The Bura Ganga Ram Special

C

clearblue

Joined
Oct 22, 2002
Messages
630
I just received an absolutely beautiful wooden handled Bura 17" Ganga Ram.

After finishing the edge to razor sharpness with 2000 grit wet or dry sandpaper,I took it to a nearby stump for testing.

I selected a 1" green softwood sapling, cut it down, and started chopping it into 1" sections by laying it on the block and getting familiar with the sweet spot. What an awesome tool! With minimum effort, it sliced through the sapling like a knife through butter.

It is taking me a while to get comfortable working with a Kuk as practically all my previous labors have been with a machete and I had to change some deeply ingrained machete habit patterns.

Note: the edge stayed perfect-no chips or rolling. Bura seems to be a master at tempering.The pine sap from the chopping block cleaned off quickly with mineral spirits.

I am more than pleased with this work of art and it has that gently curving hanshee style spine that is so pleasing to the eye.

I'm afraid that this is one of those items where I will someday WISH I had bought an extra one or two because they are no longer available anywhere at any price.Sooooo I'm hoping that Bill or Yangdu will post another and I'll be in position to "get lucky."
 
I have one of the smaller Ganga's. I have experienced some rolling of the edge on cutting dried oak, but I have just about managed to take the edge back past the thin part. That being said it is my favorite HI model, and for me no other HI I have can chop like it. Also mine is light enough to use as a machete. If you like that one you'd love the pen knife too but it is too small to chop 8" logs or anything with.
 
I too just got a 17" Bura GRS. What a chopper! I hold with raised ring between little finger and third finger and have no encounters with the butt whatsoever. That goves slightly less leverage, but it still makes chunck of wood (red oak) just fly.
 
Yes, both the BGRS and GRS are just wonderful choppers. They inspire in the hand. The blade literally sings as it chops. I had the pleasure of doing some field testing with an 18" AK, 20" AK, 22" GRS and 25" AK. Out of all of those, the 22" GRS felt the best. It was easier to wield than the 20" AK, and delivered deeper cuts. It's a woodsman's khuk to be sure. And yes, I've also dreamed in my mind a way of sheathing a Pen Knife to it as a "karda"...

...thank goodness somebody talked me out of it...:eek:
 
Yeah, after the first hundred years of use, you may need to switch up!:) And by that time the other ones'll be aged steel!
 
Ah, the "Natural History" of steel blades: a race between rust and "natural tempering." Sort of like the race between learning from experience and that other thing I've been (duly) cautioned not to talk about.
 
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