I recently bought a cold steel kukri. I did not know what to expect, so I will give a little review of it before I get into my post.

I got one of the lower end Kukris from Cold Steel. I think I may have paid too much for it, but I didn’t want to drop 100$ just yet on an HI model. The knife itself is solid, and hefty enough to do some solid chopping, which is about the extent of what I have used it for so far. I have used to shave some kindling off of a log for my fire pit, which is where I practice most of my fire craft. My only real issue so far is the factory edge. I don’t know what I was expecting, but it was pretty dull. I know it is a lower end model, but I wasn’t expecting it to barely chop wood! It would literally bounce off of some of the logs I had on my woodpile. Well, about five minutes with a file and it was sharp enough to do most of the chores I needed it for (i.e. brush clearing, limb chopping etc). Overall, the price was right, it seems very strong, and it has held to edge that I put on it pretty well.

Now, to the meat of my post, what now? I know that the Ghurka's use this knife for everything from fighting to food prep, but most of the techniques I find on the web are for fighting. Can anyone give me a good resource for different techniques for employing a Kukri other than as a machete? There may not be anything else it can do besides chop, but I am just very curious about what else I can do with it.

Garrett

One of my sons has the CS LTC and it is his hands-down favorite big knife. He uses it for everything, choosing different grips (on the spine of the blade) for different non-chopping tasks. The best I can tell you is make an effort to actually use it in the woods and don't be shy about grasping it along the spine. For example, it's a passible drawknife. It works something like an ulu for slicing / chopping food. And so on.

Regards,

Tom

I dunno if this is the one you've purchased, but IIRC their lower end model is far thinner than most real khukuris; something like 2.75mm as opposed to nearly 8mm. It's more of a machete (thin) that's just shaped like a khukuri. The weight of the real ones is part of the reason they chop well.

I purchased a knockoff khukuri, like an Indian tourist piece or something, probably made of pot metal or some other cheap metal. Still, it was thick, and after a little sharpening I could chop through a 1.5" tree limb with little effort. It's still not really sharp.... for example, it won't cut through a thick handfull of tall, dead grass, but I'm workin on it <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Use it for anything you'd use a large knife for (batoning, shaving, etc) or a small hatchet. As mentioned in the reply below, you can grab onto the spine of the blade for greater control and use it as a draw knife, or maybe dig with it.

Just be careful and stay safe!

You're spot on. The $20 model is a funny shaped machete @ 2.75mm.



The LTC is 4.75mm thick.



And they have a new model coming in July that is about 8mm thick, at least at the portion near the handle (I have not seen one, nor do I know anything about it).



FWIW, I like the shape of the LTC - lots of belly on the blade, and my son heartily agrees. To me it looks like it has a little parang influence in the shape (discounting the khukri downwards bend).

None of these would be as cool as a really good HI model, of course - at least, that's what I get from reading reviews. OTOH, the LTC is not nearly as heavy to pack as a "real" one...

Tom

I got a knock on the door one morning. One of my new nieghbors was a retired Ghurka visiting his nephew. They noticed the Tibetan prayer flags on my patio, gamelon CD playing in competition with my Deadhead nieghbor and decided to find out who( or what <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />) was inside. I was honoured with a basic lesson in Bantu fighting and a HI blade. Kukhris evolved into many shapes; some pure fighting, work tools or combinations. Are they effective? Well, fuel use pressures have nearly stripped Nepal of vital woodlands in recent decades and I'd rather face the local wannabee 300 lb Hell's Angel than any 5' tall Kukhri armed Ghurka ! It's an interesting ethnic tool,reflecting an ancient design used since the greeks at Troy. Knife,chopper,sword in one. Just be carefull. This tool is very unforgiving to the careless.

to slice people's heads off?

Uhmmm....

Actually, the kukri is the result of hundreds of years of refinement to make a single tool that posses maximum versatility and portability. Traditionally, the kukri is pretty much THE EDC item for the Gurkas. They hold it as highly as the Swiss place thier little red goodie, the Swedes the mora, the Fins the pukko and us Yanks the bowie. All of these, even the SAK can kill, but realistically, while is part of the design, they are tools. Hard working tools.

*gets off soapbox*

And I apologize if you were trying to be funny and my day left that part of my brain paralized. :P

One problem is that what you have is NOT a khukuri, but a khukuri shaped machete...
I have one, and I have both HI and KH khukuri's, and there is NO similarity between the way they handle... The real khukuri's are almost useless for cutting light stuff because they are too heavy to swing fast... Your CS one is much better for that... BUT, the second you get to anything big enough to have any bark on it, the whole situation reverses itself... I have stopped using my GB Forest Axe for anything smaller than six inches because I can almost always cut it faster with my khukuri...
Things up to around 1.5 to 2 inches are cut with one swing, and, for me at least, a lot less difficulty, because the blade is long enough that you do not have to aim perfectly to hit the limb, and I also seem to have a lot more control...
I also can use both hands on it like a draw-knife to smooth the stump before spraying it with tar to seal it.

I have a Khukri that my Dad bought back in the 70s. It has a 16" blade. This site tells how to prep it for survival: http://www.m4040.com/Survival/Ghurka/Khukri%20Modification.htm I sharpened mine and reshaped and wrapped the grip with para chord but I am not real impressed with the Khukri as a cutting tool. I have only been using it for a week. It is to heavy and short to swing fast like a machete and lacks the bite of a similar weight belt ax. I am going to keep working with it for awhile to see if I find a better strategy for using it. I see the possible advantage of the length of the blade being safer than a hand ax. I also can see me using it as a drawing knife which might come in handy. I guess the verdict is still out for me. I hope you get some useful info or technique for using it. It would help me too.

David Enoch

I've seen a number of 70s era "kukris". Made out of old tin cans and fenders, I think. Utterly worthless. Too heavy, too soft.

Start with a good one, and you can't go wrong. Start with a bad one, and at best, you loose money, at worse, you go to the ER.

I think anyone who really wants to test out a Khuk should try an HI Khuk before making a decision. In a world full of imposters, these are the real thing and there is a very big difference.

"HI"- I've seen taht abbreviation used in this topic, but do not know it.

If it is a brand name... *shrugs* I'll stick with a real one. From Nepal.

http://www.himalayan-imports.com/

I think the steel in my knife is pretty good. I have a pretty sharp edge and have been chopping on a 10" oak log and have not rolled the edge. The steel seems to be as good in quality as a good ax. When I got the knife the edge was really blunt. I have been trying to thin out the cutting edge. These knives are really odd shaped for sharpening.

I read a post on outdoor magazine that shows how to make what they call a shearing cut with the Kukri that is supposed to greatly increase the cutting effect. I have tried it but not had much luck with it yet.
http://outdoors-magazine.com/s_article.php?id_article=81

David Enoch

Invest in one of the CHEAP band sanders/grinders from Harbor Freight when they are on sell for $19.00.
You can get belts for them from differenat places up to about 6,000 - 12,000 grit, and can also get lether belts for stropping.
Remove the plate from behind the belt and you can put a good convex edge on your khukuri with it...
Then it will cut BETTER than a hatchet of the same weight...
HERE is a link with some examples and tips on chopping with a khukuri.
There is also a LOT of information HERE.

Then as JKR mentioned, it's probably your technique. That's just practice.

You don't want to hold it like a hammer. You want to hold it like a sword. At least in my experince.

Oh, it produces wonderfully effective trauma. That's just not it's primary role.

It's like my walking stick- yeah, I can give you joints you weren't born with it or send you off to a nap, but it's never been used for that. On the other hand, it works great for making a biped into a stable triped, poking places before I put my feet there, moving things I really don't want to touch with my hand, and getting water from the river into my nalgene without getting my feet wet. :P

All in all, the kukri is a knife. A nice knife, a big knife, but a knife, the most important tool you can have. *looking at fingers* At some point, we lost our claws. That wasn't a very smart choice....

Well I have read your posts and I want to say thanks for all your help. I was initially disappointed by the knife, but now, after I literally beat the crap out of it, I am much more enthusiastic.

After my initial disappointment, I really began a hate type relationship with the blade. I used it for all kinds of stuff, chopping, smashing, digging, fire poker, anything that I didn’t want to go back to shed and get the correct tool for the job, I used my kukri. I even used it to pull nails!

Well It has definitely changed my mind about the blade. After all the abuse I gave it, including digging and chopping all kinds of woods, I have a new found appreciation for it. I was about to order a new blade based on some of your recommendations, but this knife has definitely proven itself to me.

So I am going to keep it and continue to use it. My wife thinks I am crazy, as I carry it with my everywhere I go in the yard and in the woods behind my house.

I am going to replace the sheath that came with it. It is pretty cheap and not very user friendly in the woods if you are trying to use the knife, and then put it away, but then again, you can always stick in a dead tree or something like that.

All in all, I have a new found respect for this tool, and I think I will keep it with me for a while. I intend to trade up soon, and possibly get one of the cheap ones that were mentioned by DavidEnoch. It would be an interesting project I think.

Thanks again for all your help with your replies!

Garrett

Now what ??

After reading all the doc on HI web site + all the posts, now I HAVE TO buy one, too ....... <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I followed the advice I found on M4040's webpage and bought a cheapo from sacroinc.com. After a few days of hitting the edge with my file set, my lansky kit and a few other sharpening tools and I now have a kuhkri I am proud of. I am making a new sheath out of some scrap leather I have lying around. Once I get that done, I will post some pictures.

Garrett

Its been a long time since I wrote this post. Anyway, an update is in order. I have modified the cheapo from sarcoinc.com from what I can tell, I have myself a pretty darn good knife. I have reshaped the handle to make it more comfortable to handle and I have blued and sharpened the blade with my belt sander so that it can easily cut paper. I dont want it shaving sharp....yet.

I have made a kydex sheath for it, but I am waiting on some parts to come in so I can finish it. I have some eyelets on order and once I install those, I will finish this sheath as a dry run. I have made some pretty big mistakes while I built this one, so I am using this as practice.

I have some pics of the knife, but I will need figure out how to post them, I will get some up, if there is any interest.

GArrett

We always love pictures...

Here are a couple of sights that might give you some idea about the usefulness and care of a Kukri. http://www.thekhukurihouse.com
http://www.nepalesekhukuri.com both have some great info about the knife and some of the soldiers that carry them.

I bought my Khurki from the second link in your post when I was in Nepal. Cool of you for posting it brings back memories

Garrett,

Where did you get your Kydex from for your sheath?

There are a lot of sources for kydex, this is just one...

I get my kydex at knifekits.com. They have decent prices, but fast shipping. I have ordered some stuff from texasknife.com as well, but that was recently. They have about the same prices, but you have to specify how you want to material cut.

There are quite a few places to order it. These are just the places that were suggested to me.

Garrett

Here is a picture of my Khukri. This pic is not the best one, but it shows the over all effort. I sharpened to blade and reshpaed the handle and drilled a lanyard hole at the base of the handle.



This is a close up of the handle.



And finally, the finished product. I aded the lanyard and wrapped the handle at the hild with blue electical tape. I did this for two reasons, all my survival stuff is blue, so I can find it when I drop it in the woods, and the handle was getting a little loose on one side while I was splitting wood for my chiminea. The tape fixed this.



I have almost finished my first attempt at a sheath for it. I messed up when I traced it, foolishly tracing my design on the wrong side of the material, then I put the belt loop on the wrong side. I didnt discover the belt loop issue until after I had cut it. Once I finish the sheath I will post pics of it, but I am planning on doing another one to make it all right.

Comment or suggestions are welcome,

Garrett