went by to visit the cantina. I read about the recent blade failures and the problems in Nepal. Rough times but here is a little good news. I decided to go out and test ALL my khuks on the toughest wood I could find and not a single one failed.
The test "subject" was a large branch from a maple tree, which had been taken down by the power company and left by the road side. The section I used was about four feet long and 10 inches in diameter at thickest, with some various size branch stubs sticking out all over it, up to eight inches in length and inch and a half thick. It has been laying out there for awhile and was pretty well dried out. This stuff is TOUGH!! The blades were bouncing off at times! The khuks in question are as follows;
21" Chitlangi by Bura
21" GS by Kesar
18" WWII by Sher I think, or maybe Kesar. It was bought when they changed marks.
Malla by KNN (large flame over butter lamp mark)
18" Sirupati by KNN (feather-like flame over butter lamp mark)
18" GS by Bura
16.5" WWII by Sanu
16.5" Chiruwa AK by Sanu
15 " AK by The Unknown Kami. Blade has no marks on it other than the sword of shiva. I believe at the time you offered it as a PGA you said it was probably from Sanu. Personally I think it is from Kesar but who am I to say?
Now the results.
21" Chitlangi- I've never used this blade until now and was a little afraid of what would happen since it has such a thin edge. And I do mean thin, as in straight razor thin. I figured that if any of them would fail this would be the one.
Not a chance. It bit deep and chunks flew and the edge never rolled, waved, chipped or lost it's edge no matter how hard I hit that wood. Great perfomer! Bura indeed knows how to make a thin blade!
21" GS- This one suprised me. Out of all my khuks this is the best chopper. If I am not mistaken, Kesar made this one on the heavy side and boy can it cut. Very controllable and it lent itself to smooth, powerful swings. The Chitlangi is lighter and faster but the GS is a deeper cutter. Very nice.
18" WWII- This was my first khuk and still my favorite. Somthing a little magical about this one I think. I've used it before but not on anything so tough. It performed as expected and is still my favorite. This one has a wood handle which I've sanded down and reshaped. It very much resembles an M43 handle now and feels good. I'll have to get an M43 someday for actual side by side comparison.
18" Sirupati- This one did well with no edge damage at all. Seemed to have trouble with this wood though and bounced off several times. Not bad but not as impressive as others.
Malla- This blade is one I've been unsure about. I call it the "Ugly Stick". It has, without a doubt, some of the ugliest wood for it's handle I've ever seen. I don't think even Wal could do anything with it. I've also patina'd the blade a dark, stormy gray.
It did however perfom well, taking no edge damage whatsoever. It tended to twist in my hand more than the others and I'm not sure if that was due to the blade design or my technique. Edge retention was admirable, especially considering that I really tried to punish this blade more than others.
18" GS- Wow. This one is great! A real light weight compared to the others but a real performer! I don't even have this one sharpend up to the degree I've done the others but it still cut very, very well. I've also done the handle on this one M43 style and it has very beautiful burls in the wood. I LIKE THIS BLADE! It could become my favorite but something tells me it will be passing to other hands soon. I don't know who but I get the feeling when I hold it that it is still looking for it's real master and that I am only it's interim caretaker.
16.5" WWII- I was a little worried that this one fail the test since it had a bent tip (I straghtend it out) when it arrived. Once again my fears were quickly put to rest. It did very well, though it did tend to bind in the wood more than others. Good, solid, tough blade and it held it's edge very well.
16.5" Chiruwa AK- I once called this blade "implacable" and "grim" on the forum. I swear the damn thing tried to bite me as I took it out of it's sheath to put it to work! It did perform really well though, sending chunks of wood flying up to 30 feet away and biting a good inch and a half into the wood with a heavy swing. Yeah! A very, very close second to the 21" GS in chopping power and still razor sharp.
15" AK- The magical mystery khuk! This little guy is one I had no doubts about. It bounced off that tough, old maple a few times but it got it's cuts in too. This khuk has the smallest handle of all and it was a bit uncomfortable in my big hands but I quickley found the best grip and there was no problem. Great little blade which performs with nary a whimper.
So there is some good news for you Uncle. Nine blades and no chipped edges, no rolled edges, no waves, no problems! All blades were purchased within the last two months (since the end of FEB.). I know these aren't the most informative of field tests but I wanted to keep it short and to the point for you. My prayers are with you and everyone at Bir Ghorka, take care and hang in there.
Sincerely,
Cole S.
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So there you are. I did do some editing so this isn't exacly what I sent Uncle but it's close enough. One other note. There is another khuk which I have purchased which went to my brother down in Utah as a birthday gift. He says it's great and performs like a champ and that I've made him the envy of his friends. Many thanks to you Uncle Bill, your wife, Palla, the kamis and sarkis and everyone that makes Himalyan Imports and Bir Ghorka what it is.
That's all folks.
Cole
I used to hang around here at the cantina and was known by a different handle then but now I only drop in on occasion to see how things are going. The following is a copy of an e-mail I sent to Uncle Bill a little while back and I am now posting here at his request.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi Uncle Bill,
I just got back on-line this week after taking a lay off from the internet and life in general due to some health problems. At the age of 37 my heart has decided to start giving me problems. Nothing serious just some warnings.
But that is not what this is about. Like I said, I just got back on line and I went by to visit the cantina. I read about the recent blade failures and the problems in Nepal. Rough times but here is a little good news. I decided to go out and test ALL my khuks on the toughest wood I could find and not a single one failed.
The test "subject" was a large branch from a maple tree, which had been taken down by the power company and left by the road side. The section I used was about four feet long and 10 inches in diameter at thickest, with some various size branch stubs sticking out all over it, up to eight inches in length and inch and a half thick. It has been laying out there for awhile and was pretty well dried out. This stuff is TOUGH!! The blades were bouncing off at times! The khuks in question are as follows;
21" Chitlangi by Bura
21" GS by Kesar
18" WWII by Sher I think, or maybe Kesar. It was bought when they changed marks.
Malla by KNN (large flame over butter lamp mark)
18" Sirupati by KNN (feather-like flame over butter lamp mark)
18" GS by Bura
16.5" WWII by Sanu
16.5" Chiruwa AK by Sanu
15 " AK by The Unknown Kami. Blade has no marks on it other than the sword of shiva. I believe at the time you offered it as a PGA you said it was probably from Sanu. Personally I think it is from Kesar but who am I to say?
Now the results.
21" Chitlangi- I've never used this blade until now and was a little afraid of what would happen since it has such a thin edge. And I do mean thin, as in straight razor thin. I figured that if any of them would fail this would be the one.
Not a chance. It bit deep and chunks flew and the edge never rolled, waved, chipped or lost it's edge no matter how hard I hit that wood. Great perfomer! Bura indeed knows how to make a thin blade!
21" GS- This one suprised me. Out of all my khuks this is the best chopper. If I am not mistaken, Kesar made this one on the heavy side and boy can it cut. Very controllable and it lent itself to smooth, powerful swings. The Chitlangi is lighter and faster but the GS is a deeper cutter. Very nice.
18" WWII- This was my first khuk and still my favorite. Somthing a little magical about this one I think. I've used it before but not on anything so tough. It performed as expected and is still my favorite. This one has a wood handle which I've sanded down and reshaped. It very much resembles an M43 handle now and feels good. I'll have to get an M43 someday for actual side by side comparison.
18" Sirupati- This one did well with no edge damage at all. Seemed to have trouble with this wood though and bounced off several times. Not bad but not as impressive as others.
Malla- This blade is one I've been unsure about. I call it the "Ugly Stick". It has, without a doubt, some of the ugliest wood for it's handle I've ever seen. I don't think even Wal could do anything with it. I've also patina'd the blade a dark, stormy gray.
It did however perfom well, taking no edge damage whatsoever. It tended to twist in my hand more than the others and I'm not sure if that was due to the blade design or my technique. Edge retention was admirable, especially considering that I really tried to punish this blade more than others.
18" GS- Wow. This one is great! A real light weight compared to the others but a real performer! I don't even have this one sharpend up to the degree I've done the others but it still cut very, very well. I've also done the handle on this one M43 style and it has very beautiful burls in the wood. I LIKE THIS BLADE! It could become my favorite but something tells me it will be passing to other hands soon. I don't know who but I get the feeling when I hold it that it is still looking for it's real master and that I am only it's interim caretaker.
16.5" WWII- I was a little worried that this one fail the test since it had a bent tip (I straghtend it out) when it arrived. Once again my fears were quickly put to rest. It did very well, though it did tend to bind in the wood more than others. Good, solid, tough blade and it held it's edge very well.
16.5" Chiruwa AK- I once called this blade "implacable" and "grim" on the forum. I swear the damn thing tried to bite me as I took it out of it's sheath to put it to work! It did perform really well though, sending chunks of wood flying up to 30 feet away and biting a good inch and a half into the wood with a heavy swing. Yeah! A very, very close second to the 21" GS in chopping power and still razor sharp.
15" AK- The magical mystery khuk! This little guy is one I had no doubts about. It bounced off that tough, old maple a few times but it got it's cuts in too. This khuk has the smallest handle of all and it was a bit uncomfortable in my big hands but I quickley found the best grip and there was no problem. Great little blade which performs with nary a whimper.
So there is some good news for you Uncle. Nine blades and no chipped edges, no rolled edges, no waves, no problems! All blades were purchased within the last two months (since the end of FEB.). I know these aren't the most informative of field tests but I wanted to keep it short and to the point for you. My prayers are with you and everyone at Bir Ghorka, take care and hang in there.
Sincerely,
Cole S.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
So there you are. I did do some editing so this isn't exacly what I sent Uncle but it's close enough. One other note. There is another khuk which I have purchased which went to my brother down in Utah as a birthday gift. He says it's great and performs like a champ and that I've made him the envy of his friends. Many thanks to you Uncle Bill, your wife, Palla, the kamis and sarkis and everyone that makes Himalyan Imports and Bir Ghorka what it is.
That's all folks.
Cole
