Which Ang Khola from HI?

S

saiya-jin

Joined
Oct 25, 2007
Messages
4
Hi there,
I am willing to buy 1 piece of Ang Khola for myself - will be used for camping, tripping through forrests etc. I am above 6 feets tall (188 cm, 6ft and 2 inches?) and I have rather larger hands. I cannot decide myself between 18 inch and 16.5 chiruwa - HI site they look pretty different - handle, thickness of blade (and of course weight and length :). Price is same, so the question is: which one suits better my needs?
Bottom line question: is there any difference between horn and wooden handle except look?
Bottom line question nr2: I am from Czech republic, and i don't see and way how to order item from yahoo store sites. Is there any workaround or any other way how to order this beautiful weapon? Link to existing thread about this would be enough :)
Thanx for any info

Martin
 
Welcome Martin!:)

Really, it's going to depend on what kind of chores you plan on encountering in the woods. If you want a knife that will chop, pry, split, and be very packable, then a 16.5" chiruwa AK is great. Sometimes the handles of the chiruwa come a bit thick and bigger in diameter that I would like. However, I'm not as big of a guy as you are:o The handle thickness should be fine if you have larger hands.

If you aren't worried so much about how the knife is going to lash to your pack or belt and want more chopping power, the 18" AK is a great way to go. Really, the 18" AK gives you the most chopping power while still remaining controllable. Anything bigger, and you have to be really, really careful.

As far as horn or wood...take your pick:D They are both great. If you want something that doesn't get as slippery when wet, then you might choose wood over horn. However, horn can be lightly sanded to give it a grippy feel while still remaining "exotic". For me, I like wood the best. You can sand it, stain it, and seal it to customize the khuk to fit your hand exactly. Horn is just a bit tougher to work with for me.

As far as ordering goes: Just send an email to Yangdu at himimp@aol.com
She's the wonderful lady that runs this outfit. Just let her know what you are looking for, what size your hands are, etc. She'll give you your price with international shipping. Pretty simple:)

One again welcome!
 
What Jake said. I'll add that a 15"AK was my first & is still my favorite. I'm blessed to be a rural dweller & spend a lot of time in the woods & fields. It's my constant companion.
Uplander
 
Thanx for your feedback ;)
Now my greatest question is handle - I have bigger hands (palms), bud definitely not gigantic ones :)
And as I can see from HI website (http://www.himalayan-imports.com/khuk1.html) the handle differs between 16.5" and 18" models ... its longer and thicker. Longer is better for me, no doubt about that. But isn't the bigger one more for really big hands?
I do ask simply because if I am not able to hold knife perfectly and control it, I can imagine all kings of injuries I can make myself only because handle is really too big for my hands and suddenly slips out of sweaty hand.
How about that?
 
Generally, I prefer wood over horn. Horn seems to be more temperature-sensitive and prone to chipping in the cold. Wood may dry out and crack under some conditions, but should hold up well if you apply some furniture oil occasionally.

Typically, a khukri in the woods will replace a hatchet or axe in function. If you need more power to chop through bigger stuff, then bigger is better. If you're going to be hiking rather than camping out of a car trunk, then smaller is lighter and easier to pack.

The "standard" all-around starter khukri is the 15-inch AK. It's small and reasonably light, but has more chopping capability than you might think. The 18-inch is also bigger and heavier than you might think -- remember that these blades are heavily leveraged toward the tip. That's not to say that an 18-inch AK isn't perfectly manageable, but you'll want to chop a little while then rest before chopping some more until you get used to a khukri so you don't strain yourself -- if you get more tired than you realize, one bad chop can result in serious injury.

The 16.5 chiruwa has a very different handle than the other AKs. Most khukris have a spike-type tang that extends through the handle. Chiruwa handles are more like the handles on a sheath knife -- the tang is a slab, and the handle is composed of two split halves riveted together through that slab. There are advantages and disadvantages. The advantage are that the tang on Chiruwa handles are stronger and the wood is easier to replace. However, while I recall seeing posts about how to replace damaged traditional handles, I don't recall anyone posting that their tang had broken.

Traditional style handles provide some shock absorption, so are somewhat easier on your hand. For very cold weather, they're also warmer because your hand should only be in contact with wood or horn, not steel. Also, if the handles don't fit your hand satisfactorily, traditional handles are much easier to customize because they don't have that thick slab of steel to grind/file. It might sound like I don't like chiruwa handles, but that's not the case. It's just that "stronger handles" isn't as much a factor as you might think, and traditional handles have advantages worth considering that are sometimes overlooked.

Also, bigger isn't always better; I bought a 12-inch AK after reading such good things about them on this forum, but I didn't take it seriously until I actually held it -- really, how effective can a one pound "chopper" with about a less than 8-inch blade be? I'll tell you: I wouldn't choose it if I was going logging or clearing brush, but for on a long-range hike where weight is a consideration, it's one of the best all-around camp knife choices you could possibly make.
 
Howdy, and welcome.

I've used both Chiruwa 16.5 and 18, and they both have their place...but I'd start with a 15". Hard to go wrong with that, regardless of what size user you are. :)
 
saiya-jin said:
Thanx for your feedback ;)
Now my greatest question is handle - I have bigger hands (palms), bud definitely not gigantic ones :)
And as I can see from HI website (http://www.himalayan-imports.com/khuk1.html) the handle differs between 16.5" and 18" models ... its longer and thicker. Longer is better for me, no doubt about that. But isn't the bigger one more for really big hands?
I do ask simply because if I am not able to hold knife perfectly and control it, I can imagine all kings of injuries I can make myself only because handle is really too big for my hands and suddenly slips out of sweaty hand.
How about that?
Click to expand...

I wouldn't worry about it. My first Ang Khola (and still my favorite) was a 20" that I special ordered with a Chiruwa-style handle. It's going to be bigger than a standard AK handle, and bigger than the 16.5" Chiruwa's handle. My hands are very wide, but my fingers aren't real long, and I have no probalems at all, holding onto and controlling the 20" AK, I'm a 5' 10" (178cm?) guy. Neither the 16" Chiruwa nor the 18" AK should give you a problem.
 
Chiruwa handles are more like the handles on a sheath knife -- the tang is a slab, and the handle is composed of two split halves riveted together through that slab. There are advantages and disadvantages. The advantage are that the tang on Chiruwa handles are stronger .....
Traditional style handles provide some shock absorption, so are somewhat easier on your hand
Click to expand...
One kukri (not HI) which I've used a lot for heavy cutting is a 15" bladed 28oz sirupate. It has a chiruwa type of handle, with wooden slabs. For a better grip - and as it turned out to absorb some shock as well - I have the handle wrapped several times around with self-amalgamating rubber tape. Fortunately, the handle was a bit on the slim side to start with, so the layers of tape don't bulk it up too much.
 
I have two Himalayan Import Ang Khola khukuris... a 15" and a 12" (length over all).

The handles of these are designed in such a way that I think it would be fairly unlikely that they would ever fly from your hand while you chopped. For a start the handle is at an angle to the blade, and secondly the butt of the handle is so much wider than the main grip.

Frankly, my 12" Ang Khola is so easy to carry and is such an impressive 'chopper', my 15 inch one hardy gets used at all. So I'd actually recommend that you look at getting a 15 inch Ang Khola instead of the 18" model. These tools are remarkable.

However, your circumstances may be very different to mine. I chop mainly smaller branches, with the occasional one up to maybe two inches in diameter. If I had to chop a lot of bigger stuff I would consider a bigger khukuri or an axe.
 
I`m 1.86 cm tall and have a few HI blades, and 15"ers tend to be the best for me, either AK, BAS or even a Sirupati if you like light blades.

Also the12" AK is really a great blade even though its on the small side (more like a backup)

in conclusion try to remain around 15" + or -
 
I haven't had a bit of trouble controlling my 20" AK. It is one seriously mean blade for removing tree limbs and slicing thick vines. It's a bit heavy for carrying long distances though. Ditto for my 25" Sirupati.

But I'm a big (6'5") strong backwoods farm boy and I've been a khukri user since 1987.

Unless you are accustomed to using a heavy tool for cutting work, you'd probably be better off starting with something lighter. Until I discovered the khukri, I was using an antique broadaxe with the handle sawed back to 20".
 
I'm 5'10" with hands that are not super large but probably a little bigger than average. I find the handles on the 15 and 16.5" models to be too small quite frankly. Sanding off the ring makes it a little better (because the ring ends up right where my ring finger is instead of between my middle and ring fingers). I find the handles on the 18" models to be far more comfortable. For someone well over 6' tall with very large hands, I would imagine the smaller 15 and 16.5 model handles would be unusable. Just my $0.02.
 
Welcome to HI and forum, Saiya-jin
 
thak you all for wise advices,
finally I chosed and ordered 16.5" chiruwa with wooden handle.
I can't wait to get it!!! Been monitoring EMS pages few times a day ...
Will post some pictures after arrival of my new pal :)
Thak you all again!
 
good choice. my M43 has a horn handle no problem even in sub zero cold. dont worry about the grip fitting your hand you will get used to the knife with use.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top