Putting a Khukri to Good Use

[JShirley]

KH prices do not include shipping to the US, which is a significant part of the HI cost, along with paying their employees a very fair wage.

For test purposes, I just tried inputting an order for 4 small utility knives, totalling only 800 grams. Shipping to the US was $29.27 on a $31.06 order...

 

[lobo9er]

i saw a cold steel khukri for around $400 seemed way high for cold steel anything or is that fair? either way I wouldn't spend 400 on a cold steel product.

 

[PTK]

More importantly, the $400 CS khukuri isn't as good as the ~$150 for a HI.

 

[lobo9er]

I watched a vid on youtube of a khukri getting "destoyed" by brutal testing, it faired pretty well only really short coming I saw was with its handle, it slipped around alot. sad to watch it get pulverized though it was interesting and upsetting at the sametime.

 

[ADKWOODSMAN]

My uncle had an original that he brought home from WWII. He kept it at his summer place.

Someone ripped it off in 2009, my cousin is not a happy camper!

 

[lobo9er]

The khukuri house has some cool stuff. I like the variation of handles lots of choices. one thing i cant figure out is if they are full tang blades or not, some are obviously not but others its hard to tell. thats a big selling point for me.

 

[lobo9er]

http://www.khukurihouseonline.com/Content/Catalog/Browse/ProductDetail.php?PID=49ae49a23f67c759bf4fc791ba842aa2|5a4549

check out this one!

 

[lobo9er]

both web sites HI and Khukuri house have some very pretty knives.

 

[PTK]

Keep in mind, as stated earlier, HI includes shipping and they're already in the country (Reno, I believe) - KH aren't even in the country when you buy them.

 

[Magno]

Full tang blades are always important. Some of the KH models are a little hard to tell with, but all are functional unless specifically stated otherwise. If you feel unsure you can ask them. Or better yet just buy a model in which you can clearly see the tang sticking out the bottom

It all comes down to the "traditionalism" of the model, I guess. Personally I find the more simplistic military models often win out over the typical Nepalese ornamental style. My favorite of the ones I own is literally just one piece of steel with two wood scales riveted to it. Doesn't get much better than that.

 

[JShirley]

I'd have to disagree that full tangs are always important. Most knives in history have not been full tang. This includes most bowies. The important thing is a well-built product.

lobo, everyone here knows I'm no Cold Steel apologist, but their Ghurka Kukri (not the "light" kuk) is a lot of decent steel. I wouldn't pay that much for a CS product, but $300 isn't totally unreasonable for a US or Japanese-made blade that size.

Cold Steel is absolutely lying when they say The Gurkha Kukri’s VG-1 San Mai III® blade will out-chop any factory or handmade knives; including swords twice its size, even expensive, hand forged Japanese Katanas, though...

 

[Magno]

Let me clarify and restate that full tangs are always important for me and the uses that I put my knives to. It's something that I tend to look for, but by no means is it always necessary. Like you said, good construction comes before all else. I've handled many knives without full tang which would easily outlast a cheaper knife with a full tang.

 

[JShirley]

We agree, then. Especially if extreme use/abuse like prying may happen, full tangs are good to have.

 

[Skpotamus]

This story kind of blew my mind when I read it before. We definitely need more people like that Gurkha in this world.

http://www.khukuripalace.com I bought 2 of their kukri's last year (they shipped me 3 as part of a deal they had running and still have in fact)

The $40 kukri's are handmade and nice. Mine are all over 1/2" thick on the spine. I use them for camp hatchets and martial arts work.

Highly recommended. The only complaint was that the handle on the ang khola was brass, and was somewhat slick. I did a para cord wrap on it and it's quite nice now. The other two kukri's had wooden handles that I ended up wrapping as well to get better grip while chopping.