Who on Earth could break a 25" Kobra?

Steely_Gunz

Steely_Gunz

Got the Khukuri fevah
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Ok fellas, I have to admit. I'm guilty of one of HI's big khuk no-no's. I actually used my 25" kobra blem to chop thru a tree yesterday. However, in my defense I really had no choice in the matter. Like many of you i'm sure, i was enjoying my post-forth-of-july day off at my mom's house when a mother of a storm came thru and wrecked the place. REALLY bad one. I mean, Twister kind of stuff. No one was hurt, but it did manage to snap off the top third of about 4 or 5 sweet gum trees. The doozy was the 2" in diameter 40" tall tree that it just pushed over leaving a hole and 6'+ rootball hanging out of the ground. The real pain in the butt was the 12" thick 30' tall tree that missed my truckbed by about 10 feet. Anyway, so once the squall settles down I find that not only is my mother's yard trashed, but i'm trapped in the driveway with no ax, no chainsaw, and no help except for my fiancee' and my 4'10" 85# mother. What i did have was my 25" Kumar made Kobra. I had brought it to cut back some brush around my old axe/knife throwing pit. Here were my choices: wait for the neighbors to get home and bum their chainsaw or press my kobra into service. I think its obvious which route i took;)

I have to say that i was expecting to give this field report with a heavy heart. Ya know, chipped edge, bent tip, folded over edge, warped blade. None of that was the case. i chopped thru 2 inch branches in a single swipe. I made short work of 3-5" branches that were holding the trunk of the tree off the ground. Finally i was able to breeze thru the full foot of tree that was blocking my path. The Kobra seemed to love it. I worked with the blade until it was hot from friction. Not a ding, not a chip, not a roll, not even a dull spot. Just magical. Even the hairline crack seemed to seal itself from the sweat of my hands. I KNOW i could have broken that blade. I KNOW that it was not designed to be subjected to that kind of work. However I did it knowing full well what could happen. Had i broken it I would have lived with it and not expected anything from HI in return. This kobra just exceeded every one of expectations.

This was not intended to be a test thread where i subject a thin-bladed Khuk to a bunch of rediculous tests to see if i can break it. The fact of the matter is that I was stuck. I mean really stuck and my HI Kobra pulled my butt out of the fire. Uncle Bill, I thank you for the excellent khuk. I really don't know how i would have handled the situation without it. Aside from the blisters on my hands, I had a very cool 4th of July day off. Now i might have to order a 20"+ AK for the rest of the clean-up;)

~Jake
 
My 25" sirupati has been heavily tested and used; my 25" kobra has not, only because I already had the sirupati as a user, but it's every bit as stout as the siru and I have full confidence that it could do the same job. Tom Holt swore by the 25" kobra, which was good enough for me. :)
 
Great report, glad everyone was safe. Question, do you know the weight of the Kobra? I have a 25" 38 oz beast that I would not feel bad about using as you did. It seems to be made as heay as most sirupati that come around. I think that it could handle almost any chopping just not the prying, digging and blast shield duty that some of the other Khurks can do. On the other hand I have a 18" 19oz that I wouldn't feel would be able to stand up to chopping day in and day out but anything short of a full blown tree I would use it if I had to.
 
Thanx, Mark
If i'm not mistaken i believe that it weighs in around 32 or 33 oz. not the beefest of Kobra, but still 2 full pounds of khuk.

~Jake
 
Glad to hear it! Honestly I'm not too surprised it did so well though; my 25" kobra took a few chunks out of some of the test logs at MWKK04 at Nasty's house without suffering any damage. I wouldn't do it every day but in a pinch it'll do just fine.
 
Many thanks for good field report. This is how it should always be but every now and then a kami stutters. It is difficult to be consistently perfect 100% of the time.

Remember the guy who broke 4 khukuris out of 4? I still don't know how he was able to do this. I told him he had set a record. In 16 years we've had nobody even come close to 4 out of 4. But, it was enough for me. He's on the no sell list.
 
I am ashamed to admit that I never actually use my khukuris.
I just polish and oil them, hefting and holding.
Is that wrong?
 
You owe it to yourself-

and to your knives- to take at least one or two out and cut things with them. You will learn a lot*. I personally use bore cleaner and a green scrub pad to
remove sap, then follow with oil.

Trust me, buyu.

John

*Such as how to tsuki with a kukuri!
 
I just got back from the family reunion. I dont think any of my family even came close to liking my 18" kobra. When I asked if my uncle had a stump or other big peice of wood for me to whack on with my knife he pointed me to some railroad ties in his horse coral. I came back a little later and said that I couldn't break it, so he offered to. I figured that he would use a hammer or power tool on it so I declined. I later found out that he was thinking of putting it in a vise and prying it. I assume that would be too much for the "little" kobra.
I do plan on owning a chitlangi by the next time I go over there and as long as no power tools are used I will invite him to try and break it. Would that still be covered under the warrenty?
 
Common sense should be exercised- otherwise, you will lose that ability.


When I was seven, I and a friend- a year older- managed to break an "unbreakable" comb between Sunday School and Children's Church.

Hey, maybe I *did* actually get something out of all that enforced religious BS!
:D

John
 
..and decided to compare the 20" Kobra to the Swamp Rat Battle Rat. The Kobra is about 1/4" thick and 20" OAL. The Battle Rat is 1/4" thick and about 15" OAL. Hmmm. The Battle Rat is considered to a very good chopper and virtually unbreakable. With the Kobra you get more weight, length, and a better designed blade for chopping, so in reality if a Kobra ever failed in a wood cutting/ camping/ whatever task I'd be pretty disappointed.

I think that we get so used to the size and girth of H.I. khuks we often forget that even the weapons grade "slim" type is just as beefy as some of the best "regular" knives.

Just some food for thought.

- D
 
Yo?

If you set out to break it, and it were up to me, I wouldn't even consider honoring the warrantee.

But I'm of the belief that the H.I. khuks are edged tools, and not to be abused OUTSIDE the limits of a tool's use.

Don't hurt nobody doing nothing. :)

Kis
 
You have a point there kis. I realize that if you want to break something then you probably will. But where does it go from testing a khuk (smacking it broadside on a stationary object, or using it as a pry bar) to an attempt to break it.
I am trying to find a review where the tester used the khuk as a bar for pullups. I might edit this later with a quote.
 
Vampire Hunter D said:
..and decided to compare the 20" Kobra to the Swamp Rat Battle Rat. The Kobra is about 1/4" thick and 20" OAL. The Battle Rat is 1/4" thick and about 15" OAL. Hmmm. The Battle Rat is considered to a very good chopper and virtually unbreakable. With the Kobra you get more weight, length, and a better designed blade for chopping, so in reality if a Kobra ever failed in a wood cutting/ camping/ whatever task I'd be pretty disappointed.

I think that we get so used to the size and girth of H.I. khuks we often forget that even the weapons grade "slim" type is just as beefy as some of the best "regular" knives.

Just some food for thought.

- D
Click to expand...

How true. My Sirupati will hold it's own again a lot of other "Regular" knives. :) BTW Dan, which SwampRat did you end up getting?

Heber
 
Actually I've got my Black Howler on right now. I wear it every day to work.



You know I followed my own advice and I think in about a year I'll have to order a Kobra.

- D
 
If you've got Dan's sharpening CD and followed the instructions using a khuk for pullups will quickly end in seperating yoru fingers fromt he rest of your hands. :)
 
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