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Khukuri Knives Article
From Tactical Knives Magazine
I've always been a fan
of big blades. In my line of work as a survival
instructor/wilderness video producer, I spend a lot of my time
chopping, shaping and carving wood and bone. During the 30 years
I've been doing this sort of thing, I've learned that you can use a
big knife to do a big job. The khukuri is the epitome of a big
blade. (Editor's note: this is the spelling for "kukri" that those
closest to Nepal insist is right. Others say that "kukri" is the
correct English spelling.)
I've played with khukuri style blades for years. I like the drop of
the blade, and the big sweet spot in the belly. Years ago, a good
friend of mine, the late Martin Kruse, hammer-forged a khukuri-style
blade for me. I used it for years as my primary chopper. I always
wondered how the actual blades would stand up to my style of use,
but I shield away because I could never find a native khukuri that
said anything but cheap."
Real Khukuris
Recently I received two of the real khukuris from Craig Gottlieb
of Gurkha House for testing and review. These genuine Nepalese
blades were a far cry from the junk I'd seen on sale at gun
shows and shops. The two blades both showed the basic design
elements of the traditional khukuri: the big curved blade, the
traditional notch at the base of the blade and the beefy
construction real khukuris are known for. One of the blades
sported a full exposed tang with rosewood handle slabs, while
the other appeared to use a spike tang construction in a water
buffalo horn handle.
One of the things I've wondered about is the function of the
notch found at the base of the blade. I've heard all sorts of
stories so I thought I'd better check with Craig. He informed me
that the cutout is called the "Cho." He said that it appears on
all khukuris, and that it represents Shiva the Hindu God (and
the God of War) that governs destruction and transcendence. The
deity is usually shown holding a trident in one hand. The
crescent-shaped cutout on all khukuris represents Shiva's
trident.
Before I went to work whacking, chopping and splitting, I wanted
to get some hardness numbers. I sent the blades off to SCK in
Clancy, Montana, for a quick RC test. These blades are forged
from truck springs, heated in a fire and tempered with a tea
kettle! My thought was that control over the tempering process
might be a little spotty. I was wrong.
It turned out that, the blades were differentially tempered
surprisingly well. The spine on the blades read 22 and 25 RC
respectively. The midpoint of the belly measured in at 45 and 46
RC and the edge came in at 54 and 55 RC, not bad for some guy
squatting around a fire in sandals! The numbers also showed that
these blades are soft enough to take some serious abuse and keep
a tolerable edge. My bet is that whoever made these blades has a
lot of experience under his belt.
Each of the blades were slightly different in construction. One
model-the "Panawal" - is a rougher "workhorse" model with pinned
handle slabs, and the other-the "Bhojpure" has a finer fit and
finish. Both blades feature sheaths made for wood wrapped in
water buffalo skin. They both came with the traditional Chakma
(the dull flint-sparker and crude sharpener) and the Charda, the
sharper utility mini-knife.
While my overall impression of the big blades were good, the
smaller knives looked crude and rough in design and finish. None
of the smaller blades had a sharp edge, and one showed signs of
having been burned on the grinding wheel.
I decided to use the heavier blade for my testing, as I wanted
to give the Panawal a chance to go to war with one of the many
Ponderosa pines that choke my land. We loaded up the camera, the
snowmobile, a first-aid kit, and the cooler (to keep the
refreshments warm) and went out in search of a vertical victim.
There is a lot of young growth timber on the land, so I selected
a likely candidate for next year's kindling and went to work.
The tree had a cross section of just over 6 inches. I laid into
the cold, green wood with vigor and after about 20 hard whacks I
had less vigor and a nice sized chunk missing from the tree. 20
more whacks had it leaning and another 10 dropped it. After 50
whacks and a sore arm I checked out the blade. The edge seemed
to be about the same as when I started.
During the next two hours I whacked on green limbs, dead
branches, old downed timber and fresh snow kill. My final
impression; this blade is a chopping demon. But like all demons
it can bite you. The dramatic drop on the blade can cause the
knife to twist in your hand upon contact; this twist then gets
translated to "get the hell out of the way" energy. If you get
tired while using a khukuri, stop using it until you are rested.
It didn't bite me, but I can see that it has the potential to be
a real skin slicer.
The Bone Test
Ok...so the thing can chop wood like a chain saw but isn't this
supposed to be a combat blade? A blade designed to chop off the
limbs of enemies and remove the heads from buffalo? I have a
very special test for blades that claim to be tactical choppers
... bone chopping.
I've conducted this test on a number of blades in the past. I
use a fresh elk leg as the target. Elk bones are large and
tough. Over the time I've used the test, I've learned that it is
a great way to create a serrated blade. The impact of steel with
heavy bone has a special property that seems to break chunks out
of all but the most stalwart choppers. You can't be light in the
loafers when you whack a bone, you've got to get your wrist into
it (now where have you heard THAT before?)
Having started bone whacking in adolescence, I confidently
confronted the bone and went to work. It only took about 15
whacks to cut through the tough bone, sinew and muscle of the
leg. Wow! This thing can cut! Then I looked at the blade; now I
had a serrated khukuri.
When I looked at the edge under magnification I could see that
some very small pieces had broken off, but the majority of the
nicks were just places where the metal had indented under the
impact. Ten minutes with a belt sander or some time with a steel
should bring this baby back, but I was finished.
Some other points. The brass-tipped sheaths are functional and
do a good job holding the blades securely. I noticed that after
the testing the leather had become wet, and one of my dogs was
strangely attracted to it. A day later I, too, was able to smell
the attractant. "Roadkill" would be my description. The belt
loop is secured to a strap of leather that is compression-fitted
to the sheath. This affair soon loosened and the sheath and belt
loop parted ways. If I were going to carry one of these big
blades I would buy or fashion a secure Kydex sheath for the
knife and keep the native sheath for display.
The blade stood up to some severely destructive tests. There was
no edge deviation or distortion with standard chopping tests. In
fact the edge retention was very good even on the harder knots
and dry woods. The bone chop test is severe and some failure is
to be expected. If you are looking for a big mean chopper that
can denude a mountainside and hope to get it for the right
price, this is your baby.
--- Tactical Knives ---
DOES BEING INDESTRUCTIBLE MAKE A KNIFE SUPERIOR? -
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