tangs

HI uses a stick tang - there's a long stick of soft metal that goes through the whole handle. The handle goes completely around the tang.

The chiruwa style knives have a flat tang, with pieces of handle (wood or horn) on each side - looks like a good kitchen knife.

On a very few HI knives and some villagers there is a partial tang - the metal doesn't go through all the way, maybe 2-3 inches into the handle.

I suspect antiques used all three styles, depending on the material.
 
If you are wondering if they are going to break I wouldn't worry too much. The HI khuks are the heaviest knives that I think I have seen. The thags are close to full thickness where they go out of sight into the handle. For the number of knives that Uncle Bill sells there are very few that do break. Even if they do Uncle Bil will make it good. That is why there are so many HI customers that keep coming back for more. That and the KV.

I'm not saying that they will not break but, as I said there are very few that do.:) :D
 
I was'nt concerned about the tang breaking, just what they looked like. I have several Hi products including two YCS"S one horn one wood handeled. My health precludes me from using any of my kuk's so there would be no chance of any damage. I just enjoy owning a fine knife.
 
I hear that and agree 100%. One heck of a value for the dollars spent. I haven't seen one of the tangs either but I have been told that the size tapers rather slowly to the butt of the knife so the strength is maintained for a good ways up that handle. Uncle Bill hase always sent me very good knives and, I have worked all of my knives hard except the 20" Kobra. I worked it for a half a day in some pretty heavy cedars so I know it is not going to fail. :)
 
Kokochow-- check out the Construction and maintenance section of the Himalayan Imports FAQ. The "repairing a broken tang" section has a good picture of a tang. Also, towards the bottom of the page, some of the pictures show unfinished khukuris with exposed tangs showing. In particular, check out the pic titled "Uvaraj polishes a handle"-- you can see several khuks leaning against the wall in the bottom left of the pic.
--Josh
 
Kokochow-- yeah, they are pretty amazing. I marvel at their skill every time I use one of my khukuris. There's so much great info on the HI site. You might want to check out the section on kamis --it shows a kami making a khukuri from start to finish. It's just amazing that someone can make a world-class blade with such simple tools.
--Josh
 
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