And I mean that in the best possible way. I signed up so read a review of a Khukuri, and I've already spent about 8 hours (over the course of two days) pouring through old threads looking for information on Khukuris and swords. I've also decided in those two days that I "need" a tomahawk, and a custom sword from HI. This is looking like it will end up just as bad as backpacking at paintball in terms of buying things I don't actually "need".
(I fully intend to use pretty pictures to lure you into reading all of my nonsense.)
To start things off my name is Eric, and I'm a collector of sorts. I like things that are unique, different, and stand out. However, I'm very picky about how things stand out. I like things that are aesthetically pleasing as well as functional--I'm also more than a bit of a perfectionist. Why is this important? Well, it isn't really. But suffice to say that I bought two Khukuris under the pretense of using them while backpacking (and I will, but sometimes you need to lie to either yourself or your wallet) and almost solely because they were made in Nepal. It appealed to the side of me that craves things that are unique.
I should also mention that I'm not a blade person by any means. As a child I hated the fact that all of the best characters in video games used swords, and all of the best weapons were swords. I honestly like axes significantly more. I'm a fourth generation carpenter and for whatever reason my family uses axes instead of framing hammers. So I grew up liking axes, and again, they appealed to my appreciation of the unique. In fact, as I write this I'm occasionally switching between Firefox windows and trying to justify buying this. The point of all this is that I'm fairly ignorant of all things in regards to blades and short swords. So I will use the wrong terminology, I will create names and words, and I will probably drive everyone who knows anything insane. But, I will in return offer the review of a new customer which might help potential buyers make up their mind.
(This is my no-nonsense review partner, Emerald (Emmy).)
I will start this off with a lesson I learned in college, and that is that people who are wrong often have a larger audience than those who are right. With that, I begin.
I don't actually even remember how I stumbled onto Khukuris, or Himalayan Imports. ( Although I believe I was considering a Gerber Triton (at oh, around $300 was it?) and one of the sites that reviewed it also reviewed, and compared it to, the HI Khukuri.) I know that I was looking for a knife to take when I went backpacking. Which in all honesty means that I was probably researching short swords (I tend to take things to extremes sometimes). My only real criteria was that whatever I bought had to be something that would last a long time so that it could be an heirloom of sorts, and that it had to be fully functional. Functional to the point where if, on the absurd chance, I ever had to fight off a Grizzly I would feel feel confident that while I might break into many, many pieces--my knife would not.
(Note: The Smatchet Thread in the Sword Section is great, but--if you go to the bathroom halfway through it becomes significantly less funny. I don't know why, but the threat of peeing your pants significantly adds to the experience.)
I spent a day or two trying to navigate the HI website and learn what I could about Khukuris. For some reason the store (aka the place where you buy things) is much less confusing to make your way through for first timers. Eventually, after doing some reading on the HI site and through several reviews I decided that buying two 20" Ang Kholas might sound like a good idea, but it probably wasn't. I found my way to the 15" Ang Khola Khukuris and bought two of them.
(If you're sitting there thinking that this isn't an AK Khukuri, well you're right. Now sit down and wait for the rest of the story.
)
Over the next day and a half I religiously checked the order status waiting for it to change. It didn't. So in my infinite wisdom I e-mailed Yangdu and asked if I could upgrade to the 18" AK Khukuri. Yangdu politely replied that my order had shipped the day after I placed it. Why it didn't update online I don't know.
(Note: Just sent off an e-mail inquiring whether or not the Tomahawk is still available. Sigh.)
I remembered reading somewhere that Khukuris had a full tang, but I found a picture on the HI site that showed a Khukuri with what looked suspiciously like a Rat Tail (Stick, Hidden) Tang. The tang is one area of a blade that I will absolutely and positively be a snob about. I e-mailed Yangdu and asked her if I could send the AK Khukuri back and get two Chiruwa Ang Khola because I would be more comfortable with a full tang. At some point during the conversation there was a miscommunication, so I will offer this advice. If you want a tang that runs the full length and width of the handle ask for your blade to come with a "Chiruwa" style handle. I've exchanged 34 e-mails with Yangdu to date and she has been nothing but kind and helpful, so I'm not trying to place blame, or accuse, etc. But this is one area, due to the differing terminologies/definitions that exist, that you want to be really specific about.
So after several long weeks of waiting for the UPS truck to come I finally have my two Chiruwa Ang Khola Khukuris. Which means that the review can officially start, and with pictures I might add.
As seen in the picture below the CAK come in at close to 16.75". They were made by the same Kami, but one is distinctly thicker at the spine and slightly "fuller" as well. Not by much, but you can tell the difference in weight between the two without too much trouble. One day, when I get a decent scale, I'll see about weighing them.
As I have learned Khukuris usually (except for Seargant, or Sargant?) carry the mark of the Kami who made them. Both of mine were made by the same Kami (whose symbol I still need to look up):
--------------------------------
It's now 2:19 a.m. so I'm going to be a horrible person and go to bed--leaving you all with a half finished review. Well, actually I never really got to the review part. You guys are left with the tantalizing tale of me buying stuff I don't really need. 'Night.
Well, I was up early today (6:45 a.m.). Not because I want to be, but because my cat has developed a penchant for pulling over glasses when she's bored. She snags it with her paw, and then sees how quickly she can dodge the ensuing mess. This morning she pulled over a gallon of ice tea in a glass pitcher. So while the laundry is in the wash--I'll finish writing this.
--------------------------------
Looking down the spine of the Khukuri you can see that this is a hefty blade. This particular Khukuri measures 15/32" across the spine where it meets the bolster, and it tapers down to 5/16" just before the point forms. It keeps it's thickness for almost the entire length, and well past the "kink", only tapering off about 3.5" from the tip. I think that some of this may be artificial tapering caused by the "hollow" ground into this section of the blade.
(The blade is not perpendicular in this photo, it tipped right before I snapped the shot. However, you can still see the thickness of the blade relative to the handle.
The tang starts at roughly a 7/32" thick and tapers down to 5/32".
It looks like there may have been some slight separation between the metal and the handle when the epoxy (tree sap IIRC) was applied. The handle is still incredibly solid, and I would feel confident wielding the Khukuri by the blade and knocking things around with the handle for quite a while before expecting it to break (e.g. have the panels fall off). Unfortunately, my face doesn't have the bone structure necessary to look like a "Nubs". So that test will just have to wait.
I can only have 10 images per post, so the review will be continued below...
(I fully intend to use pretty pictures to lure you into reading all of my nonsense.)
To start things off my name is Eric, and I'm a collector of sorts. I like things that are unique, different, and stand out. However, I'm very picky about how things stand out. I like things that are aesthetically pleasing as well as functional--I'm also more than a bit of a perfectionist. Why is this important? Well, it isn't really. But suffice to say that I bought two Khukuris under the pretense of using them while backpacking (and I will, but sometimes you need to lie to either yourself or your wallet) and almost solely because they were made in Nepal. It appealed to the side of me that craves things that are unique.
I should also mention that I'm not a blade person by any means. As a child I hated the fact that all of the best characters in video games used swords, and all of the best weapons were swords. I honestly like axes significantly more. I'm a fourth generation carpenter and for whatever reason my family uses axes instead of framing hammers. So I grew up liking axes, and again, they appealed to my appreciation of the unique. In fact, as I write this I'm occasionally switching between Firefox windows and trying to justify buying this. The point of all this is that I'm fairly ignorant of all things in regards to blades and short swords. So I will use the wrong terminology, I will create names and words, and I will probably drive everyone who knows anything insane. But, I will in return offer the review of a new customer which might help potential buyers make up their mind.
(This is my no-nonsense review partner, Emerald (Emmy).)
I will start this off with a lesson I learned in college, and that is that people who are wrong often have a larger audience than those who are right. With that, I begin.
I don't actually even remember how I stumbled onto Khukuris, or Himalayan Imports. ( Although I believe I was considering a Gerber Triton (at oh, around $300 was it?) and one of the sites that reviewed it also reviewed, and compared it to, the HI Khukuri.) I know that I was looking for a knife to take when I went backpacking. Which in all honesty means that I was probably researching short swords (I tend to take things to extremes sometimes). My only real criteria was that whatever I bought had to be something that would last a long time so that it could be an heirloom of sorts, and that it had to be fully functional. Functional to the point where if, on the absurd chance, I ever had to fight off a Grizzly I would feel feel confident that while I might break into many, many pieces--my knife would not.
(Note: The Smatchet Thread in the Sword Section is great, but--if you go to the bathroom halfway through it becomes significantly less funny. I don't know why, but the threat of peeing your pants significantly adds to the experience.)
I spent a day or two trying to navigate the HI website and learn what I could about Khukuris. For some reason the store (aka the place where you buy things) is much less confusing to make your way through for first timers. Eventually, after doing some reading on the HI site and through several reviews I decided that buying two 20" Ang Kholas might sound like a good idea, but it probably wasn't. I found my way to the 15" Ang Khola Khukuris and bought two of them.
(If you're sitting there thinking that this isn't an AK Khukuri, well you're right. Now sit down and wait for the rest of the story.
)Over the next day and a half I religiously checked the order status waiting for it to change. It didn't. So in my infinite wisdom I e-mailed Yangdu and asked if I could upgrade to the 18" AK Khukuri. Yangdu politely replied that my order had shipped the day after I placed it. Why it didn't update online I don't know.
(Note: Just sent off an e-mail inquiring whether or not the Tomahawk is still available. Sigh.)
I remembered reading somewhere that Khukuris had a full tang, but I found a picture on the HI site that showed a Khukuri with what looked suspiciously like a Rat Tail (Stick, Hidden) Tang. The tang is one area of a blade that I will absolutely and positively be a snob about. I e-mailed Yangdu and asked her if I could send the AK Khukuri back and get two Chiruwa Ang Khola because I would be more comfortable with a full tang. At some point during the conversation there was a miscommunication, so I will offer this advice. If you want a tang that runs the full length and width of the handle ask for your blade to come with a "Chiruwa" style handle. I've exchanged 34 e-mails with Yangdu to date and she has been nothing but kind and helpful, so I'm not trying to place blame, or accuse, etc. But this is one area, due to the differing terminologies/definitions that exist, that you want to be really specific about.
So after several long weeks of waiting for the UPS truck to come I finally have my two Chiruwa Ang Khola Khukuris. Which means that the review can officially start, and with pictures I might add.
As seen in the picture below the CAK come in at close to 16.75". They were made by the same Kami, but one is distinctly thicker at the spine and slightly "fuller" as well. Not by much, but you can tell the difference in weight between the two without too much trouble. One day, when I get a decent scale, I'll see about weighing them.
As I have learned Khukuris usually (except for Seargant, or Sargant?) carry the mark of the Kami who made them. Both of mine were made by the same Kami (whose symbol I still need to look up):
--------------------------------
It's now 2:19 a.m. so I'm going to be a horrible person and go to bed--leaving you all with a half finished review. Well, actually I never really got to the review part. You guys are left with the tantalizing tale of me buying stuff I don't really need. 'Night.
Well, I was up early today (6:45 a.m.). Not because I want to be, but because my cat has developed a penchant for pulling over glasses when she's bored. She snags it with her paw, and then sees how quickly she can dodge the ensuing mess. This morning she pulled over a gallon of ice tea in a glass pitcher. So while the laundry is in the wash--I'll finish writing this.
--------------------------------
Looking down the spine of the Khukuri you can see that this is a hefty blade. This particular Khukuri measures 15/32" across the spine where it meets the bolster, and it tapers down to 5/16" just before the point forms. It keeps it's thickness for almost the entire length, and well past the "kink", only tapering off about 3.5" from the tip. I think that some of this may be artificial tapering caused by the "hollow" ground into this section of the blade.
(The blade is not perpendicular in this photo, it tipped right before I snapped the shot. However, you can still see the thickness of the blade relative to the handle.
The tang starts at roughly a 7/32" thick and tapers down to 5/32".
It looks like there may have been some slight separation between the metal and the handle when the epoxy (tree sap IIRC) was applied. The handle is still incredibly solid, and I would feel confident wielding the Khukuri by the blade and knocking things around with the handle for quite a while before expecting it to break (e.g. have the panels fall off). Unfortunately, my face doesn't have the bone structure necessary to look like a "Nubs". So that test will just have to wait.
I can only have 10 images per post, so the review will be continued below...
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It's funny that you should mention it, since I'm in the process of registering to IKRHS to talk about it.