Value of Janawar Katne?

K

Kuklover

Joined
Jul 24, 2001
Messages
6
Here's my story. My parents have been living in Katmandu for a few years. Last Christmas they brought me a Khukuri. A 15 inch with engraving on the blade. I thought it was cool, I have a small knife collection and this thing looked wicked. Later they told me that the shop they got it from had all sorts of styles. I asked if they had swords, since I'm more into swords than knives. Sure, they said. Long story short, I told them to get me the biggest sucker they could find.

So I end up with this 43 inch monster sword that weighs a friggin ton. The blade is engraved on both sides and incredibly sharp. I went over to visit my parents to pick it up. The shop was really cool, name was Khukuri House in Katmandu. Everyone's eyes popped out of their head when they brought out the sword and handed it to me.

Anyway, after getting it home I tried swinging it around a bit in the back yard. I quickly decided that A) I'm not going to do that again, B) the only realistic defensive situation this would appropriate for is if you're being attacked by an elephant, and C) my arms hurt.

In any case I was wondering how much a sword like this would go for in the American market. The price was quite low in Nepal, although I can imagine what it would be like if I had to ship it from there. Here's some pics of it. The tiny little knife at the bottom is a 15 inch Sirupate.

kuk1.jpg


kuk2.jpg
 
The place you got this from has a website. They call your sword the "Buff Head" and it goes for a pretty good price (I believe lower than U.S. $100)

I e-mailed them several times about availability about 1 year ago and never got an answer. I thought they might have been out of business but I guess not.

I must say the Buff Head looks quite nice but one has to wonder what corners they MIGHT (not that they necesarrily did) cut considering the thing is so big, fully engraved, and yet costs less than $100.


I'm sure Uncle Bill has heard about Khukuri house...how is there quality, Uncle?

regards
Matt
 
Cut corners? Even so the scrollwork on that blade is quite good.....of course I wouldn't use it to against the local elephant population here in Miami. It would be good enough for me to just put it on the wall or a rack for admiring. Of course it would be BELOW the HI products. Nothing beats handmade HI Khuks and nothing should be presented above them or before them.
 
What's the address for this website.

I sort of doubt it's the same outfit. There are many many shops that sell Khukuris of various quality in Katmandu. The one I got this from supplies their military. It's not a factory, they're all handmade. I have documentation with it about where it was made, by whom, etc... I'll dig it out.
 
Khukuri house also makes the stuff for Gurkha House. And yes, they also supply the regiments. On the positive side, you cannot get them in the US for that little. You have to pay about $30+ for shipping, I believe.

Bob
 
I was just thinking; and I believe that Uncle Bill will atest to this, there is an abundance of skilled metal workers in Nepal, so I don't think that the knife/sword had any corners cut in its construction. I think that the main difference would be the level of exploitation of the person who made it. What does anyone else think??? It might have been left soft, since few people would be sadistic enough to cut anything with a highly engraved blade, but you can't really tell that without testing the hardness.

It does look nice though.
 
Hard to tell, but since it's the same name I would assume the website is run by the same people. I have a stand for my 15 inch that looks a lot like the ones in their pictures, except mine has carved designs all over it.

In any case, it's not a big deal to me if this isn't the absolute best blade made in Nepal. I was just surprised at how inexpensive it was. I have quite a few other swords and the quality of the blade is on a par with other peices I have that cost far more, and have a whole lot less metal in them. This thing will hang on my wall for display purposes anyway. And at least I'll be prepared if some stray cattle wander into my yard :D

I'll have to get one of HI's knives so I can compare them directly. Even if HI charges twice what I paid these are really bargain blades. Much more functional than any other knife I have.
 
I spent a few minutes looking over the website and various posts on this and the GH forum and from what I garner Khukuri House is a wholesaler with several forges that sells their stuff to GH and some outfits in Nepal while also maintaining their own shops.

In any case, your piece is really nice, it looks (at least in the picture) quite similar to an HI piece...the only difference is that the carving isn't as dense/meticulous as it would be on a HI sword...but still, that's a small price to pay for the amount of blade you are getting for $86

2 questions though- Are you sure the blade is hardened? and How thick is the spine?

regards
Matt
 
I haven't visited the Khukuri House since Feb. 2000. Quality is decent but not on a par with BirGorkha. Shipping costs are quite expensive.
 
Originally posted by Matt B
2 questions though- Are you sure the blade is hardened? and How thick is the spine?

regards
Matt
Click to expand...

The spine is a little over 1/2 inch thick. About 5/8 or so.

I'm relatively sure the blade is hardened. I was told they make all their blades up to the same standards, including the big suckers. The only difference with mine was the engraving, so I would assume that it was hardened.

Oh, and it weighs 11 pounds.
 
You can check the edge with a file. If the file cuts the edge easily it is not hardened properly. If the file doesn't like to cut the edge and wants to slide across it then it is hardened up pretty well.
 
In a day and age where you can spend $200-$10,000 for a hand made folding knife any HI product is a bargen at 5 times the price!!! HI quality is unserpast in the hand made arena! These blades will be here on this earth long after we are gone. Khuklover you really need to get an HI Khukuri!! And welcome to the Cantina!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top