Pensioner: Rosewood, Steel, Traditional Dap

[jnaught]

In her characteristic generosity, my wife ordered a Pensioner for me for Christmas/birthday (they being close together) on November 23, 2021. There was a backlog of work at Kailash, and I suspect some holiday/covid/etc delays, but mid-January I started to get updates.
Started forging:

Rough grind:

Heat treat (I think the media master got some of his pictures crossed here, as that isn't a Pensioner, probably a Dui Chirra; one thumbnail of a black khuk probably looks pretty much like another):

Packing:

It traveled from Katmandu to Dubai, Bahrain, Leipzig, Midlands UK, Cincinnati, Memphis, and then backwoods Mississippi, arriving February 23rd, 2022:

Its gorgeous:

The finish isn't perfect, and it is clear it isn't machine made, but somehow it doesn't matter at all. The khukuri is beautiful, interesting, and a joy to swing. At 589 grams, it isn't a light knife, or a light machete for that matter, but it doesn't feel heavy in the hand. The balance is similar to that of a hatchet. I wasn't sure how the handle ring would feel, but figured they'd been made that way for a few hundred years for good reason, and I was right. The handle works: it fills the hand, the curve, the ring, and the flare all locking in your hand. It's comfortable and secure.

It bites pretty deep, though the thickness seems to keep it from sinking any deeper than the edge of the fuller. For a 13" blade, I think that is respectable. On saplings and limbs it will power through more than that, tearing what wasn't cut. I was able to fell at least a 2" diameter sweet gum (not a hardwood, but not softest thing in the woods) with a single blow.

The finish (went for polished, love it), is showing plenty of scratches and scuffs, which I am fine with. It's a tool. It's also beginning a light patina.

Hope that didn't void the warranty, as this clearly was not designed to slice chicken. Still, it did better than I expected; that full convex grind makes it perform better than it's "TBE" would have you think.

I've batoned, chopped seasoned oak, felled saplings of numerous species, trimmed limbs, sliced chicken, pared an apple (there was distinct splitting), stabbed it into trees, and bowed up on it swinging into some hardwood, and it has performed as well as anyone could wish (except in the kitchen, of course). No edge damage, no loosening of the fittings, no ill effects except needing a little sharpening (btw, Baryonyx's scythe stones work well for this):

I love it.

 

[Kailash Blades]

What an amazing writeup! Thanks for taking the time to give a review of the blade and let people know how you feel. Some amazing photos too- great to see it getting more scraped and builsing character as time goes by.
You're very right that Bisnu muddled up the pics and sent you a photo of some else's dui chirra. I've spoken with him and I'm sorry to day that due to the time that's elapsed he's deleted that batch of progress photos off his phone. If you place an order again in future we'll be sure to nail that process

 

[HJA]

Nice photos; the wood handle really looks fantastic with the steel hardware on this. Pensioner seems like a fantastic all-rounder Khukuri. From Kailash's offerings I kind of view it and the Mutiny as siblings on either side of the idealistic midpoint between heavy chopper and speedy light cutter. Either are strong "if you could only have one..." contenders.

 

[jnaught]

Breezing through some light splitting:

 

[jnaught]

You're very right that Bisnu muddled up the pics and sent you a photo of some else's dui chirra. I've spoken with him and I'm sorry to day that due to the time that's elapsed he's deleted that batch of progress photos off his phone. If you place an order again in future we'll be sure to nail that process

It honestly didn't bother me, but thanks!

Nice photos; the wood handle really looks fantastic with the steel hardware on this. Pensioner seems like a fantastic all-rounder Khukuri. From Kailash's offerings I kind of view it and the Mutiny as siblings on either side of the idealistic midpoint between heavy chopper and speedy light cutter. Either are strong "if you could only have one..." contenders.

The rosewood is really something. Rock hard and beautiful. This is my only experience with a khuk, so I can't talk comparisons, but it is a very capable tool.

 

[Kailash Blades]

Nice photos; the wood handle really looks fantastic with the steel hardware on this. Pensioner seems like a fantastic all-rounder Khukuri. From Kailash's offerings I kind of view it and the Mutiny as siblings on either side of the idealistic midpoint between heavy chopper and speedy light cutter. Either are strong "if you could only have one..." contenders.

It's a pretty good assessment! I feel the pensioner, mk1 and mutiny are kind of siblings. They're all great, versatile, historical workers with very high performing blade geometry. The mk1 has a bit more of a focus on power and chopping, the mutiny a bit more of a focus on brush clearing/fighting and the pensioner is a firm all rounder. Ignoring price and personal taste the three base versions of the blade could sort out just about anyone with what they need in a big outdoors blade.

Breezing through some light splitting:

The embed here doesn't quite look like it worked, but the imgur links are just fine. Maybe try embedding as a different media format or just give the direct link?
Regardless it's going through that wood like a lightsabre!

 

[jnaught]

Some spring work.

 

[jnaught]

Sheath:

I went with the traditional dap. It's really light, looks good, and carries well. Being a lefty, I slipped the frog off and turned it around so I can carry it on my off-side with the edge forward for cross-drawing with my left. It works well.
Original show side:

Original back, now the show side:

Belt loops: it has a second loop on the frog for horizontal carry, but without a secondary retention method (the sheath relies solely on gravity and friction), I do not think horizontal would be safe. Besides that, the knife is too long to do this without it getting substantially in the way:

Mine arrived fairly loose, and has loosened up with use to point where the sheath would fall off the knife. I did a little poking around the interwebs, and found that some reccomend glueing a small leather strip in the throat to tighten things up. I did that last night and it seems to have worked well. I wish I had glued it a little further in for aesthetic reasons. We'll see how it holds up:

After carrying it a lot for a couple weeks now, I think it is a good sheath. I like not having any snaps to deal with to retrieve the blade, and it stays out of the way pretty well. After the modification it seems a safe, effective, and simple way to carry it.

 

[Kailash Blades]

Glad you like the sheath! It definitely has a simplicity to it that's appealing. The horizontal belt loop perhaps isn't quite what you're expecting it to be- rather than for scout carry or a very firm horizontal carry it facilitates an angled crossdraw, like a sabre. This is because there's enough play in the belt loop/ belt to angle a bit and the weight of the blade and dap makes that portion tip downwards. Give it a try and see how you go

 

[jnaught]

Did a lot of work with Pensioner this weekend. Took down a handful of small-to-medium trees and did all the limbing with the khukuri:

The largest was a sweet gum, and there were three or four small oaks, a hackberry, and a small mulberry. It was a good bit of chopping and dragging for an afternoon..

The handle ring turned into quite the hotspot. My hands have done a lot of this kind of work over the years, but not so much recently. Also, I think if I shifted my grip a little towards the butt of the handle, it would have mitigated it somewhat (as I did after that blister made itself known). I had it gripped with the ring between my middle and ring fingers, which is too far up the handle (for my hand) for the swell at the butt to contribute much to retention. Which means that I was having to grip harder and the ring was doing a lot of work whenever the blade stopped dead and my arm kept going. I also left my wedding band on too long, which was creating it's own hotspots. Next time I'll try adjusting a little and see if that helps. Truth is, probably any hand tool would have resulted in blisters. I just don't chop that much anymore. The khukuri did very well, falling somewhere between an axe and machete in efficiency. The edge held up incredibly well with no chipping, rolling, or substantial degradation. It wasn't quite as sharp at the end as the beginning, but it was not noticeable in use. I was impressed.
It took some damage today, though, when I hit some steel fence wire I didn't see lurking in a privet hedge. Rolled pretty good in several places, but to my surprise, straightened out with some steeling (used the back of my mora as a steel).

After straightening the edge, it sharpened right up.

All told, I was really pleased with its performance. A solid tool.

 

[Kailash Blades]

Absolutely putting the knife through its paces! Great to see its holding up. As for the handle ring issue, have a try at using an "OK" grip while doing lighter chopping. Squeeze the bolster between the thumb and index finger while leaving the rest of the hand loose. as the blade comes down to strike it then has the ability to rotate around this gripped portion for a bit of extra sting and lower overall effort. a quick squeeze with the pinkie and ring finger can also help accelerate the rotation of the blade forwards and save effort in the rest of your arm and shoulder. If over extended use the handle ring keeps bothering you, don't be afraid to sand it down to flush. It won't affect any of our future warranty appraisals.
Take care,
Andrew and the team at Kailash

 

[jnaught]

Absolutely putting the knife through its paces! Great to see its holding up. As for the handle ring issue, have a try at using an "OK" grip while doing lighter chopping. Squeeze the bolster between the thumb and index finger while leaving the rest of the hand loose. as the blade comes down to strike it then has the ability to rotate around this gripped portion for a bit of extra sting and lower overall effort. a quick squeeze with the pinkie and ring finger can also help accelerate the rotation of the blade forwards and save effort in the rest of your arm and shoulder. If over extended use the handle ring keeps bothering you, don't be afraid to sand it down to flush. It won't affect any of our future warranty appraisals.
Take care,
Andrew and the team at Kailash

I'll give it a shot. Thanks!

 

[Sardonic 6]

Exceptional write up! Thanks for sharing.
I LOATHE sweet gum trees!

 

[jnaught]

Scrubbed some sap off the blade with Barkeeper's Friend, not realizing it was acidic. Got a nice temper line/hamon showing up:

 

[jnaught]

Finding its place:

 

[Kailash Blades]

Looking so good up on a rack like that!
It's always great to have a khukuri in the kitchen too

 

[meboz]

Finding its place:

How do you like the BD1N steel? I have a few BD1N knives (some Nexus kitchen knives and a Spyderco Para3 LW), and I am liking how it sharpens and holds and edge. A Nexus BD1N prep knife is one of my current favorite knives in the kitchen... it feels very light and nimble.

 

[Seanzo]

Finding its place:

I'd have a potential problem with that in the kitchen... of the spousal variety.

 

[jnaught]

Looking so good up on a rack like that!
It's always great to have a khukuri in the kitchen too

That blade looks good all the time! It doesn't actually live in the kitchen though. Just stops by for an occasional photo op.

How do you like the BD1N steel? I have a few BD1N knives (some Nexus kitchen knives and a Spyderco Para3 LW), and I am liking how it sharpens and holds and edge. A Nexus BD1N prep knife is one of my current favorite knives in the kitchen... it feels very light and nimble.

I like it a lot. I thinned the edge a bit, de-shouldering and convexing it some, and now I keep it sharp almost solely by stropping it. Stays sharp quite a while too. No chipping, no rolling, even when munching on frozen targets.

I'd have a potential problem with that in the kitchen... of the spousal variety.

Haha! It doesn't live there. The other blades in the picture are better suited, and those magnets can barely hold the khuk!

Here is something more in it's wheelhouse: breezing through some privet.

 

[jnaught]

Most punishing thing I've done with it yet, this was about 8" diameter, well-seasoned red oak, fairly good approximation of granite. Good bit of hand shock a couple of times when I hit the bottom of the notch dead straight on, but the blade did the job without any fuss and no damage at all. No issues.