- Joined
- Oct 25, 2004
- Messages
- 3,178
I arrived at work today with 16.5" AK and bowie in hand today, hoping for some idle moments to test them out in an outdoors environment. Fortune was smiling on me. While showing them off to my coworkers, the phone rang -- today's class was running an hour late. An idle moment had arrived.
It was off to the woodshop. The first chore, of course, would be chopping through a scrap length of 2x4; the first tool would be the AK. After securing the unfortunate piece of lumber to the workbench, I started swinging. Needless to say, this test didn't last very long. When I saw the amount of wood chips that went flying on the very first strike I knew that I was dealing with something a little different than a hardware store hatchet or G.I. machete...or my CS machetes, for that matter.
A 2x6 went next. Then a 2x8. Then a 4x4. Then I tried splitting them. The bowie lent a hand here. I don't know if I'm imagining things or not, but I could almost swear that it splits wood better than the AK. When the piece of wood was long enough that a single blow couldn't completely split it (rare), simply continuing to swing with the wood attached produced the results I was looking for. I do this often with hatchets, tomahawks, and mauls as well, but the shorter handles make this much less tiring with a khuk -- less leverage. Results were about the same.
The target backs we construct for range use are built from sheets of interior plywood, maybe 1/8" thick and supported by 1.5x1.5. (I know, it's an odd size, but we cut them from dunnage obtained from DRMO and this size produces an even number of legs.) I don't like target backs. Despite my concerns for accumulating bad karma, I made the choice to attack one with no provocation. You can imagine how that ended. If I'm ever trapped by sheets of interior plywood, I'm confident of my ability to chop a passage through in short order. Myself, and the others present, were extremely impressed by both knives at this point. I remembered the warranty on the Chiruwa AK, though, and decided that I wanted to be more than impressed. I wanted to be astounded.
My baleful glare turned on an old, disused metal trashcan, the junky sheetmetal type you often see in schools or military facilities. I gave it two chops on the rim, paying particular attention to my form so as to make sure the sweet spot was the only area making contact. Penetration tended to be 2-3". The cuts were clean with no tearing. I did not use full power -- I wasn't comfortable with going all out yet. My CS machetes only leave dents on this rim with full power. The G.I. machetes do even less, being considerably lighter. I don't believe I'd try that with anything else. (At least, nothing else I own.) I gave it a backhanded blow to the side. Nice dent, but no penetration. A second blow left a clean cut appr. 6" long. It was at this point we discovered that this was not a single trashcan, but 3 (!) trashcans that'd been nested and driven down in the past so as to resemble just one. Damage to the edge consisted of two small dings in the sweet spot. More on these later.
I passed it off to an eager coworker for a test. Bear in mind, this individual also handles axes, machetes, and hatchets often and has fairly good form. I instructed him on the sweet spot, where it was and why it had to be used, and gave him a few minutes with it. He got the hang of it almost immediately. I didn't trust any of my other coworkers with it. They can buy their own.
The final test performed in the woodshop was simply stabbing it into thick wooden surfaces and prying the tip back out. I would never do this with any other blade I own, but I've read plenty of reports of AK's tolerating this so I gave it a shot. First stab got down about a quarter of an inch -- no problems. That, if nothing else, got a few appreciative comments from the bystanders. Second stab was a bit harder, maybe half an inch, no problems. On my third stab I used both hands, my left against the buttcap, and applied about as much force as I felt comfortable with on a guardless blade. I got it down a good inch or so. Prying took some effort. I wound up with one huge chunk of wood and absolutely no damage to the tip or edge.
There was some discussion of running the bowie through some of the tougher tests. No way. I bought it for a different purpose and it's just too beautiful to abuse like that. Maybe another time, but probably not.
The students arrived. While they were getting their safety briefing, I was learning how to use my chakma. I wasn't sure whether to use a corner, an "edge", or a "flat" -- I wound up using all three alternately. Over ten or fifteen minutes of steeling, I kind of got a feel for it. If you asked me to explain why I'm using a certain surface I wouldn't be able to tell you but it just seemed right to use different techniques depending on what the tactile feedback was. Whether I was doing it right or wrong, I flattened them out about 75%. A bit of work on a coarse stone (the kind they sell at hardware stores for using on tools) flattened them right out. They are still slightly visible but don't seem to affect cutting in any way.
After the class and while the students were cleaning their weapons, we had another hour or so of idle time. The abovementioned coworker and I volunteered (being the considerate employees that we are) to remove some troublesome trees enroaching on a building. Two were dead alders, 5" diameter or so. They went down very easily. Again, the wood chips were flying; as someone else put it in an earlier thread, "the wood burst apart with pleasure." I mentioned that exact phrase while we were doing the cutting. My coworker agreed. It was almost as if the wood was fleeing.
Third tree was a live pine, maybe 3". We decided to limb it before removal, simply to see what this thing felt like on twigs. Verdict: not too good. The blade is too slow and heavy to work on thin, springy branches. The job certainly got done though. I let my coworker take the tree. It looked easy enough. He comfirmed this.
Fourth and final tree was a live alder, at least 8". We alternated cutting out of laziness...err, I mean, for different opinions. This job took about six minutes. We were easily able to direct the tree's fall. The khuk was unstoppable until we hit the heartwood; instead of beating our way through, we went around and let the tree's weight snap it. Tomorrow will be too busy but I'm looking forward to sectioning this sucker on Thursday.
Again, the bowie was spared from the worst of it -- to me, for my uses, it's a good cutter that can do excellent chopping if required -- but it may be put to use on Thursday for some limbing. Actually, I can pretty much guarantee it. Too pretty to beat on, but too useful and tough not to. Bura really made me a keeper here. I am thankful beyond words.
On the way back to the range house, we noticed what appeared to be a concrete foundation, partially/mostly buried and overgrown, right in the middle of a grassy area we traversed almost daily. No idea why it was there or what it had originally been for; the Camp has been open for at least 60 years (probably more than 70, although no one's quite sure when it opened anymore) and the few period maps I've found for it cover only five specific dates. A lot can change in a few years and we constantly find surprises.
COWORKER: "I wonder what that is?"
ME: "Looks like a foundation. Let's dig it up."
COWORKER: "Okay. I'll get a shovel."
ME: "You stay right there. We're using the khuk."
Not the digger a shovel is but far better than a stick, the hands, a rock, or pretty much anything else besides a shovel. There's a definite paddling technique to it. I was moving a lot more dirt by the end. Thirty seconds, a water faucet, and a green scrub pad were required to clean up the dirt, grime, and sap. A fresh heavy layer of CLP was layed over the dry metal. I found, to my intense satisfaction, that the steel is beginning to develope a gray patina. My AK was purchased as a user, not a wall decoration; I want it to look the part.
Just a few thoughts to cap off one of my better days at work:
The handle slips a bit on very hard swings. Annoying, but nowhere nearly as bad as with G.I. machetes that weigh half as much. The grip itself fits my hands well, which says something for its dimensions. I have large hands even for an American. The back edge of the bell irritates the edge of my palm after a while. My coworker had the same problem.
We're both in agreement on the bowie. What an excellent, awe-inspiring knife that is. It can thrust, cut, and chop with authority. (Especially chop.) The grip looked odd but I found it considerably more comfortable than that of the AK. I have no problems with it. A chakma and karda are not traditionally included with a bowie knife but I think it would've made a nice touch here...not that I'm complaining, though. (Possible future project: procure inexpensive AC karda and fabricate a chakra for this knife.) This knife speaks for itself. I can't say enough good things about it. As others have said here, I simply can't believe how much chopping power the kamis have managed to shoehorn into such a small package. This thing chops all out of proportion with its size.
Vibration on a Chiruwa -- I can see someone complaining about it, especially when attacking something solid like a tree. I can tell you from experience, it's nowhere nearly as bad as swinging a G.I. machete against a tree. These khuks are going to spoil me. When performing an activity with "give", such as splitting wood, the vibration isn't anything noteworthy for me...more than a hatchet but certainly not intolerable.
Technique -- when using a machete, hatchet, maul, hawk, or pretty much any chopping instrument other than an AK in the past, getting the blade stuck in the wood resulted in a few wasted moments while I pumped the handle to work the tool free. I've since learned to use an AK slightly differently: when the blade sticks, I simply torque it sharply to the side, bust a huge chunk of wood loose as the blade comes free, and continue swinging. If it's so deep that I can't torque it, I pry on it. The blade actually bent quite a bit on a few of my motions, alarmingly so in one case; no cracks, no permanent bends. This seems to be a bit easier and a lot faster. What a fantastic tool!
I'm awed. I know at least three other sailors that're equally awed and are saving their money now.
I'm very thankful to Bura and Raju for making these wonderful things for me. I didn't need them (in the life-and-death sense of the term) but my life has been made considerably easier by having them. I almost feel guilty for taking them out and using them hard but I'm sure that the kamis would want it this way. I'm equally thankful to UB for providing me with a means to obtain them.
I'm now a believer.
It was off to the woodshop. The first chore, of course, would be chopping through a scrap length of 2x4; the first tool would be the AK. After securing the unfortunate piece of lumber to the workbench, I started swinging. Needless to say, this test didn't last very long. When I saw the amount of wood chips that went flying on the very first strike I knew that I was dealing with something a little different than a hardware store hatchet or G.I. machete...or my CS machetes, for that matter.
A 2x6 went next. Then a 2x8. Then a 4x4. Then I tried splitting them. The bowie lent a hand here. I don't know if I'm imagining things or not, but I could almost swear that it splits wood better than the AK. When the piece of wood was long enough that a single blow couldn't completely split it (rare), simply continuing to swing with the wood attached produced the results I was looking for. I do this often with hatchets, tomahawks, and mauls as well, but the shorter handles make this much less tiring with a khuk -- less leverage. Results were about the same.
The target backs we construct for range use are built from sheets of interior plywood, maybe 1/8" thick and supported by 1.5x1.5. (I know, it's an odd size, but we cut them from dunnage obtained from DRMO and this size produces an even number of legs.) I don't like target backs. Despite my concerns for accumulating bad karma, I made the choice to attack one with no provocation. You can imagine how that ended. If I'm ever trapped by sheets of interior plywood, I'm confident of my ability to chop a passage through in short order. Myself, and the others present, were extremely impressed by both knives at this point. I remembered the warranty on the Chiruwa AK, though, and decided that I wanted to be more than impressed. I wanted to be astounded.
My baleful glare turned on an old, disused metal trashcan, the junky sheetmetal type you often see in schools or military facilities. I gave it two chops on the rim, paying particular attention to my form so as to make sure the sweet spot was the only area making contact. Penetration tended to be 2-3". The cuts were clean with no tearing. I did not use full power -- I wasn't comfortable with going all out yet. My CS machetes only leave dents on this rim with full power. The G.I. machetes do even less, being considerably lighter. I don't believe I'd try that with anything else. (At least, nothing else I own.) I gave it a backhanded blow to the side. Nice dent, but no penetration. A second blow left a clean cut appr. 6" long. It was at this point we discovered that this was not a single trashcan, but 3 (!) trashcans that'd been nested and driven down in the past so as to resemble just one. Damage to the edge consisted of two small dings in the sweet spot. More on these later.
I passed it off to an eager coworker for a test. Bear in mind, this individual also handles axes, machetes, and hatchets often and has fairly good form. I instructed him on the sweet spot, where it was and why it had to be used, and gave him a few minutes with it. He got the hang of it almost immediately. I didn't trust any of my other coworkers with it. They can buy their own.
The final test performed in the woodshop was simply stabbing it into thick wooden surfaces and prying the tip back out. I would never do this with any other blade I own, but I've read plenty of reports of AK's tolerating this so I gave it a shot. First stab got down about a quarter of an inch -- no problems. That, if nothing else, got a few appreciative comments from the bystanders. Second stab was a bit harder, maybe half an inch, no problems. On my third stab I used both hands, my left against the buttcap, and applied about as much force as I felt comfortable with on a guardless blade. I got it down a good inch or so. Prying took some effort. I wound up with one huge chunk of wood and absolutely no damage to the tip or edge.
There was some discussion of running the bowie through some of the tougher tests. No way. I bought it for a different purpose and it's just too beautiful to abuse like that. Maybe another time, but probably not.
The students arrived. While they were getting their safety briefing, I was learning how to use my chakma. I wasn't sure whether to use a corner, an "edge", or a "flat" -- I wound up using all three alternately. Over ten or fifteen minutes of steeling, I kind of got a feel for it. If you asked me to explain why I'm using a certain surface I wouldn't be able to tell you but it just seemed right to use different techniques depending on what the tactile feedback was. Whether I was doing it right or wrong, I flattened them out about 75%. A bit of work on a coarse stone (the kind they sell at hardware stores for using on tools) flattened them right out. They are still slightly visible but don't seem to affect cutting in any way.
After the class and while the students were cleaning their weapons, we had another hour or so of idle time. The abovementioned coworker and I volunteered (being the considerate employees that we are) to remove some troublesome trees enroaching on a building. Two were dead alders, 5" diameter or so. They went down very easily. Again, the wood chips were flying; as someone else put it in an earlier thread, "the wood burst apart with pleasure." I mentioned that exact phrase while we were doing the cutting. My coworker agreed. It was almost as if the wood was fleeing.
Third tree was a live pine, maybe 3". We decided to limb it before removal, simply to see what this thing felt like on twigs. Verdict: not too good. The blade is too slow and heavy to work on thin, springy branches. The job certainly got done though. I let my coworker take the tree. It looked easy enough. He comfirmed this.
Fourth and final tree was a live alder, at least 8". We alternated cutting out of laziness...err, I mean, for different opinions. This job took about six minutes. We were easily able to direct the tree's fall. The khuk was unstoppable until we hit the heartwood; instead of beating our way through, we went around and let the tree's weight snap it. Tomorrow will be too busy but I'm looking forward to sectioning this sucker on Thursday.
Again, the bowie was spared from the worst of it -- to me, for my uses, it's a good cutter that can do excellent chopping if required -- but it may be put to use on Thursday for some limbing. Actually, I can pretty much guarantee it. Too pretty to beat on, but too useful and tough not to. Bura really made me a keeper here. I am thankful beyond words.
On the way back to the range house, we noticed what appeared to be a concrete foundation, partially/mostly buried and overgrown, right in the middle of a grassy area we traversed almost daily. No idea why it was there or what it had originally been for; the Camp has been open for at least 60 years (probably more than 70, although no one's quite sure when it opened anymore) and the few period maps I've found for it cover only five specific dates. A lot can change in a few years and we constantly find surprises.
COWORKER: "I wonder what that is?"
ME: "Looks like a foundation. Let's dig it up."
COWORKER: "Okay. I'll get a shovel."
ME: "You stay right there. We're using the khuk."
Not the digger a shovel is but far better than a stick, the hands, a rock, or pretty much anything else besides a shovel. There's a definite paddling technique to it. I was moving a lot more dirt by the end. Thirty seconds, a water faucet, and a green scrub pad were required to clean up the dirt, grime, and sap. A fresh heavy layer of CLP was layed over the dry metal. I found, to my intense satisfaction, that the steel is beginning to develope a gray patina. My AK was purchased as a user, not a wall decoration; I want it to look the part.
Just a few thoughts to cap off one of my better days at work:
The handle slips a bit on very hard swings. Annoying, but nowhere nearly as bad as with G.I. machetes that weigh half as much. The grip itself fits my hands well, which says something for its dimensions. I have large hands even for an American. The back edge of the bell irritates the edge of my palm after a while. My coworker had the same problem.
We're both in agreement on the bowie. What an excellent, awe-inspiring knife that is. It can thrust, cut, and chop with authority. (Especially chop.) The grip looked odd but I found it considerably more comfortable than that of the AK. I have no problems with it. A chakma and karda are not traditionally included with a bowie knife but I think it would've made a nice touch here...not that I'm complaining, though. (Possible future project: procure inexpensive AC karda and fabricate a chakra for this knife.) This knife speaks for itself. I can't say enough good things about it. As others have said here, I simply can't believe how much chopping power the kamis have managed to shoehorn into such a small package. This thing chops all out of proportion with its size.
Vibration on a Chiruwa -- I can see someone complaining about it, especially when attacking something solid like a tree. I can tell you from experience, it's nowhere nearly as bad as swinging a G.I. machete against a tree. These khuks are going to spoil me. When performing an activity with "give", such as splitting wood, the vibration isn't anything noteworthy for me...more than a hatchet but certainly not intolerable.
Technique -- when using a machete, hatchet, maul, hawk, or pretty much any chopping instrument other than an AK in the past, getting the blade stuck in the wood resulted in a few wasted moments while I pumped the handle to work the tool free. I've since learned to use an AK slightly differently: when the blade sticks, I simply torque it sharply to the side, bust a huge chunk of wood loose as the blade comes free, and continue swinging. If it's so deep that I can't torque it, I pry on it. The blade actually bent quite a bit on a few of my motions, alarmingly so in one case; no cracks, no permanent bends. This seems to be a bit easier and a lot faster. What a fantastic tool!
I'm awed. I know at least three other sailors that're equally awed and are saving their money now.
I'm very thankful to Bura and Raju for making these wonderful things for me. I didn't need them (in the life-and-death sense of the term) but my life has been made considerably easier by having them. I almost feel guilty for taking them out and using them hard but I'm sure that the kamis would want it this way. I'm equally thankful to UB for providing me with a means to obtain them.
I'm now a believer.