What first got you interested in Kukris?

[John K]

Wow, it's rather hard to say. I've always had a love of ancient and military history-majored in archeaology-and have studied images of khukuri-like weapons in Greek and Roman art and found their shapes compelling and beautiful. This combined with an appreciation for raw utility in any tool and rekindled into obsession when I discovered HI.

 

[namaarie]

Reading tests for tactical knives (don't laugh ). Breaking stress and the like. I noticed that they used an HI as the control for all the tests because they just couldn't break it! I looked up its own test and was blown away!

Nam

 

[devo55]

Long before you even knew there was an Uncle Bill, somehow and for some reason, you went looking for kukris.

Why was that?


My first introduction to crooked knives was Jean Claude Van Damme's "Cyborg" movie. He carries a khuk on his belt, and of course, saves the world with it.

After that, some Bando friends (martial arts) said khukuris were the preferred weapons of their art, and they proceeded to pull some out of their closets.

I was hooked after that, although I didn't know it ....

What got you started?

~ Bamboo ~

Bando training. I did a few months training with Rick Rosseter and Al Cook. They are two of the best Bando practioners. I remember watching them do some "kata" with their khuks and I was hooked on this blade style. I wish I had done a lot more training with these guys. A recent inquiry indicated that they still train the faithful. I might be too old and lazy to benefit from contacting them, however.

Jeff

 

[Yvsa]

As a boater, the khuk seemed ideal for chopping fish. To repel boarders & as a pistol substitute the khukuri went to sea...

This pic is of two of my bestest buds, a shark, and their 25' Sea Ray.

Ad Astra

Wonder if they ate the shark?

 

[Howard Wallace]

A little hike in backcountry Nepal in '79. I saw the khukuri used and saw what it can do. Got my first one a little later in Kathmandu. After a little while back in the states I gave it to my Aikido sensei. Then there was a long dry spell with a SAK and a hatchet, till I encountered Bill in the '90s.

 

[Sutcliffe]

The bastard had(this was in '97) "the Man Who Would Be King". The Little Gurkha Rifleman 'Billy Fish' made me think I'd like to have a knife like that. Since then I've bought about ten from HI and one tourist khuhuri that was the most vile example of blacksmithing I've ever seen.

 

[Ad Astra]

Wonder if they ate the shark?

That was yesterday, and no, they were posing. Bad news- we ALL may have eaten shark... There is a practice called "piping" where sharks & stingrays are caught and an iron pipe banged through them (on a hard surface) to produce a scallop-shaped piece of seafood... frequently sold as "scallops"...

Sorry, but it's so. Shark meat if processed correctly & quickly escapes the ammonia taste it will have if neglected by even a few hours.

I like to catch my own redfish (red drum), flounder, and speckled trout- in that order... we like our same-day-caught mullet too.

Looking forward to spring, summer & rebirth.


Ad Astra

frozen seafood sucks! so do hurricanes... any plains or mountainsides for sale?

 

[deputy tom]

I needed a Dirk to wear while playing my Pipes and one other piper was wearing a Khukri.This was 17 yrs ago.Dirks were over $100.00 some as high as $350.00 at the time and the Atlanta Cutlery type Khuks were $25.00 at the gunshows so guess what I carried for three years before finding an affordable "made in India "Dirk?I traded that Khukri away last year and recently aquired a CS LTC.Hence my renewed interest in Khukris.tom.

 

[Moff8]

My mothers Uncle served in Malaysia during national service alongside the Ghurkas. He brought a Kukri back with him. Saw it once when he was searching through a drawer in his kitchen. You know the drawer I mean, the one that holds all the bits and bobs of the house that you may one day need. I was hooked at that point. Maybe 20 years later and I am getting interested in bushcraft and someone mentions a Kukri. I search on the web and find HI a few emails to UB and I have a WWII 16.5 with wood handle. Works great. UB told me of the forum and I have been visiting ever since.

 

[Bill Marsh]

My Dad had a beautiful razor sharp khuk he brought back from overseas. He kept it hanging on the wall with a crossed pair of original Sykes / Fairbairn fighting knives. The spine was at least 3/8" thick, and my Dad really knew how to sharpen a knife. It was the single sharpest thing I have ever held. It had a horn handle, and looking back I'm guessing it was 17" or 18". I last held it when I was a teenager, but I recall it was shaped like an AK, but had no fullers that I remember. The scabbard fit like a glove. I learned the correct way to draw a khuk from its scabbard when I was 12 and cut the living hell out of my hand pulling this knife from a tight scabbard incorrectly.

I loved that knife and my Dad used to let me hold it. Along with most of his guns, $20,000 worth of carpentry and mechanics hand and power tools, all of our shared freshwater and deep sea fishing gear and tackle, tents, backpacks and assorted camping gear, several knives he had made by hand, his expensive refracting telescope, AND most of a 3000 volume library with many first editions, it evaporated like magic within a few weeks after he died in 1982, sold off by his useless druggie POS stepson for coke and whores, and moron second wife. (Not that I'm still bitter after almost 25 years! (-

Bet you wished that Sredni Vashtar could have had a visit with them! Chomp Chomp! "Do one thing for me Sredni Vashtar." I loved that story when I was a sickly child.

 

[PZ93C]

I ran across one of the cheapo "India" khuks in a gunshop.

Now..... I'm the kinda guy that must do research on a potential puirchase. You know the type. Had to think about a shower head for a year before buying one.

Needless to say, I ran across HI while doing that research and I have a 16 and a half inch Chirawa AK by Amtrak. It does everything I need it to.

And......

I left that cheapo to rust.

Brian

 

[cognitivefun]

I needed a trusty knife to throw during summer in order to kill mosquitoes, and I knew that the knife I was seeking had to come back to me when I threw it.

When I discovered khukuris, I knew that we had a match. It's been True Love Since.

 

[Thomas Linton]

I needed a trusty knife to throw during summer in order to kill mosquitoes, and I knew that the knife I was seeking had to come back to me when I threw it.

HI bungee cords - Second to None!!

 

[Shann]

Uncle Bill and HI Imports, and the Cantina of course, got me involved in khuks. The first one I got was an 18" WWII model. I kind of had been watching the UBBB's for a while and tried to get a WWII. I was too slow, but Uncle Bill emailed me and said that he'd send me an even nicer one. He did, it was and the rest is history. I still think that khuk is my best user. I've beat the heck out of it, and it has some nasty dings to show for it.

 

[prn]

Me? I've always appreciated all sorts of tools, especially sharp ones. So after I had found BFC and had been hanging out for a little while, I started seeing references to HI and all sorts of people who thought HI Khukuris were tops. I wasn't all that impressed at first because they looked funny and it wasn't at all obvious to me why anyone would want all that extra edge for chopping or why the point didn't get in the way when you chop. But some interesting folks (e.g., Cliff Stamp) were talking about the relative merits of (other) knives, hatchets and khuks for chopping and the differing techniques for them. I was intrigued and started looking at this forum.

As we all know, this is about the strangest forum around. (which means it was just about right for me. )

Anyway, I soon spotted a BAS blem (from shop 1) in a UBDotD and mailed UB. I didn't have paypal at the time and told Bill I would send him a money order so we wouldn't have to wait for a check to clear. Well, Bill being Bill, he not only wouldn't wait for a check to clear, he wouldn't even think about waiting for the money order to arrive. He sent out the BAS immediately on nothing more than an emailed message from a guy he had never heard of before. Typical Bill, but sure not typical of any other business I've ever dealt with before.

The blem arrived in short order, but it was way too nice, in my limited experience, to use as a beater. I hung out some more and eventually emailed Bill some more and asked him to pick out a villager for me. I still have both of those Khuks, by the way. I've bought a few more since then, both Birgorka production and villagers. I don't need any more. Heck, I don't need what I have, but HIKV has nothing to do with need.

Paul

 

[DKP]

One of my uncles, who served in the Corp during WW II, told me in the 1950's about meeting some of the Gurkas & seeing the khukuris in action. He didn't know the name of the knives, however, & I didn't think too much about it until I read an article in a knife magazine in 1988 about the knives. Ordered one from AC. It was a POS. Saw an ad for "the real thing" from a dude down in Slidell, Louisiana. I called him & Uncle Bill sent me one.....that day & didn't even know me! I got it & used it one day & called him & said the check was in the mail & as they say,"the rest is history." I don't know which I have enjoyed more; these knives or being associated with Yangdu & UB. We exchanged a good many letters over the years, as well as phone conversations on topics from volcanoes to horse trailers. He never ceased to amaze me. His knowledge, wisdom & sense of humor were far above average & in all these years, he never steered me wrong on selecting a khukuri.

 

[philthygeezer]

I wanted a lightweight but large knife that would cover my ass in the wilderness. Tried a CS trailmaster and thought it was OK but still lacked. Went on an internet search and found the Cantina. Got my 15" AK, did some chopping and got hooked. I'll likely never go out below treeline without a khukuri of one sort or another. They are life insurance in a small package.

 

[Bill Marsh]

I think that it began at the Baltimore Antique Arms Show in 2002. I met John Powell there and he told me about HI Forum. Once you start posting, you join the Cantina Club.

Been buying them ever since. Only use one of mine seriously and that is a YCS blem. Great all around khuk. Good for Kudzu.

 

[Bamboo]

Hey, how come no one razzed me for watching Van damme movies??

~~

 

[Yvsa]

Hey, how come no one razzed me for watching Van damme movies??

~~

We were being polite and trying not to notice out of sympathy for your family.