the failure mentioned above was from a forging flaw combined with a possible over-hardening in the transition area, rather than a design flaw. there was an un-noticed rusted crack in the corner at the blade shoulder which acted as a stress raiser and the crack propagated across the the widest and normally strongest part of the tang. i believe this incident was discussed at length by the boss lady with the kamis to ensure it would not happen again and that more quality control was required or else. as they do not have sophisticated xray and dye-penetrant testing facilities, this is mostly visual, with some physical tests prior to final finishing... as in any hand made item, there is opportunity for hidden flaws, as you can see from the lack of extensive failures being reported these rarely get out to the public, and if they do, they get replaced with a good one.
the more traditional stub tang of a few inches held in a blind hole by laha (nepali 'epoxy', tree resin and some other binders like dried dung
) is still common out in the villages where they have a village blacksmith (kami) i understand, but can cause handle failures after just a few decades of hard use, at which point the owner just glues on a new one good for a few more decades.
some HI models have stub tangs, like the more decorative carved pommel hanuman. these are pinned by a metal pin thru the tang as in the photo of the
dui chiruwa cat khukuri so the handle isn't going to come off. these HI models are normally not heavily used as they are more pretty, but they certainly could be, and if intended for more fleshy targets, are as good as any tang design.
the rat-tail tang got a bad rep from bad manufacturing proceedures by cheap uncaring western/oriental mfg. who would spot weld a threaded rod to a tangless blade to save some labor. welds by crappy welders tend to break.
HI's are not welded, not thin threaded rods, and are substantial.
in other words, you are unlikely to break a HI one.
