Uncomfortable "ring" on the handle

Daniel L

Daniel L

Gold Member
Joined
Nov 2, 1998
Messages
1,974
I've been doing a little more chopping with my 17.25" WWII (actually just beating on a tree) and find that after a prolonged period, the "ring" carved into the horn handle makes the underside of my middle finger sore. The ring is "raised" from the handle. Basically it is just rubs against the second joint of my middle finger.

Is this because I'm using a loose grip and thus the handle moves, causing the friction? What is the purpose of the ring?

I'm thinking of grinding down the ring to make the whole handle "level" - and then wrap in insulation tape for a non-slip grip (I think I have really sweaty palms!).

Has anyone else experienced this "ring" scenario, or do you all have toughened callouses on your middle finger after all those 4 x 2 experiments?
smile.gif


Thanks



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Daniel
A knifeknut in New Zealand
 
When I initially did some light work with an Ang Khola the handle felt a little less than comfortable to me as well do to the ring and I was tempted to sand it down. However I gave it some time and as my grip tightened up it stopped being a problem. The only way I can feel the ring catch on my hand like you describe now would be if I did reverse grip full power stabs. Its purpose may be to simply be a guard of sorts to prevent your hand from sliding too much on the khukuri. Bill would know more about that as it seems to be a traditional design.

-Cliff
 
I have not had this problem with any of the khukuri's, but maybe it's in the way I hold it.
 
Daniel, if you want to customize your handle to suit your hand, do it by all means. There is not another knife in the world exactly like yours and making the handle the way you want it only makes that knife more your knife. It will not affect the knife.

Cliff, almost all the information I have about khukuris was given to me orally. There is very little about this knife that is written down. It's all been passed down from generation to generation and I am sure that much of the information has been corrupted as it usually is in most oral traditions. About the only way to keep it pure is to put it into song or poem and that was not done. I heard only one song in Nepal that mentioned a khukuri -- it told of a young man on his way to the bazaar carrying his Sirupati khukuri.

Knowing that, I have heard stories around the fire that suggest the four small grooves that preceed the "ring" might represent the four winds, directions, or the four basic elements. The ring itself might be the wheel of life. There is little doubt that this design once had considerable significance but exactly what nobody knows for sure today. It is the same with the cho or notch. Ask a half dozen kamis what this means and you will get a half dozen different answers and each kami will swear that his intrepretation is the correct one! I guess the final answer is, yes, it means something but I'm not sure exactly what. I wish I knew.

Bill
 
Bill, you *are* writing the book on the khukuri, on the threads of this forum. One of these days, if someone saves these threads, there is going to be a goldmine for some author to find.

Sorry to tell you this, but I have read all of both HI forums, every thread, and that *is* what's happening here. It'll just have to make it into print somehow. The job is yours and you couldn't give it away now if you tried.

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Russ S
 
And furthermore, Uncle Bill, you can't get out of it on the basis of all your information coming to you orally. Michael Hittman, who wrote "Wovoka and the Ghost Dance" ISBN 0-913205-14-1 got his Ph.D in Anthropology from collecting and collating oral stories from the Yerington Paiute Tribe. The Walker River Tribe in Schurz had it's history written by a former Tribal Chairman and Council member on the same basis, and I can tell you that although intelligent and having facility with words he hadn't the verbal and written skills you have.


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Russ S
 
Thanks, Rusty. One of my goals was to impart this information about the khukuris, the kamis, Nepal, Gurkhas, with the hope that it would survive me. Maybe this forum is doing just that.

Bill
 
Zio Bill..

I'd suggest contacting Spark here and the admin on KF, make some arrangement to have them download your forum to you...perhaps once a week or 2. With that archive on your puter, organizing and editing wouldn't be so painful. Further, the greater number of places the data is archived, the safer it is
 
Hi Daniel

I have had no problems with the rings. They tend provide a bit better grip when my hands are sweaty.

The 17.25" WWII model handle is quite long. Try gripping tighter or moving your hand around a bit before you sand the rings out.

The rings on an Indian khukuri I had a long time ago were quite sharp and those would draw blood.

Will
 
No, I did not modify the handle on the Indian khukuri. I just quit using it and eventually sold it. Even though the I pointed out the problem to the new owner (female), she tried it out and bought it. She probably liked the price I sold it at too.

Will
 
Well I played with the grip some more, then took the plunge with a grinder. The ring just didn't suit my hand. I've done some chopping with it in comparision to a Cold Steel Recon Scout and Vietnam Tomahawk and my middle finger is just fine! It doesn't look as nice now and I've also put insulation tape around it since I like a slightly "tacky" grip.

I'll post the results of my limited chopping tests next week since I have some pics to go with it.

daniel.
 
Back to "The khukuri, kamis and the Gurkhas that used them" by Bill Martino. Great idea downloading all this to be easily edited and put into THE book Bill's friends have been bugging him about for years. Between his 10,000 picture collection, his and his family's knowledge, and some intelligent feedback from the forum, this could become a great piece of history. Do we have an editor out there?

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JP
 
Akshually I wuz thinking about an editer who cud spel, rite & reed. Not just sum 1 hoo likes kookry nives.

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JP
 
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