The Khukri, by John Powell

Kismet

Kismet

Joined
Jan 30, 2002
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I was going through my bookmarked pages index and came across this site from the Way-back Machine. For those who may not be familiar with Mr. Powell, he was a highly-respected collector, historian, and good friend of Bill Martino.

He had a VAST collection, and even greater knowledge.

I hope you find it of interest, and may it be of some value to you.

Mr. Powell should be a part of every khukri afficiando's knowledge base.

Enjoy every sandwich.

Kis



http://web.archive.org/web/20040805...alayan-imports.com/Powell/kukri/kukri-01.html

Table of Contents
Chapter I. - Introduction
Chapter II. - Traditional Kukris
Chapter III. - Kothimoras
appendix - supplemental kothimora gallery
Chapter IV. - Military Kukris [to be added]
Chapter V. - On Grips, Gods and Garudas
 
Definitely one of the good guys.

Damned shame he was never able to finish that book. "From Kukri to Kookuri and Everything in Between", wasn't that one of the working titles?

I got a couple of very old khuks from him, from when he was culling his collection.
 
Thank you for posting this. I had the good fortune to meet Mr. Powell at his home but lost touch, he let me see some of his pieces (the wall was alarmed and we had funny/not funny stories about Ebay and getting stuff in the mail), discussed the book with me and gifted me a kukri pin, which I lost:mad: then replaced.
 
That was a great read. The bond between man and steel is so strong. It is good to reflect on the history of these old blades. Just imaging what those khukuris have experienced. It would have been a pleasure to meet John. Thanks for posting.
 
I remember JP ,he was a good friend!We talked on the phone & emailed quite a bit. SMOKE,JP & I tried many times to get together but too many things kept getting in the way! JP was quite well known in England,he contacted me one time, quite excited, he was asked to go thru the HISTORICAL SECTION & identify their Kukris! No other outsider was ever given this honor! HE also had quite a sense of humor,& quite a # of female admirers....he was a fantastic photographer & send me some....ahhh...great pics.call & ask my opinion laughing while I was trying to give a "safe"answer.The above is a "safe" characterization of a good guy! SOME of our conversations would get me banned for life from the forms!LMAO...I misss him, what a CHARACTOR...his like will never pass this way again!
THE DUCK!
 
[QUOTE=" JP was quite well known in England,.....HE also had quite a sense of humor,& quite a # of female admirers....he was a fantastic photographer & send me some....ahhh...great pics.call & ask my opinion laughing while I was trying to give a "safe"answerTHE DUCK![/QUOTE]

I remember stories like and but I only saw photos of him in the military on the wall near the kukris LOL but his cat liked me. For the knife collectors here, JP lived in a very tall and steep apartment (UPS and USPS often would NOT walk up the stairs to deliver to his door, I worked out and was breathing a little lol) and the kukri wall in not2sharp's photo was wide with a sensitive alarm (passing vehicles set it off as we talked). JP didn't collect too many non-kukri blades (I think I saw an Indian kora) and the most modern kukri I saw was the CS Gurkha kukri. I was studying martial arts weapons at the time and I only started working enough to afford some longer blades and JP was one of the few locals who had real kukris. I could take about more about the man but again, I only met him once.
 
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