Hey there! Thanks to those who gave us a shoutout. As said previously we're always happy to help out with an enquiry and keen to get knives into peoples hands.
You could also look at Himalayan Imports on this forum; they regularly post drops so you can just wait until something that strikes your fancy comes along. With Nepalese Khukris it's not actual brands making them so much as brands importing them. They source the knives from individual craftsmen (called kamis) who make these knives through a very manual process and each have their own style.
I don't think this is strictly true. There are definitely brands that import blades from Nepal and then distribute locally, however a lot of these like Himalayan Imports, KnivesByHand or previously Tora have their own signature models and designs with specific features and QC processes that wouldn't be part of that smiths usual output. This could be thought of in the same way as cold steel contracting with a chinese factory to make and produce a folding knife which they then import and sell. This is representative of how the majority of all knives produced worldwide are structured for manufacturing.
There are examples that also contract out manufacturing and then have the blades shipped from Nepal, outsourcing the local QC check and distribution steps to Nepal also. I believe Tora is operating like this these days. This is sort of like dropshipping.
Next you have the most common setup in Nepal by knife numbers which is a brand that owns their own factory, employs smiths exclusively within it to make their own knife designs. QC is handled internally and the blade is shipped straight from Nepal. EGKH, GGK, KHT, KHHI, or Kailash currently are all examples of this.
The final category would be solo smiths who operate entirely on their own, including managing an online marketplace, creating designs, managing and shipping orders etc. This is currently done through facebook or etsy in some cases. Right now I can't think of any reputable makers (khotang/ barun baraili have given some very poor experiences recently). This is more like your typical american bladesmith and is something we would like to see more of in future.
While there are also a lot of local smiths who work in villages to serve local needs these smiths typically do not have any interaction with brands, houses etc and you wouldn't be able to purchase a knife from them unless visiting Nepal and either visiting them or a nearby market.
Take care,
Andrew and the team at Kailash
