Antique Khukuri / Kukri ?

carl13 · Aug 29, 2015

Berkley · Aug 31, 2015

Welcome to BladeForums. Glad you were able to register here without problems.:thumbup:

Your kukri is a rough forge finished Nepalese villager style kukri. Notwithstanding the rough finish, it is recently made. The blade style is known as a sirupate, for its long, slender leaf-like shape.
Gurkhas serving in Afghanistan sometimes carry more polished versions of the sirupate. Its longer blade makes it a better weapon than the general-purpose issue kukri, which is shorter and wider.

FinnSetanta · Aug 31, 2015

Given the state of the sheath, general wear on the kukri itself, and the fact that the karda (or is it the chakmak? I'm definitely not an expert) has no real handle, I would have assumed that this fairly old. Looking at it, I'm honestly not sure if the dark spots on the blade are forge scale or corrosion, but I'll gladly defer to the experts. The well-formed cho, simple handle, and nice but not ostentatious sword of shiva lead me to think that this is a reasonably well made kukri, meant for actual use.

Berkley · Aug 31, 2015

An eBay seller, with a steady source in Nepal for these village kukris, has been selling them as "antiques" for a long time. Many folks, myself included, have acquired one over the years.

They are in fact well made and serviceable, and the design is traditional. But they don't qualify as antiques, at least for those of us who are still wearing shoes that are older.

The brass fittings on the OP's kukri mark it as a fairly recent example, I would say.

FinnSetanta · Aug 31, 2015

Wow, that's fascinating, and kind of sad. Too bad they feel the need to rely on dishonest marketing gimmicks.

Karda · Aug 31, 2015

To me, the one pictured has more of a chitlange stylization.
It is kinda sad that they try to pass them off as antiques. Many people love to find decently made villager users and if they hold up they could feasibly stand on their own merits.

mete · Aug 31, 2015

For a very long time Kukris have been made as tourist souveniers.So you have well over 100 years of 'fakes'! My first one was a fake as the blade was of very soft steel.But I didn't know and wanted to use it .Then I got a real one and it has seen lots of use and is a fine tool !

carl13 · Aug 31, 2015

Thanks for your honest opinions,

good to know the bad truth.

So maybe it is not the worst case, as I thought, they look well made: I also have some modern Khukuris (from Nepal) as users and I am quite happy with them.

I only took the risk to buy them, because they where about the same price than good modern ones shipped.

Ok : If I had ordered the two together in Nepal, it would have cost a bit less.

I guess it is no problem to set the Link to the ended auction - If so I am sorry (I did not find this in the forum rules) and I ask a Moderator to delete).

So this is the second one:

http://www.ebay.de/itm/121734889733?_trksid=p2057872.m2750.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

I guess it is a Bhojpure.

I did not believe, that this one is from 1900 because - as well as the first one - it has a lot of brass.

But I hoped both where before the end of second world war - as many Khukuri-experts say something got lost at this time.

But I have to admit, I really like my modern ones - I have them about more or less 6 weeks and tested them on big branches of oak and beech and used them as all-purpose-tools.

It is not only just fun to work with them, they serve a lot of tasks verry well.

Karda · Aug 31, 2015

They are both of fairly recent manufacture.

carl13 · Aug 31, 2015

@ Karda : You see this because of the brass ?

(I am asking because of maybe making another try with antiques - would like to be prepared better)

Karda · Aug 31, 2015

Not really because of the brass, but because of overall look. Lack of patina, lack of age, little deterioration of sheaths, only minor checking of horn handle. All these things must be considered before believing any sellers story.

Your best bet to collect antique khukuri is to stick with those with some known provenance or authentication from reputable sources. There are still many decent examples of pre-victorian, victorian, WWI and WWII era khukuri to be had if you look in the right places.

Your best bet, before getting into buying antique khukuri, is to register at IKRHS.com and to read and ask questions there. There are quite a few people on that site who have been doing it for many years and are quite helpful and knowledgeable.

carl13 · Aug 31, 2015

Thanks Karda.

I wanted to sign up for IKRHS, but for unknown reason - it really feels cursed - I cannot sign up there.
I tried 6 days ago and when I asked yesterday, a friendly Moderator said, I am listed as registered, but I did not receive this Software-generated Mail with the Password.
So I created another Email-account and the Moderator made me another account, but still I don´t receive this mails.

I am really questioning my state of mind for this: It seems that Emails that I should receive get eaten in the way:

I also wanted to buy victorian Sirupate at a site called mountcastlentiques and another called gunstar.

At this mountcastleantiques i bought one, but they never send me their complete bank transfer details and they would not send before paying - I send them nine mails in the last 10 days.

At the Gunstar site I asked a seller several times, how I can buy from him and did not receive any answer.

So either there are a lot of fake antique sides and I have bad luck with IKRHS-Software, or I have a really strange and seldom Problem with my computer, or the topic antique Khukuris for me is really cursed.

Verry sad, because I really want to have at least one Sirupate from the 18th century.

And I will go for this, but for now, I first need to recover from this bad news.

Edit: Thanks to everybody for your opinions, informations and empathy.

Berkley · Aug 31, 2015

Im sorry - I cant explain your problems registering for IKRHS. As far as I know, we arent having any system issues, but, hey, its the Internet.

The second kukri looks like a typical civilian market version of the current standard issue kukri, a pattern adopted around 1960.

Here are a few links that may be helpful in your quest:
The 20th Century British Military Gurkha Issue Kukri.
Avoiding the Military Kukri Fake
Identifying and Collecting the Nepalese Military Kukri
The British Army Kukri: An artifact of western orientalism or the 20th centurys greatest combat knife?
Kukris: An Evolution in Pictures

carl13 · Sep 1, 2015

I emailed the seller and he told me, that he will refund me if I send it back - but still he got the opinion, that it is a true antique one.

It arrived today and the balance - which I think is quite subjective - feels really good: I can move it easily swift and versatile while it also delivers powerfull impacts.

The Tip of the edge is slightly damaged - but I guess this can be fixed without changing the geometry of the blade.

I agree with you Karda, that for the blade geometry (especially the edge) it looks like my Chitlange, but it has not the closed Kaudi.

So - if whoever made this uses this words - it might be as well a sirupate.

From all my Khukuris it would serve - to my limited understanding and as a first impression - the most as a fighting knife to our understanding (I don´t know the exact weight yet) - yet I can imagine cleaning wild Blackberrys in my field, working as a weed sickle and most daily tasks.

I am only not sure, if I would use it for chopping firewood (as this is also the only thing, I would not use my Chitlange for).

My other Sirupate - which has a konvex edge - does serve for this quite nice.

Thank you once more Karda, for your efforts.

Actually I read the most of this texts but the two about the british military models (the only ones I am not intrested in) - so as expected this blind spot made me confusing the second one with the Bhojpure :grumpy: .

I did quite a bit research: HI-Cantina, Sword-Forum, SBG, IKRHS, the intresting articles of this Win Chung guy and a lot of Youtube Videos about making and using Khukuris.

I knew this about the brass before (from the avoiding-military-fake-article), but I thought it might be before end WW2 - and I guess I was verry impatient for not finding more ancient Sirupate.

Strange, because I am usually carefull: I heard some old Katanas make people want to kill other people, but I did not know that Khukuris make people want to buy them.

So there are two questions left: Would someone tell me, where is a good place to buy antique Khukuris ?

I am not looking for beautis like the ones at gurkha antiques or stamped ones from the british military - I am looking for the famous old swift fighting blades, mainly the victorian and pre-victorian sirupate (well, an old Hanshee would be also nice, but I guess I better ask Santa Clause for this).

Actually I can well understand if you don´t want to reveal you sources for this - if you would like to reveal but not to open, you can send me a pm.

The second question is: What yould be a good price for a victorian or pre-victorian Sirupate ?

It might be without scabbard, with lots of patina or even with rust, but the edge should be intact - I am more tactile sensitive and not so much visual, so it does not have to be a beauty.

Once more guys, thank you for answering.

Edit: It was Berkley, who put the links together, so thanks Berkley.

carl13 · Sep 5, 2015

So how to distinguish a "British Service" from what we call "Bhojpure" (I know it is a region, but every trader has a bellied Khukuri called Bhojpure or Bhojpuri) ?

As long as I look at Fotos of both, I can not see any typical difference that is with all examples.

The given example to me looks much more round and bellied than several Bhojpure-called Khukuris I found in the net.

P. s. : Maybe it was inpolite or against the rules of antique collectors - but if it was only just overlooked, once more the question:

What would be a more or less adequate price for a victorian or pre-victorian Sirupate, maybe with patina and a bit rust and without scabbard ?