Ordered my first Khukuri then...

S

SidewaysFord

Joined
Nov 12, 2012
Messages
6
OK, so I have been interested in the Khukuri for a while and decided I wanted to get one that was made in Nepal.
I had a bit of a google and found this forum, did some reading decided it was going to be either from Himalayan Imports or Khukuri House.
Had a bit more of a google and looked at their sites and decided to go with KH for my first as I am from New Zealand and freight was going to big no matter which one I purchased from. So I placed my order.
I then started looking around even more on the net (I know I should have done this first) and watched some reviews, I was starting to feel comfortable that my purchase should be a good knife then...

This where my question comes in:

There seems to be three companies bearing the name Khukuri House:

1) Nepalese Khukuri House http://www.nepalesekhukuri.com/
2) The Khukuri House http://www.thekhukurihouse.com/ aka KHHI which seems to be not working today but was earlier this morning and
3) Ex Gurkha Khukuri House http://www.nepalkhukurihouse.com/

And the question is please can anyone shed any light on the above companies? All three seem to claim that they supply the Nepal Military and Police and are genuine made in Nepal etc.
Are there any links between theses businesses? Are there any that should be avoided? Any advice would be appreciated.
p.s. I made my order with company 1 two days ago via paypal and have received confirmation e-mail so seems OK so far...

Cheers,
Sideways
 
You forgot KH Thamel, KHHI, Khukuri Palace, Khukuri Gallery and a few others. Most make decent blades for users, some more fit and finish but generally speaking you should be happy. What model did you order?

Sideways is also my name!
 
From what I have heard most of those companies will have decent kuks. I prefer himalayan imports myself since they are known for having great customer service and Yangdu responds to emails very quickly if you have any questions. I also think their kuks are a little better as far as fit and finish go but you should be fine with yours to use.

P.S. The prices for kuks on the Himalayan Imports site include shipping so there is no additional charge on top of what is posted.
 
erhodes said:
From what I have heard most of those companies will have decent kuks. I prefer himalayan imports myself since they are known for having great customer service and Yangdu responds to emails very quickly if you have any questions. I also think their kuks are a little better as far as fit and finish go but you should be fine with yours to use.

P.S. The prices for kuks on the Himalayan Imports site include shipping so there is no additional charge on top of what is posted.
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Looked into this, international orders require either $40 or $55 freight to be purchased also says it in bold at the bottom of their home page
 
SidewaysFord said:
Looked into this, international orders require either $40 or $55 freight to be purchased also says it in bold at the bottom of their home page
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Do you not live in the US? I ask because if you live in the US there is no shipping. HI imports many knives at one time to Nevada and Yangdu ships them from there so they don't have to come straight from Nepal to your door. This cuts down on shipping costs and makes shipping to your door very quick in the US.

The knife you chose looks like it should be a good smaller model for minor tasks or possible carry depending on your local laws.

BTW: Yangdu runs things here in the states but her father is the one that runs the things in Nepal from what I understand and he is a former Gurkha with the Assam Rifles.
 
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Did some more digging around and discovered that 1 seems to be the online shop for 3.
Also learned that 2 is the offspring of Khukuri House Thamel, so so many web pages.
I'm starting to like HI for the fact they seem to have one nice simple site, not three or more.
Man there must be a lot of kamis in Nepal!
 
You are more than welcome to look around the Himalayan Imports forum in the manufacturers section, SidewaysFord.

To clear up the shipping confusion; Items from deal of the day sales on the forum are listed price plus shipping. International shipping for any item is extra and as listed on the store website. Only CONUS items from the store website have shipping included.

Himalayan Imports strives to produce the best khukuri by the finest craftsmen in Nepal with the best customer service and warranty in the industry.
 
Hi SidewaysFord, you can't go wrong with either of you chooses, I however like to use Tora in the UK for most of my Kukri, I endorse the Kukri in it's many forms and have carried one for over 30 years.
I know the New Zealand bush as well as jungles of south east Asia if your taking a tool in those environments it's arguably the best to have...enjoy matey :)
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My Jungle Panawal that I ordered from Khukuri House, broke.

I didn't get pics, but a crack formed at the cho, and started up. Seemed that splitting firewood, wasn't in the blades future.

HI all the way.

You will be happy with your knife, just next time around, check with Auntie.

Moose
 
SidewaysFord said:
I ordered this one here http://www.nepalesekhukuri.com/index.php?prodId=161&catid=5&var=ItemDetails

also I am specifically interested in the three manufactures i have outlined,
Cheers
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My first kukri was the Standard Jungle model which is about an inch or two bigger but generally the same design. You will like it and they are a great kukri to learn on. The company you got it from is also the one I got my first from, my order went through on early Tuesday morning and the package from Nepal was placed in my hand Friday afternoon! It is still my go-to chopper, never a problem and still as sharp as the day I got it with minimal attention to the edge. If you really get into it and use it a lot you may find that you want a more dedicated chopper, meaning a bigger blade and a design that is made for that role. For users, stay away from flash, carved handles, shiney blades and lots of grooves in the blade. They are great for display but it is best to put display models on the desk and leave the work to the models made for that function.

As you check out the various forums you will find that there are models that excel at chopping, fighting, camp chores, hiking and even some great all-arounders. Each does a task very well but may suffer in other areas, for instance the best heavy choppers may be horrible to carry around [big and heavy] while hiking and on the other hand your Nepal Military model might get you a bit arm weary if you plan to do a lot of heavy chopping because it is small and lighter. As you can see there are a lot of people on this forum that love the kukri and they are usually very helpful when you are picking out a model.

As far as the companies are concerned you will notice that on the front page of the websites they list other businesses. These companies are the product of a father and 3 or 4 brothers (that I can figure out). Each brother started a business and came up with two other online identities. It looks like a bunch of individual businesses but most are the same. How they are truely divided up is anyones guess but there is an obvious overlap.
 
Welcome aboard SidewaysFord. It looks like Shortwinger has you squared away. He has khuks from many different companies and uses them. I've never had any from the various khukuri houses. I don't like the amount of internet front companies. It's suspicious to me. Also, some of them, or at least one of them, has a bad habit of "borrowing" designs from HI and Tora. That happens enough in the knife business, but they actually cut and paste from the others websites for their own advertisement. They don't even always remove the original companies name as you'll see "Tora Military Range" in the product description. That's too blatant of an intellectual property rights violation for my taste. That being said, let us know what you think when it arrives and sees some use. There are many great khuks out there, some authentic and some modern. All have their attributes. Keep and open mind and an open wallet:D. Take care.
 
The great thing about HI, besides the quality of the products, is that they take out most of the "sketchiness" of ordering from these other companies. HI has two very public faces in the forms of Yangdu and Karda, and their products are all shipped from Nevada, not Kathmandu. If anything goes wrong, it's a simple email to someone you know as opposed to some faceless company in Nepal. I am not trying to insult Nepal, but I would much prefer dealing with the US just because of the logistics of their infrastructure. I doubt their postal system/internet access is on par with the US considering the way in which these knives are made.

If you don't want to worry about your experience from start to finish, go with Himalayan Imports :thumbup:
 
I can say that I have used the heck out of my Khukuri from NKH. No problems except for a slightly loosened brass pommel piece.
 
Vonny, that is one nice looking blade! Yep I intend to use my one as a bush blade see how it goes I may need a bigger one maybe a WW2 style?

Shortwinger, thanks for the advice I see what you mean about those companies with over lap, I spent hours reading the about us sections last night.

I can see some HI cutters coming to me in the near future, now I just need more Khukuri $$$
 
Thanks mate :), the bush is tough stuff in NZ you may find something with a bit of heft will serve you best...but one thing you can't have too many of... is Kukri's. I even have one just for chopping chillies.

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I have knives from both the KH and HI.

I've had no issues with use in regards to either blade but my personal opinion is the HI edges out in quality fits and finish.
 
Got the khuhuri in the mail today, yay!
Have made an unboxing video and a quick test video. have posted them up unedited. warning amature video hahaha!
unboxing
http://youtu.be/-dG6F-33ADA
test:
http://youtu.be/skTi-mMsTXA
I cant wait for my next one to arrive! I have a http://www.khukuriblades.com/products/details.php?id=313535fecc3 on order at the mo.
Got an e-mail two days after placing the second order, this one now with Thamel khukuri house saying it would take 10-15 days to have my knife hand made and they will mail it out when its made.
the khukuri from nepalese KH arrived 8 days after placing the order 7 days after order confermation in New Zealand!
Also worth a mention NKH and KHT appear to have the same paypal account so must be fairly tied up.
 
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