what is the difference?

Azis

Azis

Joined
Dec 4, 2002
Messages
1,418
forgive the question not meant to be offensive...

what are the difference between Hi khukuri and Gurkha house?
say in common models like a service one

I am looking for specfic useable info not prefference

and yes I have a HI and just ordered another...but I also have 22 of the other as well as a few other makes. all have been good ...well not that Indian one with the coins...

what I would like to know is info from some of the experts who understand the differences in details
 
If I recal correctly, Cliff Stamp? ran some pretty rough tests on several khuks. I recall the Ghurka House knives were not hardened to compete with the HI blades.

I don't think those knives are sold under that company name any longer. Some one mentioned the seller just a few nights ago but, I do not recall the name. I'm not interested enough to try. HI blades work for me just fine.

I have heard of a couple of factories in India that are copying the HI knives and from what I have read they are hard to tell with out close inspection. My smalll nicholson file tells me quite a bit about a blade when I first get it.:)
 
Is Gurka house still around? They were still around when I started hanging out here but they seemed to have been in decline.
 
From what I cold find out the Ghurka House company folded up about the time you are talking about. I hadn't been on this forum very long either.

Some one mentioned Ghurka House a few nights ago and some one on the thread I am thinking about a forumite mentioned the name of the genyt that is selling the blades under a different name. I am going to see if I can find it. It will not change my mind about whick khuks I get.:)
 
Ghurka house is still on line as Khukuri house which I understand is the original, I write back and forth with them every few days, last time was sat.

The point about the shipping is true and they still have to pay those dumb rates.
He had good things to say about HI (he didn't have to because it was just an email). I buy a lot of khukuri for my school and I let them know I might have to switch to HI, but the question on differences is important for me to understand because I will be asked. From the one I own I have been happy with both suppliers.
 
Azis-- I do not own any Ghurka house khukuris, only HI khukuris. My understanding is that both overall quality and hardness are a bit lower on Ghurka house/Khukuri House blades as compared to Himalayan Imports. Ron Hood did a review of some Ghurka House blades, and seemed pleased with them. I've been very happy with my HI khukuris; they are superb blades. I wouldn't mind trying a Khukuri from Khukuri House, but I'm so happy with my HI khukuris that I'm not really too motivated to buy anything else right now.
--Josh
 
The way to find out for sure is to buy similar styled blades from both places and cut all sorts of materials with them.
 
Khukuri House, the suppliers of most khukuri sites, also once supplied the khuks to H.I., known as Shop-1, but H.I. kept having consistent quality control problems with them and were rejecting 1 out of every 5 khuks at the end.
Khukuri House was selling the H.I.reject's to the other companies, including Ghurka House.

((((I personally never would buy anything from Mr.Craig Gottlieb, Ghurka House, (not even his video which was considered excellent even by me, I got a bootlegged copy for free.:)) as I felt and still feel that his business ethics had a terribly lot to be desired.
The first offense was stealing the H.I.pix off of H.I.'s Website and using them as his own.
IMO his business ethics went downhill from there.
I beleieve he left a few of the guys whom had ordered his Special
WW III model hanging in the wind, but I'm not certain about that. Surprising the man had as many defenders as he had, but then, well.......:(
Nuff said about that, you can read all about it in the archives should you wish too.))))

At that point in time Pala had had enough and decided to start Shop-2 which has evolved into BirGhorka.

The Khukuri House knive's can be rail common khuks made from railroad tracks, not necessarily a bad thing, but not up to the quality of spring steel.
The rail commons can vary quite a bit in hardness, not always apparent to the common user, but very evident to the experts here.
One really good thing I have to say about Khukuri House is that they're at least still making their khuks with convex edges. The convex edge can hide many inconsistencies to the common user as well as an expert, but the expert can tell the quality of the blade in how long it stays sharp and how long it takes to sharpen it.
I most certainly wish H.I.Would go back to the convex edges!!!
The Khukuri House fit and finish isn't up to H.I. standards either.

Hope this shed some light on the subject and you found it helpful.:)
 
Originally posted by Azis ......I buy a lot of khukuri for my school and
Click to expand...
Since you mention a school, you might be interested in the threads resulting from this searching 'bando' on All Open Forums:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/search.php?s=

Also, go to the HI archives and browse,
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=&forumid=700

In addition there is an archive of Ghurka House/Khukuri House:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=707&daysprune=1000&x=5&y=10

I think at worst, you'll decide from your research that HI khuks are -At Least- as good as your current source,
And a better supplier for ordering in the States.
Especially when you consider the Rare occassion you might need the warranty fulfilled.

You'll see some names from here that posted there as one-time Gurkha Huose customers.

You might also try a Web search for Himalayan Imports to see if other comments are available.
 
Aziz,
I own some Khukuri-House knives and was not quite happy with all of them. I bought a Service#1 and the sweet spot was not well hardened - as I had to see when I chopped some branches. The Panawal I got has a very good blade with a well hardened and convex edge - but the riveted grip with the aluminium-pins went loose. The blade and tang seemed to cut or severe the second pin and rotate around the first one. - The tang went out between the chiruwa-style parts of the handle and was very uncomfortable to my hand. Now I have fixed that and the Panawal is one of my favourites - but of course I would have preferred things were right from the beginning. The balance-khukuri my wife got is quite nice and well made. So with my three knives from KH there are two problems - I was able to fix only one of them as I do not know how to harden the Service #1.
As the khuk-house-knives cost a little less I have to say they are worth the money - but the HI-products - being more expensive - are a different league of stuff. I own a HI Chiruwa, an 18" AK and a BAS non of them has failed in a situation; quality, hardness, finish and customer service (of course Lalit Lama is a gentleman too but Uncle Bill is unmatched) are better by far. Compare the Service #1 to the BAS from HI or simply look at karda and chakma. You will see and feel the difference.
Andreas

edited because of bad spelling...
 
Started with the GH khuks. Article by Dr. Ron Hood in Tactical Knives got me interested. Never did catch one of the articles about HI in there but did noticed one of Uncle Bills ads.
Side by side testing of an HI chiruwa and similar GH model showed much the same results for the GH as Dr. Hood found. The edge dented and chipped some on the GH model when used on hard wood while the edge on the HI held up and was still shaving sharp even after being subjected to more abuse than the GH! Both khuks are differentially hardened and will last, but the HI would be my hands down choice.
If anyone is interested in a GH/Khukuri House model I can hook you up with one. I will then take the proceeds and invest in an HI khuk.
 
YVSA...thanks for the history that makes a lot of things clear

ddean...thanks for the links

I ordered a sirupati when it gets here I will have the same model of khukuri as one from the other place so it should be a fair comparison, I will post what I find, looks like I have some good answers ready now.
 
Originally posted by BruiseLeee
I'll trade you this handfull of dirt for one of them GH khuks. :) Deal? :D ;)
Click to expand...
With a GH khuk on hand who needs a handfull of dirt? Don't think Uncle would let me trade it in for an HI khuk. (don't think he needs any dirt either). Anybody need any dirt?:D :D ;)
 
Originally posted by Skeletor
I'll trade you some rock-hard clay for that dirt.
Click to expand...
Bruise wants the GH khuk, you want the dirt, I don't want any clay but someone else might have something else to trade,,,
 
I think I can clear some of this up ( famous last words ).

Pala and Bill went initially with an arun down along the Terai. For the most part they turned out volume to sell to Khukuri House, which buys from all over Nepal.

They did have some spare time to make blades to HI's standards, and receive pay accordingly. So for a while, they did make standard quality for Khukri House, and then higher quality for HI both at the same time. the probem was that the arun's owner had to be on hand to watch the workers to keep them working at a sufficiently high level when turning out the HI khuks. This was shop #1

What was unfortunate was that the owner of the arun came down with back problems
that required going to India for surgery. Then afterwards had a long recovery period. From several months before to several months afterward, with the owner out of the picture, no HI blades were made. This left Pala sitting there with nothing to sell.

Pala finally ended the arrangement, with hard feelings on the shop owner's side. Pala then searched for several kamis to hire and set up a shop nearby Kathmandu.
This became shop #2, but this time Pala kept an eye on the production. The quality of the pine and other factors when up while unfortunately the cosmetics went down for a while. I've a 20" Sirupati from shop #2 that I keep behind the truck seat, and it is a worker, but it also is kind of an ugly duckling.

About this time Lal Bahadur ( Bura, or the old man ), the maker of the Royal Banspati, came by and made a Banspati ( willow leaf - duplicate of the King's khukuri ) for Bill. He ended up hired as shop foreman. Quality substantially inproved not only over shop #1 cosmetics, but in consistency of a higher temper, better handles, just plain overall. About this time the shop became "Birghorka" or "Brave Ghurka".

In the meantime, Gottlieb came along, purchased stuff from Khukuri House, and on finding the relationship from the former arun that made khuks for HI had been severed, he arranged to take up the slack in production from them, but without paying the high fees. He even got ahold of some khuks HI had turned down but had been marked HI and bought them up.

In short the whole mess was convoluted and the GH owner made it plain for anyone who wanted to look things over who maintained their integrity and who did not.

Anyway it's interesting but repugnant to go over too often.
 
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