JK Kukri and Beast Pass around!!!!!
- Thread starter daniel4572
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It's fine with me to touch up the kukri
Thanks guys!
I will touch them up and let them taste some green wood, soon.
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Hi Folks -
At the recent gathering, each person present was encouraged to test the chopping abilities and overall usefulness of the Kukri and the Beast.
The knives were ever present on the Gathering table -
The knives did get their share of camp duties, including some batoning, as I batoned with the Beast to make kindling for the breakfast fire. Here is a picture of the Kukri, now showing a bit more character!
An unfortunately out of focus picture of John and the two Passaround knives -
When the Gathering was winding down on Sunday morning, I asked each person who had used the knives to opine on them. Their recounts follow.
I did not poll Cooper, as he will provide his comments in his review posts.
My comments were pretty much the same as I found in my chopping tests at home - the Beast lives up to it's name. I also concur with John that the Kukri would be better suited for use as a defensive weapon for the home, for instance. You can still chop with it with great success, it just can't keep up with the beast.
Both knives are excellent choices and must-haves for the dedicated JK collector.
Thanks again to the kind gentlemen that allowed us to test these knives out - I will be buying each of these for myself someday soon as funds permit.
I will have my Kukri done with a more traditionally Nepalese rounded handle scale, and a hollow rivet for a wrist thong. My Beast will have a slightly thicker handle with a more rounded profile, and a rounded spine.
best
mqqn
At the recent gathering, each person present was encouraged to test the chopping abilities and overall usefulness of the Kukri and the Beast.
The knives were ever present on the Gathering table -
The knives did get their share of camp duties, including some batoning, as I batoned with the Beast to make kindling for the breakfast fire. Here is a picture of the Kukri, now showing a bit more character!
An unfortunately out of focus picture of John and the two Passaround knives -
When the Gathering was winding down on Sunday morning, I asked each person who had used the knives to opine on them. Their recounts follow.
Uncle Bill said:
Patrick said:
outdoorsfan said:
jds1 said:
Stomper said:
I did not poll Cooper, as he will provide his comments in his review posts.
My comments were pretty much the same as I found in my chopping tests at home - the Beast lives up to it's name. I also concur with John that the Kukri would be better suited for use as a defensive weapon for the home, for instance. You can still chop with it with great success, it just can't keep up with the beast.
Both knives are excellent choices and must-haves for the dedicated JK collector.
Thanks again to the kind gentlemen that allowed us to test these knives out - I will be buying each of these for myself someday soon as funds permit.
I will have my Kukri done with a more traditionally Nepalese rounded handle scale, and a hollow rivet for a wrist thong. My Beast will have a slightly thicker handle with a more rounded profile, and a rounded spine.
best
mqqn
- Joined
- Oct 30, 2005
- Messages
- 3,947
Thanks for all the reviews of from the gathering. On to the next person. Only 4 more to go and then we can have the drawing and one of the 6 reviews will receive a nice sharp blade!!!
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- Oct 12, 2010
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- 8,189
Been enjoying the Beast and Kukri all week.
I got out and whacked some soft maples today and took a few pictures.
Will get my photos and thoughts up soon.
Going to give the blades a little wipe down and sharpening and they will be off to Kentucky probably tomorrow!
Thanks again Russ and Danny for the chance to play with your awesome JK's.
I got out and whacked some soft maples today and took a few pictures.
Will get my photos and thoughts up soon.
Going to give the blades a little wipe down and sharpening and they will be off to Kentucky probably tomorrow!
Thanks again Russ and Danny for the chance to play with your awesome JK's.
- Joined
- Oct 12, 2010
- Messages
- 8,189
I got a good opportunity to take the blades down to the tree patch.
At the gathering I had a chance to whack on some downed oak, so I had a good idea of what to expect with regards to the blades' performance.
I decided to use my Becker Machax as a comparison to the Beast and Kukri.
I took down about 6 trees a piece for each of the blades, ranging from 1 inch diameter up to maybe 4 inch diameter.
Just for my sanity, I only took photos of one tree per blade.
I tried to pick out three evenly sized trees to document the experience.
Kukri
Machax
Beast
Next I wanted to show the penetration of each knife in similar test media (soft maple).
The Kukri did pretty well considering the thickness of the grind.
I have cut down dozens of these soft maples with my Machax, so I knew what to expect. A couple years ago, I filed it down to thin it out and make it faster. It definitely improved the choppiness. So if you have a stock Machax, my results are not necessarily comparable to what to expect with an unmodified one.
I had to take a couple chops to get the Beast to stay put for a photo.
The Kukri took the longest to chop through the soft maple. This was the first tree of the three I took down, so perhaps that had something do with it. My arm was a little sore afterwards. Let's face it, the Kukri is a huge piece of K-Treet.
I should note that I did not time this or do an exact count of chops needed.
Next was my Machax. After using the Kukri, this felt like I was swinging a filet knife. Huge difference in weight, and I must say the Machax felt somewhat flimsy.
It bit a little deeper than the Kukri and was quicker to handle, however as it is ground somewhat thin, it did bind up in the wood, which definitely slowed it down.
Next was The Beast, and I must say that this one is aptly named. Bit deep and didn't bind in the wood like the machax. It chopped down the tree the quickest and was a pure pleasure to use.
One thing that is apparent as soon as one takes hold of these knives is the difference in grip. Both in size and shape. Each has their benefits.
The Kukri handle is much thinner than the Beast.
I found it very comfortable, but in course of chopping, I did notice my hand had a tendency to slip back to the butt of the handle. This was fine as swinging it like that allowed for more forward weight, and therefore slightly better chopping.
The Beast had thicker, shorter handle that was also very comfortable. Having the finger notch at the front of the handle really helps to lock the hand in place.
After having the chance to put these blades through their paces, I was definitely more impressed with the Beast, as far as chopping ability goes. For my uses, the Kukri would truly benefit from a full height grind to increase chopping ability. As John mentioned at the gathering, traditional Kukris are made to be strictly weapons, and in the reverse grip, Danny's Kukri has an obvious advantage over the Beast, with the added quality of being a fully capable chopper.
One of the holes in my JK collection will certainly be filled with one or both of these knives sooner or later.
Thanks again to Danny and Russ for offering up their knives for us to check out. It is always great to get the chance to check out a knife (or two)that one would not usually get the chance to see.
At the gathering I had a chance to whack on some downed oak, so I had a good idea of what to expect with regards to the blades' performance.
I decided to use my Becker Machax as a comparison to the Beast and Kukri.
I took down about 6 trees a piece for each of the blades, ranging from 1 inch diameter up to maybe 4 inch diameter.
Just for my sanity, I only took photos of one tree per blade.
I tried to pick out three evenly sized trees to document the experience.
Kukri
Machax
Beast
Next I wanted to show the penetration of each knife in similar test media (soft maple).
The Kukri did pretty well considering the thickness of the grind.
I have cut down dozens of these soft maples with my Machax, so I knew what to expect. A couple years ago, I filed it down to thin it out and make it faster. It definitely improved the choppiness. So if you have a stock Machax, my results are not necessarily comparable to what to expect with an unmodified one.
I had to take a couple chops to get the Beast to stay put for a photo.
The Kukri took the longest to chop through the soft maple. This was the first tree of the three I took down, so perhaps that had something do with it. My arm was a little sore afterwards. Let's face it, the Kukri is a huge piece of K-Treet.
I should note that I did not time this or do an exact count of chops needed.
Next was my Machax. After using the Kukri, this felt like I was swinging a filet knife. Huge difference in weight, and I must say the Machax felt somewhat flimsy.
It bit a little deeper than the Kukri and was quicker to handle, however as it is ground somewhat thin, it did bind up in the wood, which definitely slowed it down.
Next was The Beast, and I must say that this one is aptly named. Bit deep and didn't bind in the wood like the machax. It chopped down the tree the quickest and was a pure pleasure to use.
One thing that is apparent as soon as one takes hold of these knives is the difference in grip. Both in size and shape. Each has their benefits.
The Kukri handle is much thinner than the Beast.
I found it very comfortable, but in course of chopping, I did notice my hand had a tendency to slip back to the butt of the handle. This was fine as swinging it like that allowed for more forward weight, and therefore slightly better chopping.
The Beast had thicker, shorter handle that was also very comfortable. Having the finger notch at the front of the handle really helps to lock the hand in place.
After having the chance to put these blades through their paces, I was definitely more impressed with the Beast, as far as chopping ability goes. For my uses, the Kukri would truly benefit from a full height grind to increase chopping ability. As John mentioned at the gathering, traditional Kukris are made to be strictly weapons, and in the reverse grip, Danny's Kukri has an obvious advantage over the Beast, with the added quality of being a fully capable chopper.
One of the holes in my JK collection will certainly be filled with one or both of these knives sooner or later.
Thanks again to Danny and Russ for offering up their knives for us to check out. It is always great to get the chance to check out a knife (or two)that one would not usually get the chance to see.
Last edited:
grunt soldier
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very nice review sir!
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Awesome review sir!!!
Thanks for taking the time to do this
Thanks for taking the time to do this
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Man these reviews are wonderful. I have a place on my property that I will be clearing out with these bad boys!
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Been raining off and on since Monday, raining right now actually. I've got to play with these some and have a couple more things I'd like to do. Tomorrows weather forecast is calling for it to be nice out. So I'm planning to use them some more, take some more photos, and then mail them out Friday afternoon or Saturday morning.
Thanks for letting me play with them.
Thanks for letting me play with them.