Whats a Karda for anyway?

B

bigjim

Joined
May 7, 2005
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434
I picked on up the other day, one of Yangdu's deals. Pretty knife and I really like the carveing on the handle. Makes for s secure grip and the knife feels good in the hand.

That is until you try to use it. I sharpened my up and took it to the kitchen to make dinner. Its a poor slicer. Edge and blade way to thick. Poor choper since the recurved blade and curved spine do not lend themselves to that.

I think it would be just "ok" as a camp knife in that it is strong and should be able to do a lot of chores but none of them really well.

So from the stand point of having another nice looking HI knife and supporting HI I am happy. But I am not gonna be using it much. I think even a pen knife is more useful in the kitchen, for sure in the field.

I admit I may be missing something here. Can I get some feed back? What extactly does this knife do well?
 
Are you talking about one of those YCS jumbo kardas?

Jake
 
That's why I don't own one yet. Looks pretty as all get out, but to me, the design isn't as long on practicality as the HI norm.
 
I've been looking to shark one, for the sake of I love its looks, especially carved or in antler, but I don't know what it would do as well as a Kumar Karda or a JKM. I thought it would be okay as a kitchen knife, but wasn't thinking about blade thickness..
 
I don't have a YCS karda. They look spectacular though. My Kumar Karda by Sher is great! I think it'll be an awesome camp knife. I've sliced veggies and meats with it. Sharp as hell.
 
Having finally scored one (not yet delivered) I will undoubtedly reprofile it as soon as it comes. Okay...as soon as it's warm enough to go to the garage where the grinder is. I'll take it down to something like the Bark River edge...

That'll do it just fine.
 
Sorry for the thread Hijack but I spotted this on the other thread and was rather curious what type of Karda it was (or if it's considered a Karda).

I'm especially interested in the shape of the handle :)

71279699_55b6aa0018_o.jpg


To try and take it along the line of the thread,I had assumed these types of knives would be a good solid camp / working knife rather than a fine work blade.
 
I picked up a kumar karda by Sher in today's 12/7 deals. Why? Because I didn't have one. :D
 
Nasty said:
Having finally scored one (not yet delivered) I will undoubtedly reprofile it as soon as it comes. Okay...as soon as it's warm enough to go to the garage where the grinder is. I'll take it down to something like the Bark River edge...

That'll do it just fine.
Click to expand...

Yes, the Bark River knives are nearly at thick as HI knives and they cut(and hold their edges) like you would not believe.
 
Mindz_I said:
Sorry for the thread Hijack but I spotted this on the other thread and was rather curious what type of Karda it was (or if it's considered a Karda).

I'm especially interested in the shape of the handle :)

71279699_55b6aa0018_o.jpg


To try and take it along the line of the thread,I had assumed these types of knives would be a good solid camp / working knife rather than a fine work blade.
Click to expand...

That is a YCS (Yvsa Cherokee Special) Karda. After the success of the new run of YCS' last year, a lot of people said the large karda and the smaller karda that come with the khuk were more than worth the price of the khuk. I tend to agree. It appears that the kamis were informed of this and have been making larger versions of this karda. These are fine knives for camping. Full tang with slab handles. I've thought about making a sheath for one or both of mine to take them around sans the YCS khuk. However, i've always stopped from doing this 1) because i would be sick if i lost one of the kardas to this fabulous set and 2) Kismet came up with the Sarge. End o' Story. There isn't anything that I personally wouldn't do with one of my Sarge's that I could do with a YCS karda. YMMV.

Jake
 
Are you talking about the YCS kardas, or the regular older style?

Here's a closeup of the carving on my YCS karda:

cc17fp.jpg


The dragon carve matches the one on my HI katana, making a set.

The only lack of utility, if you call it that, is that they're belt knives- too big to stick in pocket like JKM or Sarge. Can't always wear a sheath knife, can always stick one in pocket.

This one'll cut anything... :confused: I like it a lot.


Ad Astra
 
Getting back to the original topic, I used a karda to trim my gigantic toenails the other night.:o
 
BigJim,

The YCS kardas are pretty thick. I put a convex grind on mine with the belt grinder, and it helps a lot. If you'd like yours done, just send it to me and I'll turn it around in a day or two. Here's one of mine. It could stand to be just a little thinner.
Steve

attachment.php
 
The two that came with the YCS are a good bit thinner than the others I have - the blades are tapered sharply from the tang to the blade. The two carved 11" 9 oz. knives are pretty thick, but no thicker than my JKM, which is a great day-to-day knife. The 14" 10 oz. would work as a kitchen knife. At 14" 15 oz., the other big one is best suited for sacrificial offerings I think, but I'm thinking it could do some chopping. All are by Kumar. As Ad Astra said, the biggest limitiation for me is that they're too big to carry in a pocket.

I ask myself this question more about my 18" trisul...

EDIT - I thought I remembered something about these being originally designed for carving and skinning...
 
Brilliant, thanks for the ID guys :) Dont' feel so bad about missing the sale on the one I was trying to buy now (which was a different knife apparently ^_^).

Are the Kardas differentially hardened in the same fashion as larger khuks (by that I mean the same sort of zones)? It does look as though the size and shape of the knife lends itself well to being a camp knife, for light chopping and food prep?
 
ferguson said:
BigJim,

The YCS kardas are pretty thick. I put a convex grind on mine with the belt grinder, and it helps a lot. If you'd like yours done, just send it to me and I'll turn it around in a day or two. Here's one of mine. It could stand to be just a little thinner.
Steve

attachment.php
Click to expand...

I am so sorry, I just saw this kind offer. If you don't mind I want to thnk about this for a bit. I have another project in mind for this blade. Your offer is very tempting. Once again..... I am grateful for the offer.
 
Hi guys...

Stupid question...What is the difference between the Karda pictured and the Sarge??

Wouldnt mind having one of those...Gotta get me a AK first though:D
 
Astro,
I think I started with a 150 grit belt, then 240, 400 , then 40 micron, 30, and finish with 6 micron.

Steve
 
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