Windlass Steelcrafts a good user?

orca8589

orca8589

Joined
Jan 27, 2007
Messages
6,518
I figured this would be a good place to ask this question: I want to get a Kukri, and I'm figuring on getting the WS 'standard issue Indian Kukri'. I only need a chopper/heavy user right now; later on I'm definitely getting one or more of Himalayan Imports' kukris. My question is, how do the WS kukris hold up to heavy use? I know that the general opinion of WS is that their finish quality isn't that good, and I'm not concerned about appearance right now anyway. Any of you wise old Kukri sages have any thoughts on their durability? :thumbdn: or :thumbup: ?

thx - cpr
 
Windlass is hit or miss, and with their kukris it's a miss. Fit and finish is poor and their hardening isn't very good (I think it was Dave Rishar that etched one and only the tip was hardened). They will also come blunt (not really a big deal, but worth mentioning. On the plus side they are fairly cheap.

Welcome to the forum.
 
I started out with a windlass kukri in 1987.

I still have it. It's held up to heavy use, but that's all I can say about it.

I bought another one years later and shattered the handle. The Blade and tang survived though. This is what led me to HI. I figured there HAD to be something better out there.

And there is.


You can't compare Windlass kukris to the ones produced by HI. It's like comparing a raggedy old Chevette to a Mercedes.
 
My first khuk was a Windlass khuk. It was generally OK but was quite rough in manufacture. It is very light duty compared to any other quality khuk I have. Sheath is crap and the chakma and karda are pieces of scrap thin sheet metal.
All in all, it cost little, so I was out little with the experience.
If I were giving advice it would be, buy a 15" or 16 1/2" AK from HI. Those are great little beaters. You can frequently find them on Yangdus daily buys.
You will be better off.
 
I have never had a problem with my AC/WSC Regimental Kukri. I was using it as a short easy to carry chopper when clearing underbrush on my Family Property in OK and clearing and cleaning up brush for bonfires for friends partys. In short it's my favorite beater when I am going out and choping areas of unknown quality. This design is what lead to my Love affair with the Kukri and to eventually purchase several HI Models.

My logic was if you are going to run into something that has potential metal and or rock debris embedded in the wood ( it was a habit of old farmers ranchers around here to nail fences directly to trees and saplings) I would rather damage a cheaper tool than my $100 + dollar blade. Plus it seemed to do a decent job on slicing through greenbriar vines.

I am currently trying to break another model from WSC ( and a cheap machete) in clearing out overgrown underbrush at my new house. With all the scrap steel, cast Iron, tires and assorted other remodeling trash entangled in the underbrush here I am not taking a chance that my HI's will find something that they can not handle. The HI can handle quite a bit but not smashing full force into a piece of cast iron behind the branch I am trying to chop. ( I'm still trying to figure out how that gear wheel got up there)

Some of the more experienced users have said that WSC quality is hit or miss. I must have one of the better lots I also have a article by Bill Bagwell where he says that this knife is about as close to unbreakable as you can get for a $20 dollar blade.

I Know the above is risky to say on an HI forum. On the other hand the HI's have a better quality than the WSC and when I find stuff that is just a little too big for my Regimental and too small for my Axe I have used my M-43 on it. That thing was like a bleeping Nepalese chainsaw. It chewed up whatever was in front of it.

Marc Adkins

orca8589 said:
I figured this would be a good place to ask this question: I want to get a Kukri, and I'm figuring on getting the WS 'standard issue Indian Kukri'. I only need a chopper/heavy user right now; later on I'm definitely getting one or more of Himalayan Imports' kukris. My question is, how do the WS kukris hold up to heavy use? I know that the general opinion of WS is that their finish quality isn't that good, and I'm not concerned about appearance right now anyway. Any of you wise old Kukri sages have any thoughts on their durability? :thumbdn: or :thumbup: ?

thx - cpr
Click to expand...
 
Welcome, Orca!:)

I have not tried a WS, so I can't comment. I have used the old Indian tourist models that fold, dent, and bend when coming into contact with any object harder than soft butter. I have also had experience with the Cold Steel khuk-like-objects. They make very nice (and quite expensive) machetes. You might shoot Yangdu an e-mail to see if she has any really ugly blems in stock. Honestly, I think that you will be much better served (and happier) with an HI over a ho-hum khuk.

Also, since this topic isn't exactly about HI, I'm going to shuffle it on over to the Cantina. Feel free to keep the discussion going:)

Once again, WELCOME:)
 
Thanks to all of you for the replies; I think Winkleried 'hit the nail on the head', as it were. We live on a rental property, and I occasionally clear brush, etc. to keep the critters at bay. We've got four places where trees have grown into & around fences, who knows what else is imbedded. I had to re-profile my hatchet after a spring weekend of yard work at the inlaws, where I hit a spike in a branch I was cutting, so I'm extra careful with the tools I'm using nowadays.

winkleried said:
The HI can handle quite a bit but not smashing full force into a piece of cast iron behind the branch I am trying to chop. ( I'm still trying to figure out how that gear wheel got up there)
---
I Know the above is risky to say on an HI forum. On the other hand the HI's have a better quality than the WSC and when I find stuff that is just a little too big for my Regimental and too small for my Axe I have used my M-43 on it. That thing was like a bleeping Nepalese chainsaw. It chewed up whatever was in front of it.

Marc Adkins
Click to expand...

Back about 1980-81, my dad destroyed a chainsaw one afternoon while trimming a tree that was damaging my grandmothers' roof. Years before, someone had left a handful of washers sitting in the crook of a branch; the branches grew around them, then my dad 'found' them the hard way. We didn't know what it was until we split up the branches.

thx - cpr
 
Steely_Gunz said:
Welcome, Orca!:)

I have not tried a WS, so I can't comment. I have used the old Indian tourist models that fold, dent, and bend when coming into contact with any object harder than soft butter. I have also had experience with the Cold Steel khuk-like-objects. They make very nice (and quite expensive) machetes. You might shoot Yangdu an e-mail to see if she has any really ugly blems in stock. Honestly, I think that you will be much better served (and happier) with an HI over a ho-hum khuk.

Also, since this topic isn't exactly about HI, I'm going to shuffle it on over to the Cantina. Feel free to keep the discussion going:)

Once again, WELCOME:)
Click to expand...

Steely_Gunz - thanks for the welcome & moving the post. And thanks for the input as well.

I'm still undecided - I'll think on it for a day or two. I may get both kukris, WS and HI. The WS may not be the best in QC, but it'll be cheap fun to (try to) beat up & kill. The HI will go on the camping & hunting trips with us where I'm reasonably sure there won't be any surprises lurking in the trees. Heck, even the 'Blems' I've seen on the HI website are works of art. Haven't seen any ugly ones yet.

Also, no CS products for me. IMHO, a little too pricey for what you get, and there are other things out there that are better, for the $$$. I also don't abide Thompsons' habit of bad-mouthing competitors, whether they deserve it or not.

thx - cpr
 
A year or two back I etched my Windlass (the infamous Lion-Headed Wonder) out of curiosity. It was indeed differentially heat treated, but it seemed as if they'd simply dunked about half of it tip-first into the quenchant and called it good.

I was a bit concerned to say the least. I haven't used it since.
 
i wouldnt rule out CS just yet...

be sure to try the $15 khukchete... its not all that bad :p
 
Jaiofspam said:
i wouldnt rule out CS just yet...

be sure to try the $15 khukchete... its not all that bad :p
Click to expand...

I know most CS are reasonably good products; I just never could get into the whole marketing thing they do. I know other outfits market aggressively as well, but there was just something about CS I didn't like. I think it's the "You're stupider than a half-brained buffalo if ya use anything else!" approach they have.

thx - cpr
 
I bought one at a knife show (back when we had them here) years ago. It was the "official issue with broad arrow" - sorta a Mk. III thingee.

From how a new file felt on it, it was about as hard as an axe -- not bad for rough work where you might hit somthin' hard. However, the handle scales fell off after a time.

So I got another. It was dead soft. Wouldn't hold an edge on a bet, although it looked nicer than the first one.

Next bought a Lion Butt. Hopeless POS.

So I gave up on khukuri for years, until I saw a real military vet at a gun show (nice patina; screamed SERIOUS STEEL!), found HI, and spent way too much trying to cure Hi Kukri Pox (which can also lead to buying Tora's and Mark II's, and M43"s, etc, etc. :o)

_______________________________________________________________
The sweetness of low price is soon forgotten while the bitterness of low quality long endures.
 
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