Khukhri reviews - why I wont buy production versions

painkilleraz

painkilleraz

Joined
Jul 5, 2014
Messages
500
I love mine :)

After testing they simply function better, cut faster, and are balanced to ensure full deep cuts upon use.

(And my ex ghurka house one as well)

Nothing like real quality individually made awesomeness


I love my khukhris and if I carry one, it will always be an Ex Gurkha House fighting knife - or working blade from Himalayan imports. :)
On the right is himalayan imports and left is ex ghurka house - both function amazingly and compared to other knock offs from stamped out production types like cold steel and fox make my friends (who own those) very very jealous!



It also helps that the cost of these individually made gems are far far less cost then the stamped out remakes, each of them has character that you wont find in fox or cold steel versions.
 
Is there a reason you are posting this? Did something happen? I don't see much of a review, just a commentary. I agree with you about Himalayan Imports.
 
I have to echo Cobalt, what is the purpose of this post and other similar posts you recently made?

I can directy refute your comments based on many years of heavy use, with many different model varieties, from many different makers. You can speak from the perspective of a collector of hand made items and claim that the Nepalese Kukri is something special. I would whole heartedly agree with you, they are special.

But if you speak as a knife user or tool user and are making comparisons about different models and how they perform, then your statements are not accurate. First and foremost, many diehard traditional Nepalese Kukri users would point out that your ex-Gurkha Kukri model is not a traditional design but rather a response to the gold rush western Kukri market.

As an avid Kukri user I can tell you that your comments about the Cold Steel Gurkha Kukri are far from accurate and I seriously doubt you have used it side by side, blow for blow, with your western inspired ex-Gurkha model. I own antique WWI, WWII military issued Kukri and antique Nepalese military and village kukri. I also own modern reproductions of those civilian and military models from Tora, Himalayan Imports, Cold Steek, Blackjack/Rainhardt and many of the Khukuri Houses. I love them all but I can tell you for a fact that few can keep up with the Cold Steel as a work horse. It has an almost perfect weight, balance and feel and the steel is impressive to say the least. Here is an old review http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...rable-Cold-Steel-Gurkha-Kukri?highlight=Kukri

If you are in love with hand made knives then welcome to the club. Love them, use them, video and take pics of them, review them and have fun. But if you are going to put other blades down "by name" be prepared to back that up. Your post doesn't do that.
 
PS. The blade on the right is not a Himalayan Imports but is a Gurkha Kukri Bonecutter. They are members here on the forum. I own two of those and many HI blades.
 
Congrats on your Khukuris. I have about 5 or 6 HI's and 3 or 4 Cold Steels. The "character" in my HI's are hots spots in the handles, cracked handles, bolster gaps, and questionable heat treat. I still like them, they are historically accurate and have a certain "cool" factor. But they don't come near my CS in terms of balance, quality, and edge holding. If I'm only chopping wood or something like that, they are the first thing I reach for, they are a lot of fun. But they really don't compare in quality to my stock removal - what you call stamped (which is wrong) CS models.

YMMV.
 
Apparently my mileage varies immensely.....My experience has been the exact opposite.

I've owned traditional khukuri from all the major players and have owned or tried almost all of the KLO's out there.
I did my khukuri research for several years, before even coming to this site.
None of them hold a candle to HI in terms of quality and customer service that I've gotten from HI.
The cold steel felt lifeless, had a cheap feeling, blister inducing rubber handle and stuck in wood so badly that it was nearly useless to me. No shortwinger, I don't believe I should have to spray it with WD-40 to prevent the sticking. Especially when I can own several HI's for the same price that don't try to glue themselves to the wood theyre chopping.
 
Although, I have not purchased any Khukuris in over 7 years, I have owned over 9 Ghurka House Khuks and about 15 HI Khuks. I had nothing but bad experiences with my GH Khuks, but my HI khuks were all very good Khuks. I did get a few loose buttcaps, but nothing JB weld didn't fix and the handles never loosened. The edges were very strong and held up well to an enormous amount of chopping that I did over the course of 5-6 years. I was chopping up 1.5 cords of wood per year to heat my home. I would buy cut down tress cut into 6-7 ft sections for very cheap. I would then use an axe, my 22"AK, two 18" AK's, and a few SHBM's to chop up, split and baton all the wood to fit in my wood burning stove that could heat my house to almost 90 degrees. I would chop 3-4 hours a day 3-4 days a week 2-3 weeks a month for about 3-4 months. Both AK's held up quite well My GH's did not. The edges crumbled on the wood. The 18" AK was a beast. My 22" was a little dangerous in the single handed strike on wood. It was a great workout using all the different types of tools on wood. I almost bought the CS Khuks but did not want to pay for the San Mai version and didn't think the other versions were strong enough to handle the abuse based on my past experience with non San Mai Recon Scouts and TM's. As for Khukuri House, I have no experience. As for soul, a knife only has the soul you give it, commonly known as sentimental value. none of it's own. my opinion of course.

and Yes I could have bought a hydraulic splitter, but what fun would that have been. ;)
 
Karda said:
Apparently my mileage varies immensely.....My experience has been the exact opposite.

I've owned traditional khukuri from all the major players and have owned or tried almost all of the KLO's out there.
I did my khukuri research for several years, before even coming to this site.
None of them hold a candle to HI in terms of quality and customer service that I've gotten from HI.
The cold steel felt lifeless, had a cheap feeling, blister inducing rubber handle and stuck in wood so badly that it was nearly useless to me. No shortwinger, I don't believe I should have to spray it with WD-40 to prevent the sticking. Especially when I can own several HI's for the same price that don't try to glue themselves to the wood theyre chopping.
Click to expand...

Aren't you an agent of Himalayan Imports?
 
brownshoe said:
Aren't you an agent of Himalayan Imports?
Click to expand...

I don't know & don't care but I second what he said. There is a post from a new customer that has said the same thing too. It isn't a surprise. I think Himalayan Imports are the best and I bought other companies khukuris and none are as good as HI.
 
I have a Cold Steel kukri (about 15 years old) and can say that it really took a beating well (literally - smashing the back of the blade with a 2.5 lb "hammer" to cut through a whole lot of something that normally shouldn't be cut).
I also used it for trimming tree limbs and brush and such, and preferred it over my machete.
I'll say it is/was worth every penny of the twenty-or-so bucks it cost me for the use I've gotten and the abuse I've given.

That said, I haven't used it to chop down trees or cleave logs in half (that would just be masochistic since I have a functioning chainsaw and axe).
I might like it a lot less if I was out in the woods and it had to act as my be-all tool and performed poorly.

YMMV.
 
brownshoe said:
Aren't you an agent of Himalayan Imports?
Click to expand...

Arent you trolling?
No, I'm not an "agent" of anything. I receive no payments and am not an employee.
I am and always will be a loyal customer who helps.

Unlike you, who delights in tearing down and creating drama.
 
Karda said:
Arent you trolling?
No, I'm not an "agent" of anything. I receive no payments and am not an employee.
I am and always will be a loyal customer who helps.

Unlike you, who delights in tearing down and creating drama.
Click to expand...

No I am not trolling.

From the various subjects of your huge number of posts in the HI subforum (selling knives to Tshirts) you appear to be an agent of the company. In this subforum "Knife Reviews and Testing" it's considered bad form to post w/o identifying yourself as an agent of the company whom you are reviewing.

Plus, given your recent history, you are the last person to throw out the insult of troll...weren't you removed as a moderator...;)
 
brownshoe said:
No I am not trolling.

From the various subjects of your huge number of posts in the HI subforum (selling knives to Tshirts) you appear to be an agent of the company. In this subforum "Knife Reviews and Testing" it's considered bad form to post w/o identifying yourself as an agent of the company whom you are reviewing.

Plus, given your recent history, you are the last person to throw out the insult of troll...weren't you removed as a moderator...;)
Click to expand...

Yes, my history as a member of the HI forum is well known here. Again, I am not an agent of the company. When asked to help, I help. Troll. Werent you given a "special custom title" long ago for your trolling and poor behavior? :)
 
1. I am moving this to General Knife Discussion. There is no reviewing here.

2. If you think you see trolling, report it. Do not disrupt the thread.

3. Do not bother reporting Karda for trolling. He was responding as an acknowledged expert. He has also never been a paid employee or agent of Himalayan Imports.
 
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Karda said:
....Werent you given a "special custom title" long ago for your trolling and poor behavior? :)
Click to expand...

It was given by an unkown soul, so I don't know why, but take it as a reminder of the virtue in humility. IIRC it costs a few grand to bestow one now :)
 
I have khukhris from HI and EGKH - never a problem. Of course...i only chop mesquite and use them almost daily for firewood etc.,

Btw thanks to the trolls for derailing the thread

Thanks to a private message, Karda is now in the troll list. I guess being a paying member and trying to give a solid TWO dimensional review doesnt get you anything here.
 
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brownshoe said:
No I am not trolling.

From the various subjects of your huge number of posts in the HI subforum (selling knives to Tshirts) you appear to be an agent of the company. In this subforum "Knife Reviews and Testing" it's considered bad form to post w/o identifying yourself as an agent of the company whom you are reviewing.

Plus, given your recent history, you are the last person to throw out the insult of troll...weren't you removed as a moderator...;)
Click to expand...

I do not see anything wrong, with person being passionate about certain brand of knives or khukuries,or being active in certain subforum such as Himalayan Imports.This thread is named " Khukuri reviews......" And not "member reviews "......discuss knives,not the members.Karda always helped a lot to those,who were new to HI forum.

I have no experience with production khukuries,so I can not say much in terms of comparison, but I have few KHHI products and one great Khukuri from HI I can only recommend both to everyone, asi was more than happy with them all.Although KHHI is focused more on a workhorse blades,HI is doing better detailed fit and finish of their blades... KHHI may use en - 31 tool steel, as well as 5160, and HI 5160. I never have an experience with Ex Gurkha Kh, but from what I have seen, they do too very decent khukuries...A lot of mass produced western companies has introduced KLO Khukuri like objects,in terms of how effective are these in use, one must experience for himself.Personally, I wouldn't purchase Khukuri from Non-Nepalese productions as I think it's best to get genuine blade,instead of imitation...
 
Karda said:
Apparently my mileage varies immensely.....My experience has been the exact opposite.

I've owned traditional khukuri from all the major players and have owned or tried almost all of the KLO's out there.
I did my khukuri research for several years, before even coming to this site.
None of them hold a candle to HI in terms of quality and customer service that I've gotten from HI.
The cold steel felt lifeless, had a cheap feeling, blister inducing rubber handle and stuck in wood so badly that it was nearly useless to me. No shortwinger, I don't believe I should have to spray it with WD-40 to prevent the sticking. Especially when I can own several HI's for the same price that don't try to glue themselves to the wood theyre chopping.
Click to expand...


I agree with you, I was going to add to the review and put in videos etc., unfortunately, had surgery and just returned to this mess.

I am quite disappointed that so many are so short sighted with knives.

Yes, I owned a fox and a cold steel- and never will again. They sucked, NOW the Fox Karambit is an amazing tool and I have dozens of variations of the karambit - from Philippine made through murikan made. It is essential to understand that MOST if not ALL of murikan made large blades are actually now made in Taiwan or China. INCLUDING Cold Steel!
 
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