What is a balance knife?

[ndoghouse]

Well im not going to try to convince you that the ergonomics of a Khukri will replace your western styles but if you do yourself a favor, learn, and respect the techniques that have provided soldiers hundreds of years of utilitarian use as well as effective fighting capabilities the Khukuris provide you might eventually discover a whole other world of fighting and wood processing. Hard to get over for most noobie westerners but there are a whole bunch of dedicated addicts here that no longer use hatchets or smaller wood processing implements and prefer carrying a Khukri instead. Granted they will not replace a chainsaw or even a splitting maul but you will be surprised when you learn the proper use of the Khukri for what it is designed for. Some never do but most will. Give it a chance and you'll probably never carry a camp hatchet again. You cant google the proper way to use a Khukri in my opinion but when you do finally understand it and forget your western ways. Its day and night! The Khukuri performs!

 

[Karda]

This brings up another question ... what is the optimal length for relative balance with a large bellied blade?

There is no "optimal length for relative balance with a large bellied blade". Every user may feel differently about any khukuri. A tiny khukuri may balance every bit as well as a larger one. What is more important is that the user match the khukuri properly to the job at hand.

Well im not going to try to convince you that the ergonomics of a Khukri will replace your western styles but if you do yourself a favor, learn, and respect the techniques that have provided soldiers hundreds of years of utilitarian use as well as effective fighting capabilities the Khukuris provide you might eventually discover a whole other world of fighting and wood processing. Hard to get over for most noobie westerners but there are a whole bunch of dedicated addicts here that no longer use hatchets or smaller wood processing implements and prefer carrying a Khukri instead. Granted they will not replace a chainsaw or even a splitting maul but you will be surprised when you learn the proper use of the Khukri for what it is designed for. Some never do but most will. Give it a chance and you'll probably never carry a camp hatchet again. You cant google the proper way to use a Khukri in my opinion but when you do finally understand it and forget your western ways. Its day and night! The Khukuri performs!

I couldn't have said it better.