Seems to me like the ones who contributed to the FAQ should get their share of th proceeds.
I doubt that there would be much in the way of cash proceeds, but it would be interesting for everyone to lend a hand and edit that accummulation of information into a real print ready book. Between us we can probably gather many thousands of khukuri photos, and there is enough material in the FAQ and elsewhere to pull together a half dozen very solid chapters of text on the history of Khukuris and Himalayan Imports. Imagine putting together a real tome (about 1000 pages) with photos and specs of most of the khukuries imported by HI since its start during the early 1990s. Then add a large catalog of photos for other khukuries all organized by OAL and Style.
Now that would be a real research tool; just measure the length of your unknown khukuri, turn to the right section, and flip through the photos until you find a match. The knife pictures could be mostly published in medium resolution BW perhaps 8 photos with individual captions to the page. We could always add a small full page/full color section for professionally taken photos of the 25 most outstanding examples.
Perhaps HI can put together a non-profit entity (HIMALAYAN IMPORTS KHUKURI RESEARCH FOUNDATION) to, accept contributions, gather and sort through the data, and produce a book with revisons every 3-4 years.
Steps:
1) Set up foundation
2) Select editorial commitee
3) Line up contributors, and sponsors (mostly pre-ordered books)
4) Edit
5) Publish
6) Roll excess funds into the KAMI SOCIAL SERVICES FUND.
7) All rights to be held by the Foundation
I would suggest an attractively bound book that would be priced to sell in the ~$US 150.00 range; or, at about the price of an average HI khukuri. (not to worry... there will probably be a few book blems too)
Anyone who contributes X_hours of work (reasearch and editing) would get a complimentary copy of the book and a big thank you, and all other contributions of photos and information would be duly credited.
n2s
