Betonov
03-21-15, 05:34 PM
Most of you know what a khukuri or kukri is. If you don't, click here. (http://i.imgur.com/yAqwUBK.png?1)
Some of you also know I bought myself one for my recent birthday.
http://i.imgur.com/UfckHhX.jpg
The blade is 24cm or 10 inches long with a sturdy indian rosewood handle. Handmade in Nepal with the mandatory wood and leather sheath and the traditional chakmak and karda.
http://i.imgur.com/jr9Rrqd.jpg
The Spine is almost a centimeter thick and I used to baton the knife trough some of the tougher logs. A big no-no with a normal knife.
The spine continues into a handle wide tang all the way to the butt, secured aditionally with two rivets. The butt or puchchar is also a reinforced rivet so it can be used to crack wallnuts or skulls.
http://i.imgur.com/GHcSMFo.jpg?1
The karda is a small 5cm knife used for finer cuts like skining an animal, cutting a roap etc... same metal, same indian rosewood handle.
The chakmak is the same as the karda only without the sharpened edge. It is used to maintain the knife and to sharpen the blade. Usefull also as a firestarters with ferorods.
The sheath has a riveted in leather belt strap for easy carry. Unfortunately the sheath swayes with your steps and your left hand is reminded frequently that there's a knifes handle swaying there.
http://i.imgur.com/wLvJrPv.jpg?1
So let's see what does it do. It can split firewood in your shed or in my camping site
http://i.imgur.com/NOzlOg2.jpg?1
This one was a clean cut, the birch was nice and dry.
http://i.imgur.com/XdTWW88.jpg?1
The birch at my camp site needed to be forced apart by batoning the knife trough with another log. The knife handled the abuse like an AK-47.
That was last week. Tonight I decided to to a chop and slice test.
This was a recently fell hornbeam branch, about 10-13cm in diameter.
http://i.imgur.com/F5Tzj5e.jpg?1
http://i.imgur.com/L9NRQN4.jpg?1
It took me 15 minutes to chew trough. Someone with a stronger hand would do it in under 10 minutes.
I then proceded to go on my knees and dig a hole
http://i.imgur.com/LKjP7xe.jpg?1
A kukri can be a small shovel. Not an entrenching tool but capable of making a dakota fire pit (http://thriftydutchman.us/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Dakota-Fire-Pit.jpg)
I then cleaned the knife and found no damage despite literally digging trough stones.
After cleaning was the chef Ramsey test
http://i.imgur.com/asQeF9v.jpg?1
Ramsey would hang me by my youknowhat for having a carrot like that in the pantry.
So an onion, a carrot and an apple walk into a kukri
http://i.imgur.com/H8Ce8hh.jpg?1
If you can't see from here how thinly it slices...
http://i.imgur.com/oG9svdH.jpg?1
...observe the light shining trough this carrot slice. Apologies for the bad picture, the camera refused to zoom to what I wanted and was more interested in the wall behind.
Coulnd't find a nice steak with bone to show it cutting meat. Sorry. Maybe some other day.
And all this after I chopped trough a tree and dug a hole without sharpening in between. Only cleaning.
So, is it as good as an axe for chopping, a shovel for digging and my santoku knife for cooking ??
NO. But it's perfect for light traveling campers and survival. Plus it looks so good. It's an exceptional knife with average efficiency for other non-knife uses.
As a westerner I was also shocked, shocked I say that this masterpiece was made by (for us) primitive methods.
http://www.nepalesekhukuri.com/images/kukri_maker.jpg
The entire thing is made from a steel spring leaf of a mercedes truck by a Nepaleese in sandals sitting on the ground, where the fan used to cool themselves is about the most complex machinery.
Here's a video about it
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qol5Ey3sImQ
Of course, nothing is perfect, not even a khukuri.
The steel used is not stainless and will start to rust if not kept dry and the sheath is very hard to clean and the wooden core will spunge in water. So if go for a swim the sheath and knife will have to be dried separately as soon as possible.
I have an old sock and a candle to wax the knife after use to protect it from moisture and keep it out of the sheath when not in use.
Also every sheath is made specificaly to every knife so once the sheath gets destroyed, you can't order a new one.
I bought it from this site: http://www.thekhukurihouse.com/
This model: http://www.thekhukurihouse.com/catalog/product.php?id=313733fe4d5
My order was processed in a week and then sent via DHL. They informed me via email during every step and the DHL tracking number was also not missing. Top notch service that does not dissapoint.
One more thing. My kukri was christened The Honey Badger.
Because, well, you know...
http://i.imgur.com/NcqTmvE.jpg?2
Some of you also know I bought myself one for my recent birthday.
http://i.imgur.com/UfckHhX.jpg
The blade is 24cm or 10 inches long with a sturdy indian rosewood handle. Handmade in Nepal with the mandatory wood and leather sheath and the traditional chakmak and karda.
http://i.imgur.com/jr9Rrqd.jpg
The Spine is almost a centimeter thick and I used to baton the knife trough some of the tougher logs. A big no-no with a normal knife.
The spine continues into a handle wide tang all the way to the butt, secured aditionally with two rivets. The butt or puchchar is also a reinforced rivet so it can be used to crack wallnuts or skulls.
http://i.imgur.com/GHcSMFo.jpg?1
The karda is a small 5cm knife used for finer cuts like skining an animal, cutting a roap etc... same metal, same indian rosewood handle.
The chakmak is the same as the karda only without the sharpened edge. It is used to maintain the knife and to sharpen the blade. Usefull also as a firestarters with ferorods.
The sheath has a riveted in leather belt strap for easy carry. Unfortunately the sheath swayes with your steps and your left hand is reminded frequently that there's a knifes handle swaying there.
http://i.imgur.com/wLvJrPv.jpg?1
So let's see what does it do. It can split firewood in your shed or in my camping site
http://i.imgur.com/NOzlOg2.jpg?1
This one was a clean cut, the birch was nice and dry.
http://i.imgur.com/XdTWW88.jpg?1
The birch at my camp site needed to be forced apart by batoning the knife trough with another log. The knife handled the abuse like an AK-47.
That was last week. Tonight I decided to to a chop and slice test.
This was a recently fell hornbeam branch, about 10-13cm in diameter.
http://i.imgur.com/F5Tzj5e.jpg?1
http://i.imgur.com/L9NRQN4.jpg?1
It took me 15 minutes to chew trough. Someone with a stronger hand would do it in under 10 minutes.
I then proceded to go on my knees and dig a hole
http://i.imgur.com/LKjP7xe.jpg?1
A kukri can be a small shovel. Not an entrenching tool but capable of making a dakota fire pit (http://thriftydutchman.us/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Dakota-Fire-Pit.jpg)
I then cleaned the knife and found no damage despite literally digging trough stones.
After cleaning was the chef Ramsey test
http://i.imgur.com/asQeF9v.jpg?1
Ramsey would hang me by my youknowhat for having a carrot like that in the pantry.
So an onion, a carrot and an apple walk into a kukri
http://i.imgur.com/H8Ce8hh.jpg?1
If you can't see from here how thinly it slices...
http://i.imgur.com/oG9svdH.jpg?1
...observe the light shining trough this carrot slice. Apologies for the bad picture, the camera refused to zoom to what I wanted and was more interested in the wall behind.
Coulnd't find a nice steak with bone to show it cutting meat. Sorry. Maybe some other day.
And all this after I chopped trough a tree and dug a hole without sharpening in between. Only cleaning.
So, is it as good as an axe for chopping, a shovel for digging and my santoku knife for cooking ??
NO. But it's perfect for light traveling campers and survival. Plus it looks so good. It's an exceptional knife with average efficiency for other non-knife uses.
As a westerner I was also shocked, shocked I say that this masterpiece was made by (for us) primitive methods.
http://www.nepalesekhukuri.com/images/kukri_maker.jpg
The entire thing is made from a steel spring leaf of a mercedes truck by a Nepaleese in sandals sitting on the ground, where the fan used to cool themselves is about the most complex machinery.
Here's a video about it
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qol5Ey3sImQ
Of course, nothing is perfect, not even a khukuri.
The steel used is not stainless and will start to rust if not kept dry and the sheath is very hard to clean and the wooden core will spunge in water. So if go for a swim the sheath and knife will have to be dried separately as soon as possible.
I have an old sock and a candle to wax the knife after use to protect it from moisture and keep it out of the sheath when not in use.
Also every sheath is made specificaly to every knife so once the sheath gets destroyed, you can't order a new one.
I bought it from this site: http://www.thekhukurihouse.com/
This model: http://www.thekhukurihouse.com/catalog/product.php?id=313733fe4d5
My order was processed in a week and then sent via DHL. They informed me via email during every step and the DHL tracking number was also not missing. Top notch service that does not dissapoint.
One more thing. My kukri was christened The Honey Badger.
Because, well, you know...
http://i.imgur.com/NcqTmvE.jpg?2