OK, it's more dramatic than it deserves, except it's a slick, tidy, well made rig and deserves a thread. Due to some confusion in munkland, I ended up fronting money for a blade that had nowhere to go but home. I did not resist this decision to go into further debt, and felt the ker-snik of a tool landing in the right place. My house.
Norm successfully beat me to the punch getting the 18" 28oz Village Ganga Ram several days ago. Yangdu very kindly offered me it's cousin for the same price, and I took it before I could bend my own arm backwards in submission. The surface is brushed satin finish. The horn handle unpolished and murky black. It soaked up the first coating of Lanolin in about an hour so I applied a second.
The Chakma and Karda are well made, the Chakma especially having an almost oval shank out of what would be the bolster from the handle, and broadens into the shape of the tool we're used to. I haven't seen that style since I got my first Ganga Ram from Sher several years ago. It weighs 31 oz, and if you think that's a slight difference, mathematically you're correct but subjectively in my hands the difference is significant. 28 oz and 18" length has become the place where utility and practicality meet. I can carry that for long distances, and it has weight sufficient for real cutting. Even a few more ounces is noticable in carry. This is not surprising, you could analogue it to the subjective experience of the recoil of the .308 vs 3006 The heavier Ganga Ram makes you pay attention after a couple miles of hiking. I think this 28oz size is ideal, as it 'feels' lighter even if it is not that much in reality under the nearly 2 lb Sher.
We've noticed Bura's Ganga Ram's recently have been subdued on the Ganga factor, having less belly than we've seen on other Ganga Rams. Let me measure and see; it's not the width of the belly, both are 2 3/8th inches wide. It is how the flat is distributed that is different. On the Sher, the belly is more pronounced coming from a slender waist and tapering towards the tip. The Bura moves more meat towards the tip, ala WWll, and has a slightly wider waist.
There's a huge storm front flying overhead and chances to cut limbs small, but I did have several logs outside. This Ganga Ram bit hard. Boy, 28oz is just about perfect. This definately cuts better than a standard 18" WWll, as it should, and whether or not it outcuts a AK is the stuff of debate and legend.
I am very pleased with how this blade moved in my hand and how the weight worked for me. It's that extra metal near the end of the WWll that gives it a working class role outside of the fighter, and in this Ganga Ram that work is even more pronounced.
Bura has not lost a step with this one. In the past, everyone talked about how they could refinish their Villagers to look like standard HI issue. I could do that with this one. I won't though. It looks swell as is.
The only thing it doesn't have that Norm's does is the UB designation. I miss that. But I'll get that soon enough.
munk
Norm successfully beat me to the punch getting the 18" 28oz Village Ganga Ram several days ago. Yangdu very kindly offered me it's cousin for the same price, and I took it before I could bend my own arm backwards in submission. The surface is brushed satin finish. The horn handle unpolished and murky black. It soaked up the first coating of Lanolin in about an hour so I applied a second.
The Chakma and Karda are well made, the Chakma especially having an almost oval shank out of what would be the bolster from the handle, and broadens into the shape of the tool we're used to. I haven't seen that style since I got my first Ganga Ram from Sher several years ago. It weighs 31 oz, and if you think that's a slight difference, mathematically you're correct but subjectively in my hands the difference is significant. 28 oz and 18" length has become the place where utility and practicality meet. I can carry that for long distances, and it has weight sufficient for real cutting. Even a few more ounces is noticable in carry. This is not surprising, you could analogue it to the subjective experience of the recoil of the .308 vs 3006 The heavier Ganga Ram makes you pay attention after a couple miles of hiking. I think this 28oz size is ideal, as it 'feels' lighter even if it is not that much in reality under the nearly 2 lb Sher.
We've noticed Bura's Ganga Ram's recently have been subdued on the Ganga factor, having less belly than we've seen on other Ganga Rams. Let me measure and see; it's not the width of the belly, both are 2 3/8th inches wide. It is how the flat is distributed that is different. On the Sher, the belly is more pronounced coming from a slender waist and tapering towards the tip. The Bura moves more meat towards the tip, ala WWll, and has a slightly wider waist.
There's a huge storm front flying overhead and chances to cut limbs small, but I did have several logs outside. This Ganga Ram bit hard. Boy, 28oz is just about perfect. This definately cuts better than a standard 18" WWll, as it should, and whether or not it outcuts a AK is the stuff of debate and legend.
I am very pleased with how this blade moved in my hand and how the weight worked for me. It's that extra metal near the end of the WWll that gives it a working class role outside of the fighter, and in this Ganga Ram that work is even more pronounced.
Bura has not lost a step with this one. In the past, everyone talked about how they could refinish their Villagers to look like standard HI issue. I could do that with this one. I won't though. It looks swell as is.
The only thing it doesn't have that Norm's does is the UB designation. I miss that. But I'll get that soon enough.
munk