Sometimes you learn painful and expensive lessons

HiramRanger

HiramRanger

Joined
Mar 3, 2008
Messages
456
Well before I found HI and contracted HIKV I placed an order with another company, that was late February/early March. Said company had a slick website, and decent word of mouth in the firearms community, so I took a chance. I got suckered in with some buy 1 get 1 free offers, and then their buyer's club which gives a discount. Their prices were low, but their shipping was high. I figured it balanced out in the end, so I placed an order for around $250 in items shipped. Then I started hanging around here and had momentary sticker shock. How could THESE khuks cost 3-4 times MORE? Shipping was included, but come on! I did catch on to the Deal of the Day, which took the initial sting out, and received my first HI khuk and was hooked. I just hoped when my first batch I ordered from the other company in Nepal got here that I wouldn't be disappointed in the premium I was paying to HI. As you well know, I got hit by the bug hard and my collection went from a couple to a couple dozen in no time.

Well here it is, the middle of May, and the shipment just arrived from Nepal. Nearly two months later. Keep in mind, out of the $250 total, probably close to $80-$100 of that was shipping. Now with that much shipping you figure it includes not just shipping but customs/duties as well. OK, fair enough. Well the customs invoice values the total shipment - 5 khukuris, 4 books on the Ghurkas, a spare sheath, 4 video CDs on the Ghurkas and a Ghurka cap badge at $68 TOTAL and therefore not subject to customs since it has "no commercial value." Nice, want to bet it didn't cost them anywhere near what they charged to ship the items, and they certainly aren't paying as much to have their khuks made as Yangdu pays HI's kamis. That is if these are even made by kamis and not on machines.

Needless to say, I will NEVER order from them again and my business EXCLUSIVELY goes to HI. Live and learn, wish I had found HI before I found the other place. :mad:

I will say one of the Khuks is nice, and I'm pleased with it. Its an AngPana Jungle model... imagine a WWII with a villager finish and a blackened blade, chiruwa handle with buffed out flat horn and a lanyard hole. The sheath is made from green and black hide and doesn't have the inserts for the two little knives - sue me, I can never remember the names, so it is nice and flat and great for throwing in a backpack or lashing to some molle webbing. So, one out of five met expectations.

The sheaths on the others are the cheapest feeling leather. I had bought them with the intent of keeping one and using the others as gifts, now I'm not sure I would even want to do that. They might end up on eBay.

Stick to HI, you can never go wrong with Yangdu... just wish I had found her a couple weeks sooner. :(
 
Thank you for the kind words
 
Well, you can't ever go wrong with HI. Sometimes I'm "disappointed" that I found HI first. Its quality has stopped me from even bothering to experiment with other dealers.
 
Shann said:
Well, you can't ever go wrong with HI. Sometimes I'm "disappointed" that I found HI first. Its quality has stopped me from even bothering to experiment with other dealers.
Click to expand...

I can hook you up, no waiting for them to arrive from Nepal! :cool:
 
You should see my first khukuri. :eek: It's one of those "khukuri machetes" from CheaperThanDirt.

I'm pretty sure the blade is 1/8". It whips through the air at murderous speed, but hits with the force of a thrown pencil.


Mike :p
 
We all have had experiences with Khukrappies. Chalk it up to experience and go on. You've got it figured out now.
 
I'm glad I listened to people who said HI quality was well worth it, as I never got saddled with a piece of crap. A lot of people (not here) have derided me for buying HIs exclusively when other places are "so much cheaper for the same thing".

Well, the others that I've seen are not "the same thing" and when you factor in the huge shipping cost, from the one based in Nepal or the one based in the UK, they aren't much cheaper, er, less expensive -- they're definitely cheaper, than HIs.

Hiram, I hear you on getting bit hard. I ordered a custom Ang Khola as my first kukri, and before it even arrived, I had bought two other kukris and a knife from the DOTD. Within two months of discovering HI, I spent a little over $1200 on kukris. That was before I got into the dragon tarwars, kumar kardas and R-10s. :D

ETA: the good thing about the cheap kukris, is you won't feel guilty about throwing them like on Resident Evil: Extinction!
 
Stick with HI. You'll never go wrong with them, plus you get the great heritage that "Uncle Bill" (Bill Martino) created here, and that Yangdu continues so well.

* * * * *

I went with another seller (east coast - I'll not say who) and after one of the guys here mentioned about how easily the cheap ones bent, I tried it. I smacked it against an upright 4x4, and it bent on the first blow. I bent the thing into a U-shape within seven hits, then put it on a step and bent it back almost straight just by standing on it. :eek: Hopeless POS.

I later bought a nice grandbaby HI kuk - a VERY small kukri - from a forum member and went out and chopped through the same 4x4, with literally NO indication at all of any blade damage. (Sore wrist, though.) Absolutely amazing knives. I'll never buy anything other than HI again.

Our budget's very limited right now, due to the adoption process we're in, but when funds are freed up again, I'll be ordering several from Yangdu.

thx - cpr
 
My first kukri was bought in 1987 from a well-known retailer based in Atlanta Georgia.

I still have it. It's sturdy and still very functional.

But to compare it to an H.I. khukuri?

There really is no comparison.


My 21.5" Chitlangi is the only thing I've ever bought which had sentimental value for me the very first time I held it in my hand. It's one of my most prized possessions and always will be.
 
Sooner or later you are bound to make costly lessons, either in life or concerning business. Talking about khukuris I have had a few that have been nice, and buying on location is always fun. But for ordering online its HI all the way, simply because Yangdus excellent reputation and HI guarentee. Simple as that.
 
Another reason that HI gets my business is that I'm confident nobody is getting scammed. I've met Yangdu, Pala, and Bill, and they're selling a good product at a fair price. Also, the kamis and everyone else at the shop is getting a fair cut for their labor.
 
Ditto for me. Since I purchased my M-43 I have purchased only HI knives. Now several in number. I know that I can trust both their quality and service.
 
You will find HIKV is also contagious.

For example you might start with just one khukuri from H.I. then later buy a few more.

Then you have a bunch of them and need to hire a khukuri caddy to carry them in the woods for you in golf club bag.

Next you start buying them for friends and relatives as gifts.

You might go as far as to get a khukuri tattoo, or have weird dreams where Yangdu comes down your chimney like Santa Clause to leave khukuris to all the good girls and boys. You might try to focus your psychic powers to see if you know what might be offered on the D.O.D. while you are driving home from work.

There's no treatment and no hope for rehab.

You're cuckoo for khukuris.
 
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