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The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is ready to order! See this thread for details: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/bladeforums-2024-traditional-knife.2003187/
Price is$300$250 ea (shipped within CONUS). If you live outside the US, I will contact you after your order for extra shipping charges.
Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/ - Order as many as you like, we have plenty.
Start the 2020 right with Butterfly Sword and Farm Knife
- Thread starter Yangdu
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Is the Farm Knife and Tamang still available? Unbelievable!
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Glad you got it. No more temptation. I still need to purchase one of those. Let us know your thoughts when it arrives! Grats!
I own near to 100 HI knives now.... Tamang is still my favorite, from 25 inch monsters, to 4 inch pen knives.... 72oz to 2oz and everything in between.... if I had to keep only 1 it would be, without question, thought, or hesitation.... a Tamang
No more temptation?
There's plenty more temptations here.
I'm looking forward to being tempted.
Actually I'm trying to put together a nice practical collection so that I can outfit some stewards up this way.
The days are coming when a group of woodsmen with good steel will come in handy.
I saw that you got the first one on Halloween DOD.
How much have you worked it since then?
How does it perform? What makes it your favorite?
Sorry for so many questions. Just curious about all the excitement...
well, I'll try and find a way to vocalize why it's my favorite... not sure it will come thru in text however so bear with me....
1. They tend to be between 15 and 18 inches on average.... in my opinion this is the sweet spot.... any smaller and they loose a lot of the momentum you'd gain with the impossible to describe wrist roll which makes Kuks such phenomenal chopping knives to start with. The belly forward weight, and the wrist roll chopping method combined make them punch FAR above their weight... which in some cases is already pretty substantial. Any longer than that, and you start to limit the packability, useability, general usefulness of the overall pattern... the best knife for the job is the one you have with you when you need it...... and while a 25 inch 64oz Ganga Ram will certainly get thru a 4 inch downed piece of log faster..... it's pretty limited in what else it can do, and portability so the odds of having it on you when you need it are much smaller. ...... I could go on and expand this line of thought into a much longer post than you care to read.... but the basics are, it's the perfect length to be perfect....
2. The weight on a Tamang is USUALLY near to 1oz per inch.... and for a dedicated chopper, you could argue more is better.... but you could also argue that an axe is better.... I do have dedicated chopping Kuks... some as heavy as 72oz.... but what they CAN do is damn limited.... and short of felling a tree, a smaller knife is better.... they are so heavy that I have to leave them stationary, at home, and at home, I have no less than a dozen axes that do a better job of chopping. The lighter weight leaves the Tamang quick, agile, nimble in the hand, as capable of doing light work as it is at doing heavy work. I'm a Bushcrafter ( never knew it till it became popular, but that's what they evidently call growing up in the woods, hunting, fishing, living off the land, and camping now days .... go figger ) .... as a Bushcrafter, most of my " large knife tasks " are less brute force, and more ..... finesse... its about being able to place the sharp edge of a blade, where you need that sharp edge, and keeping it away from things that don't need a sharp edge's attention... if that makes any sense... Yes, the Tamang can chop... yes, I can baton it thru wood and split firewood out of bigger sized logs, but it can also field dress and quarter a deer, fillet a catfish, cut a spool of twine for a trot line, delimb branches, clear a shooting lane or hiking trail....etc etc.... and be carried effortlessly between tasks till needed. .....again, I could type for days about why it's .... perfectly able to replace both a large heavy knife and a small light knife...and do so in such a way that you don't really miss either....
3. The SHAPE of the Tamang... and this I can't stress enough as being important, nor can I verbalize exactly WHY it works as well as it does..... the thin straight section is the perfect length to be useful as a draw knife, carving stake notches, cutting the heads off a catfish.... on and on and on.... the Belly has ENOUGH belly to still give it that weight forward feel, but also allows you to choke up on the back of the blade, skin a deer, chop a log, catch and drag twigs and small branches back into the cut so they don't glance and deflect.... etc etc.... and the point.... has enough point to be ...pointy, for all the point related stabby pokey things you need to do.... drill out a hole in a fireboard, start a cut on an animal hide, any precision carving....
The gentle downward sweeping curve rather than the more abrupt traditional Kuk bend lends power to the stroke, but does not limit its ability to preform tasks a regular Kuk would struggle with....
I don't know.... it's hard to explain my love of the Tamang.... but I'm betting you get that big epiphany and AHHHH! HAW!!! moment the second you pick one up.... without even using it much.... but the more you use it, the more it becomes closer and closer to perfect....
/shrug.... at least for me....
YMMV
1. They tend to be between 15 and 18 inches on average.... in my opinion this is the sweet spot.... any smaller and they loose a lot of the momentum you'd gain with the impossible to describe wrist roll which makes Kuks such phenomenal chopping knives to start with. The belly forward weight, and the wrist roll chopping method combined make them punch FAR above their weight... which in some cases is already pretty substantial. Any longer than that, and you start to limit the packability, useability, general usefulness of the overall pattern... the best knife for the job is the one you have with you when you need it...... and while a 25 inch 64oz Ganga Ram will certainly get thru a 4 inch downed piece of log faster..... it's pretty limited in what else it can do, and portability so the odds of having it on you when you need it are much smaller. ...... I could go on and expand this line of thought into a much longer post than you care to read.... but the basics are, it's the perfect length to be perfect....
2. The weight on a Tamang is USUALLY near to 1oz per inch.... and for a dedicated chopper, you could argue more is better.... but you could also argue that an axe is better.... I do have dedicated chopping Kuks... some as heavy as 72oz.... but what they CAN do is damn limited.... and short of felling a tree, a smaller knife is better.... they are so heavy that I have to leave them stationary, at home, and at home, I have no less than a dozen axes that do a better job of chopping. The lighter weight leaves the Tamang quick, agile, nimble in the hand, as capable of doing light work as it is at doing heavy work. I'm a Bushcrafter ( never knew it till it became popular, but that's what they evidently call growing up in the woods, hunting, fishing, living off the land, and camping now days .... go figger ) .... as a Bushcrafter, most of my " large knife tasks " are less brute force, and more ..... finesse... its about being able to place the sharp edge of a blade, where you need that sharp edge, and keeping it away from things that don't need a sharp edge's attention... if that makes any sense... Yes, the Tamang can chop... yes, I can baton it thru wood and split firewood out of bigger sized logs, but it can also field dress and quarter a deer, fillet a catfish, cut a spool of twine for a trot line, delimb branches, clear a shooting lane or hiking trail....etc etc.... and be carried effortlessly between tasks till needed. .....again, I could type for days about why it's .... perfectly able to replace both a large heavy knife and a small light knife...and do so in such a way that you don't really miss either....
3. The SHAPE of the Tamang... and this I can't stress enough as being important, nor can I verbalize exactly WHY it works as well as it does..... the thin straight section is the perfect length to be useful as a draw knife, carving stake notches, cutting the heads off a catfish.... on and on and on.... the Belly has ENOUGH belly to still give it that weight forward feel, but also allows you to choke up on the back of the blade, skin a deer, chop a log, catch and drag twigs and small branches back into the cut so they don't glance and deflect.... etc etc.... and the point.... has enough point to be ...pointy, for all the point related stabby pokey things you need to do.... drill out a hole in a fireboard, start a cut on an animal hide, any precision carving....
The gentle downward sweeping curve rather than the more abrupt traditional Kuk bend lends power to the stroke, but does not limit its ability to preform tasks a regular Kuk would struggle with....
I don't know.... it's hard to explain my love of the Tamang.... but I'm betting you get that big epiphany and AHHHH! HAW!!! moment the second you pick one up.... without even using it much.... but the more you use it, the more it becomes closer and closer to perfect....
/shrug.... at least for me....
YMMV
I won't try to quote that....
Sounds amazing!
I have five that all beg to be carried every day.
The VUK by Purna is same length and weight.
It's my favorite so far. Even though I have to leave my old Tin Chirra in the car like an old dog. That thing is magical. What I gauge all other blades against. Super hard. Took forever to sharpen it, but it's stayed hair poppin for 12 years now after all the use (and abuse.)
I can't wait to take the tamang to the forest...
Sounds amazing!
I have five that all beg to be carried every day.
The VUK by Purna is same length and weight.
It's my favorite so far. Even though I have to leave my old Tin Chirra in the car like an old dog. That thing is magical. What I gauge all other blades against. Super hard. Took forever to sharpen it, but it's stayed hair poppin for 12 years now after all the use (and abuse.)
I can't wait to take the tamang to the forest...
Bawanna
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Most folks over here are more used to slightly straighter lines of the Tamang. Getting use to the boomerang shape of the traditional khuks takes a little getting used to.
I love my Tamang like every body else. Everyone should have one.
I do like the feel and style of the traditional khuks (Thamar is my favorite kami) and as mentioned would love to carry them all so none feel left out.
I love my Tamang like every body else. Everyone should have one.
I do like the feel and style of the traditional khuks (Thamar is my favorite kami) and as mentioned would love to carry them all so none feel left out.
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I suppose we all have our favorites. While I'm waiting (sharking?) for the right Farm Knife (a lite one), I find unbelievable that the bone handle Suga and Baby Suga still look unsold (from earlier).
X
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EMS for 17 inch 29 ounce Villager Farm Knife by Kumar. Red satisal wood handle. Leather sheath. Superb work by Kumar. $195.
Got the DD!
I’ve had questions and concerns about the Farm Knife and it’s capabilities of other things besides a clever on steroids. So this is the email conversation I had with Ms Yangdu about my concerns:
Good morning Ms Yangdu. I’m trying to find out if the Farm Knife can chop like an AK?
If not, why is it made so heavy?
Thank you for your information!
George Azar
Her answer was:
Good Morning George,
While I was in Nepal 2008 I saw village people of Nepal cutting tree limbs and chopping with Farm Knife.
It may even preform better than Ang Khola.
Yangdu
Now I have a whole new love for this beast of a knife!
Got the DD!
I’ve had questions and concerns about the Farm Knife and it’s capabilities of other things besides a clever on steroids. So this is the email conversation I had with Ms Yangdu about my concerns:
Good morning Ms Yangdu. I’m trying to find out if the Farm Knife can chop like an AK?
If not, why is it made so heavy?
Thank you for your information!
George Azar
Her answer was:
Good Morning George,
While I was in Nepal 2008 I saw village people of Nepal cutting tree limbs and chopping with Farm Knife.
It may even preform better than Ang Khola.
Yangdu
Now I have a whole new love for this beast of a knife!
The Farm Knife has a much thinner edge profile than the AK. It will probably outperform an AK on softer wood, or on tree limbs that aren't very thick, since the thinner edge will bite deeply. However, the AK will probably hold its edge better and last longer for heavy chopping.
The Farm Knife can be used in the kitchen, whereas an AK of similar size is likely to destroy your counter tops or cutting boards.
The Farm Knife can be used in the kitchen, whereas an AK of similar size is likely to destroy your counter tops or cutting boards.
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Thanks David. I just wonder why they weigh as much as an AK or as my CAK’s do? I do know being involved in the knife making world....as far as purchasing reading articles and the pursuit of the perfect convex edge on a do all Bowie/fighter since back in the 1980’s. There were a lot of bladesmiths in the Ozarks I got to hang out with. Most created edges similar to the edge on the Farm Knife. Sometimes they dealt with the edge rolling then reprofile the edge to correct the chopping problem
There's a lot of steel in that wide blade; hence the weight. I suspect that the extra width allows for many years of reprofiling as the thin edge wears down. Of course that would depend on how far back the differential hardening goes, but the kamis know what they're doing in that respect. I have four of these knives, two from HI and two from another Nepal kami who is a friend of HI. They are all very impressive blades. The latter two are a little slimmer and have a guard, but otherwise are similar to the HI version.
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I just got the DD for my 4th today! Very excited and another Kumar!
I guess I have enough to where I need to venture out and give a field report of one of these. Hopefully I won’t damage the edge!
When I do, I’ll post photos and a field report! I owe this to myself and all my H.I. family!
Looking forward to your report, George!
I had a blast working out my Tamang today. It's a superb cutter that is a real joy to use.
I'm gonna get me a Farm Knife one of these days for sure.
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Kiteman I’m glad the knife turned out for your favor and your issues are being resolved.
I feel like I owe it to myself to find out the Farm Knifes capacity.
Thanks, George, and feel free to call me Taylor, tho Kiteman is just fine too, haha.
I live out in the sticks so I have lots of brush and such to clear and maintain and these HI blades really ask to be used to their full potential. I was worried that my Tamang might have a bed heat treat, but I think I have put that fear to rest and am going to be on the hunt for a backup. One for show and one for go, I believe the saying is.
That Farm Knife sure looks like a capable cutter!
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Taylor I live in the mountains in the middle of the woods in the Ozark mountains. Also surrounded by trees, many dead and fallen. But most very solid. There’s plenty of chopping and if this lets you know where I live, I can walk out my back door and hunt, shoot my gun and it can also be a restroom without reservation! HahahaThanks, George, and feel free to call me Taylor, tho Kiteman is just fine too, haha.
I live out in the sticks so I have lots of brush and such to clear and maintain and these HI blades really ask to be used to their full potential. I was worried that my Tamang might have a bed heat treat, but I think I have put that fear to rest and am going to be on the hunt for a backup. One for show and one for go, I believe the saying is.
That Farm Knife sure looks like a capable cutter!
I will post some chopping photos ASAP!