They Don't Like Khukuris

[Bri in Chi]

I have a friend, a well recognized artist, who when I showed him my khukris, gave me a pained look and asked,'what is this obsession you seem to have with beheading instruments?'
End of discussion. We're still friends, but I realized at that moment, that while we share a lot of interests, birding, fly fishing for trout in the Rockies...even the Racine Wisconsin steelhead runs, there were some things we couldn't ever have in common. Oh, well....

 

[munk]

It's a conditioning test. How well have you been indoctrinated and socialized in the Compact of Man? For knife people it does not apply, but for non-knife persons it is interesting. Can you, or can't you, escape your pre-concieved rules about what exists and how it exists and actually see the beauty in front of you?

They cannot see the beauty and wonder, and that means just a little bit of what could have been inside them is missing.


munk

 

[ddean]

there's a special feeling when using a beautiful tool for a mundane use

Once upon a time............

This guy says it:
http://www.sydnassloot.com/bbuckner/tools.htm
"Bucky’s Tools
I love hand tools, especially old ones that have great aesthetic beauty. I’m truly amazed at some of the artistry displayed by long ago craftsmen that made their own tools. They must have taken great pride in their work to invest the considerable time it must have taken to build and embellish their tools. I like to think they did it as an expression of their skills and their "eye" for something beautiful. "

elsewhere:
http://www.americanartifacts.com/smma/advert/advert.htm

Would you believe that's the original stairstepper?


http://www.thebestthings.com/books/artoftools.htm

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[DannyinJapan]

if thaat "friend" was serious about the beheading comment, I'd say he or she was a judgmental assshole and you should erase their name from you address book.
Even my mother said "well, somebody needs a girlfriend"
That guy needs a drink, or a beating, or both.
What a jerk.

 

[X-Head]

If you had shown that artist friend your beer stein collection, he'd have asked you about your obsession with alcoholism. There is so much to behold and admire about a handmade tool or instrument, for this guy to see a khukuri and the first thought he comes up with (or perhaps the ONLY thought he can come up with) is beheading, well, I think his question to you speaks volumes about himself. Maybe he'd just finished watching a back to back marathon of Al Quaeda home videos on Al Jazeera-TV and you just caught him at a bad time.

 

[Bill Sanders]

Many of my friends and family ask me, "Why do you need so many knives and swords?" The "swords" being my khuks. Yet they have their own collections of stuff. A couple have collections of paintings, one has a collection of old radios. They ask me why I collect blades, I ask them why they collect their stuff. The answer from both parties is "I collect them because of the workmanship, and because I like them". Some people are attracted to blades, some to stamps. To each his own, I say. But then, a stamp can't remove the tree that a storm blew onto your house. That HI khuk, that feels like an extension of my arm, can. I collect things that can be used, not things that can only be admired. But, they say, you can only use one at a time. They don't understand. You can only use one wrench at a time while working on a car, yet, you need many wrenches to complete the job. Each wrench does a certain job. Think of my blade collection as my tool box. The more tools I have, the more jobs I can do without doing any job half way.