Kukri recommendation

H

Hermit_Knight

Joined
Mar 19, 2018
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448
Hey all, I am not sure if this is the correct place for this but I’m looking for a kukri for my collection it will be used to clear bamboo on my property and just for me to look at lol. I like the look of the cold steel in O1 I think it’s the gurka kukri but I will need to add another $80 on top of the price for a custom sheath because secure ex seems to dull my cold steel. Has anyone used any others such as the Kabar or the Ontario or the condor? Any recommendations? Regards Hermit.
 
Himalayan Imports sub-forum. VERY highly recommended. Great hand forged blades and service.--KV
 
I have never had my secure-ex sheath dull my CS Gurkha Kukri, and I use it as a tool so it has gone in and out of that sheath a lot. Mine is the SK5 version and the 01 steel is supposed to be tougher, so I wouldnt invent a problem where one doesn't exist. I love mine, use it hard, and after about 7 years it has no visible signs of damage or excessive wear.

With your stated "mind use" most traditional and modern made Kukri will work for you.
 
shortwinger said:
I have never had my secure-ex sheath dull my CS Gurkha Kukri, and I use it as a tool so it has gone in and out of that sheath a lot. Mine is the SK5 version and the 01 steel is supposed to be tougher, so I wouldnt invent a problem where one doesn't exist. I love mine, use it hard, and after about 7 years it has no visible signs of damage or excessive wear.

With your stated "mind use" most traditional and modern made Kukri will work for you.
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I’ve just had issues with secure ex dulling my VG1 recon tanto and srk I heard it has something to do with glass in the nylon? No problems now that i take it out and try and not let the edge touch the inside of the sheath, that’s good news about the 01 gurka kukri it looks amazing.
 
shortwinger said:
I have never had my secure-ex sheath dull my CS Gurkha Kukri, and I use it as a tool so it has gone in and out of that sheath a lot. Mine is the SK5 version and the 01 steel is supposed to be tougher, so I wouldnt invent a problem where one doesn't exist. I love mine, use it hard, and after about 7 years it has no visible signs of damage or excessive wear.

With your stated "mind use" most traditional and modern made Kukri will work for you.
Click to expand...

Mine dulls it like crazy (I have the O1 one). It's ridiculous, a light touch of the sheath and it shows light on the edge.

TS, I'd look into Kalaish Blades as well. I will most likely get one from them. All the niceness of the original ones, but lighter and with "modern" (oil-quench & normalization) heat treatment.
 
Aside from the kukri I also have an SRK, Recon Scout and Trailmaster and haven't had any issues with the sheaths. With the kukri, whether traditional or modern, I often see people ripping the kukri out of the sheath just like a straight blade. No matter what kind of sheath you use, this method will dull your kukri.

When a kukri is removed from, or put back into the sheath, you should purposefully ride the spine of the knife against the sheath all the way through the curve, never drag the edge. The spine should be in the palm of your hand as you are doing this and no part of your hand or fingers should be grabbing the "edge end" of the sheath. There are videos of the Gurkhas demonstrating how this is done and lots of videos of severely cut fingers when people ignore this procedure.
 
Another vote for Kailash. I haven't had the chance to have one in hand, but they have some pretty impressive testing videos. Like, chopping rebar without damage, chopping through a nail with no damage, chopping buffalo horn. Interesting back story on the company, too. It was formed by kamis leaving other khukuri manufacturers due to dissatisfaction with quality standards, pay, and working conditions, under the guidance of a fellow from Australia who had several designs produced by one of the other khukuri manufacturers and got aggravated with them. He had brought modern heat treatment methods with him, and that manufacturer was just unwilling to put in the extra effort it took to produce the higher quality blades on a regular basis. I honestly don't even remember which company it was, but the attitude was that if someone broke a khukuri, they'd just make another one, rather than make some changes and improve their overall product.

Kailash is now producing designs from several American custom knife makers. No, I'm not one of 'em. :D
 
Storm Crow wrote; "Another vote for Kailash. I haven't had the chance to have one in hand, but they have some pretty impressive testing videos."

Where are these testing videos?
 
shortwinger said:
Aside from the kukri I also have an SRK, Recon Scout and Trailmaster and haven't had any issues with the sheaths. With the kukri, whether traditional or modern, I often see people ripping the kukri out of the sheath just like a straight blade. No matter what kind of sheath you use, this method will dull your kukri.

When a kukri is removed from, or put back into the sheath, you should purposefully ride the spine of the knife against the sheath all the way through the curve, never drag the edge. The spine should be in the palm of your hand as you are doing this and no part of your hand or fingers should be grabbing the "edge end" of the sheath. There are videos of the Gurkhas demonstrating how this is done and lots of videos of severely cut fingers when people ignore this procedure.
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Agreed, well aware of all these.
 
shortwinger said:
Storm Crow wrote; "Another vote for Kailash. I haven't had the chance to have one in hand, but they have some pretty impressive testing videos."

Where are these testing videos?
Click to expand...

Their Facebook and Instagram pages. (You may need to dig a little bit back in time to reach older posts.)
 
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Storm Crow said:
Another vote for Kailash. I haven't had the chance to have one in hand, but they have some pretty impressive testing videos. Like, chopping rebar without damage, chopping through a nail with no damage, chopping buffalo horn. Interesting back story on the company, too. It was formed by kamis leaving other khukuri manufacturers due to dissatisfaction with quality standards, pay, and working conditions, under the guidance of a fellow from Australia who had several designs produced by one of the other khukuri manufacturers and got aggravated with them. He had brought modern heat treatment methods with him, and that manufacturer was just unwilling to put in the extra effort it took to produce the higher quality blades on a regular basis. I honestly don't even remember which company it was, but the attitude was that if someone broke a khukuri, they'd just make another one, rather than make some changes and improve their overall product.

Kailash is now producing designs from several American custom knife makers. No, I'm not one of 'em. :D
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They also harden the whole edge, not only the sweet spot - based on my conversations with Andrew. Another thing I see (and like) is that their traditional designs don't go for the overbuilt type.

They may just get me back into "traditional" kukris :).
 
Hermit_Knight said:
I’ve just had issues with secure ex dulling my VG1 recon tanto and srk I heard it has something to do with glass in the nylon? No problems now that i take it out and try and not let the edge touch the inside of the sheath, that’s good news about the 01 gurka kukri it looks amazing.
Click to expand...

They are not the only ones with this issue. Kabar had it as well (at least on some Beckers).
 
There are a number of good options but I would just caution to be aware that some of them can get thick and are better for wood, or splitting in the case of mine, than some others. For bambo, I would imagine something like a kukri machete, a little more thickness probably but not too much, would be good. I think mine is approaching 1/2" spine (Ang Kohla from HI I believe is what it's modeled after) and it actually chops pretty horribly but splits as good as a full sized axe. It's as heavy as one too so the only real advantage is it's easier to carry and batons well. Plus, it's fun to use.

Basically, there are a lot of designs of kukri's and just having the forward blade doesn't mean that's all you need to consider.
 
Moonw said:
Mine dulls it like crazy (I have the O1 one). It's ridiculous, a light touch of the sheath and it shows light on the edge.

TS, I'd look into Kalaish Blades as well. I will most likely get one from them. All the niceness of the original ones, but lighter and with "modern" (oil-quench & normalization) heat treatment.
Click to expand...
Thanks I will look into them, it sucks every time I get something cold steel I usually have to add $80 to the price to get a custom sheath secure ex is terrible in my opinion dulls blades fast.
 
Hermit_Knight said:
Thanks I will look into them, it sucks every time I get something cold steel I usually have to add $80 to the price to get a custom sheath secure ex is terrible in my opinion dulls blades fast.
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Yes. Probably the Carbon V one Shortwinger mentions had a slightly different sheath design, but I suspect there's some variation with the molds that's always been there. Even taking ridiculous care not to touch the edge to the sheath it will still "bite" you every now and then.

Kabar seems to have eliminated the glass particles, not sure why Cold Steel wouldn't follow suit. People have been complaining about this for many more years, yet they are "surprised' every time they hear about it - it's always "the first time" :). I'd like to be able to use an otherwise very nicely built sheath just the way I use a leather one for my other kukris.

I've never split one / lost fingers to / dulled another knife on any other type of material, so I suppose I'm not paying too much tribute to my Neanderthal throwback genes as soon as I touch a sharp piece of metal :).

However, I appreciate Shortwinger's insight, the above is not intended as a diss towards what he wrote. He's been using kukris long before I knew that someone, somewhere dreamt of a bent knife and it came up awesome :). I cringe every time a Youtube reviewer / "antiques dealer" unsheaths a kukri the wrong way...fully expecting something to go wrong. Those curved edges are not to be played with, as a nice little Thai enep reminded me one day when I got sloppy...
 
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Thanks for the kind words Moonw and Stormcrow!
We've just started at Kailash Blades pretty recently and are still growing and developing.
Things to look out for in future: Micarta handles and acid etches to bring out the hamon as a standard option on our website models as well as some high profile collaborations. If anyone is looking for guidance on choosing their first khukuri, just send me a message and I'll help as much as I can.
Take care,
Andrew
 
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