Standard vs. Villager: differences and preferences

M

mbscs4

Joined
May 2, 2011
Messages
61
Hello all. I'm new to the forum. Just wondering what was everybody's take on the villager style vs. the standard polished style? What are the differences (aside from the polish of course)? Does anyone prefer the villager? Hello by the way. Glad to be here.
 
Villager is better for a hard use knife - standard are much prettier, sometimes almost too pretty to use!

So will it mainly be a wall hanger/show it off type thing, or a hard-use camp knife?
 
I prefer villager finish overall. I have 2 polished khuks 1 dc and an ak. I scratched the polish of the dc and ak the first time I did the whack and chop tests with both. The dc I was almost ashamed of chopping through a branch because of the scratch it left on the blade. The khuk is a beauty. I haven't chopped with it since. The ak is a 15 incher so I threw that in my go bag.
My grs and ycs are both villager as well as my mccurdy which isn't an HI. I chop with them all the time. I think the scratches made from chopping on a villager finish make them look even crazier. Just my op I prefer villager because I like to chop with my khuks.
 
Last edited:
I am a functionality kind of guy in pretty much everything. It has to do the job. If it looks good while doing it, that's a bonus. I wouldn't want to be scared to use something because it looks good though. Is the only difference the polish then?
 
I know in general heavy polishing of a steel blade weakens it somewhat although I don't think you have to worry too much about hi khukris breaking or chipping on you during normal use even if it is polished. Given I don't have the tools or the skill to re-polish my own blades to a mirror shine I do regret chopping with and marking up my di chirra. It really is a beautiful knife. At least I know for a fact it can chop through a 2 inch branch with little effort. I will however pull it out during the zombie apocalypse since it is a 20 incher and has more reach than my others. Zombie blood shouldn't stain and the bones will already be brittle.
 
The only other difference is that the polished ones tend to have soft edges from the polishing and ill roll slightly with use until you file off or sharpen through the softer steel to the harder metal beneath.

Villager and True Villager (blades with the forge scale left on, my personal favorite) also tend to come a good deal sharper from the get-go.
 
Polished blades.

Pros
Looks nice

Cons
Because it looks nice, every flaw shows and makes it look bad.
Very difficult to keep shiney unless you have the proper tools.
Surface rust forms much faster and easier.
The polished blade "can" be softer.
The edge of a polished blade is "usually" softer until you sharpen the softer material away. (as Cpl mentioned)

I can only think of two reasons for a polished blade. One is ceremony, usually associated with the military service. They keep a shined one for inspection and a satin finish to use. Second is for the tourist/collector markets where you have people that intend to only display the kukri.

The life of a polished "user" would be to start out shiney, then turn satin and ultimately a natural satin patina. I normally take a ScotchBrite pad to mine after each use with some WD40 or whatever I have handy so my blades pretty much keep a satin finish.

There is certainy nothing wrong with keeping a few special HI's as show pieces. I can't seem to bring myself to mess up my horn M43, its just too nice. Plus I have others like my WWII and Bonecutter, which is my main HI workhorse.

Good luck!
 
I'm a fan of the villager finish because of the reasons stated above. Also, a polished knife that is used for any length of time will end up with a villager finish anyway;) Furthermore, the villager finish gives me the the opportunity to customize the knife to my liking. I usually do some sort of treatment to the wooden handle to make it "mine". Villager blades also more readily acquire a patina, so I can blue or "gray" the blade much easier:)
 
I actually just finished polishing some mirror-finish models (one hella polishing with Flitz) and some of the past scratches/scuffs just reminded me that this is a TOOL of art. I couldn't rid it so i consider that the character of the khuks itself.

Bura did all his khuks to be both pure beauty and user-oriented.

I love my villager ASTK as well as showpiece Sotang but it needs to be used.
 
Thanks so much everybody. I am moving to the (wetter) caribbean side of Costa Rica in November and am building my collection of jungle taming implements. The villager style sounds like it will fit the bill.
 
mbscs4 said:
Thanks so much everybody. I am moving to the (wetter) caribbean side of Costa Rica in November and am building my collection of jungle taming implements. The villager style sounds like it will fit the bill.
Click to expand...
5160 is tough as nails and holds an edge really well, but it rusts like a sonofagun, keep it well oiled.
 
Functionally a standard polished khuk will perform just as well as a villager, and vice versa. Villagers tend to be a little cheaper and include not only the unpolished blade but also less finishing to the handle. It ultimately comes down to personal preference.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top