Villager and 18" AK

[Cliff Stamp]

My villager and 18" AK arrived last week and I had a chance to do some work with them this weekend.

The villager, like Rusty and Will described, has a very rough finish to the blade. What surprised me though was that the scabbard and handle were first rate. The AK was at the same high level of finish throughout as all the other HI khukuris I have seen. The AK came much sharper, but the Villager ground easy and it only took a few minutes to put a consistent bevel on it.

I did some light chopping on some old scrap and some seasoned wood lying around and both blades held up fine. No chipping or indenting of the blades. I then did some digging and prying at some 2x8 to have a look at the tips (no problems) and broke up a couple of bricks with the two khukuris (testing handle stability mainly). Both khukuris showed similar levels of pebbling along the spine from hammering on the bricks. The villager lost its buttcap after about 50 or so smacks but the handle remained secure. I made a new one from epoxy.

I took the 18 AK out for a walk and did about 15 minutes of trail clearing with it. It is much easier to use than the 20" AK I have as its much lighter (my 20" AK is actually just a hair under 22" and it is much bigger volume wise than the 18" model). Its harder to use than my Sirupati on the lighter branchers, but on heavier, harder wood it works much better severing the largest branches with no difficulty. The 20" AK can of course do this as well, the main problem with it is not chopping through the branches but trying to stop it as the branches offer little in the way of resistance.

Once I broke out into a clearing I spotted a 12" diameter tree that was windblown and I figured that this would be a good time to get a feel for handle comfort, stability and edge retention. The AK went into the pine easily, the main problem was since the tree was wider than the blade of the khukuri, I had to clear out one side, jump over the tree and then clear out the other side. I had to do this twice before I could chop through.

Once I got home I cleaned off the blade, spent about 2 minutes on it with the karda, gave it a few swipes with my ceramic rod, and it was ready to go again. The edge will slice into paper well and take hairs off my arm. For those curious, that tree had the cross sectional area of 14 pieces of 2x4.

The 18" AK is a large improvement over the 15" model mainly because it offers a larger handle which is about the only complaint that the 15" AK gets. It will of course chop better and it has better reach. Its it as bit heavier, but there is a much bigger jump in weight from the 18" model to the 20" one than from the 15" to the 18".

I will be looking at these two khukuris in detail over the new few weeks.

-Cliff

 

[Bill Martino]

Many thanks for report, Cliff. I don't look for any surprises with the 18 inch AK -- it is just another standard HI khukuri meant for a lifetime of heavy duty. And I will bet that little villager holds up fine, too. The kami who made it does not want his neighbors coming back and swearing at him because he sold them a knife that won't do the job. The buttcap failure did not suprise me since the village kami seldom puts them on his knives. It was sort of a token addition.

Uncle Bill

 

[Cliff Stamp]

I forgot to mention that the only real negative about the villager was the chakma and karda. These are very roughly done and much thinner than the HI ones. The handle setting was also weaker and I could force the wood to crack just using my thumb.

This does not surprise me that much as Bill has commented before that often in Nepal they carry the khukuris without a scabbard. That and the fact that once you get to really small khukuris like the villager the chakma and karda start to get ornamental. For a radical difference the ones with my 20" AK are both a solid little knife and very functional burnisher.

-Cliff

 

[Bill Martino]

As you might imagine, Cliff, the Nepali farmer has his own supply of knife maintenance equipment -- a file and stone, usually, and he is seldom far from home. The farms are very small in Nepal so it is no big deal to walk back from field to house and sharpen up an edge if need be.

Up at Yangdu's home there were about a dozen khukuris stashed in various places and not a single scabbard, karda or chakma.

Uncle Bill

[This message has been edited by Bill Martino (edited 27 May 1999).]

 

[CD Fleischer]

Do they carry them around unsheathed or just leave them in strategic places where they are easy to get to?



------------------
Clay Fleischer
cdfleischer@yahoo.com

"My redneck past is nipping at my heels..." -BF5

 

[Bill Martino]

Clay, at Yangdu's home they have the khukuris scattered around in various locations -- easily accessible. Farmers ofen carry the khukuri in hand when going out to do some task. When they are going out for the entire day or overnight they will use a scabbard or find a way to carry without having the khukuri in hand all the time.

Uncle Bill

[This message has been edited by Bill Martino (edited 27 May 1999).]