Why did YOU pick HI?

When my brother and I were little kids, our favorite movie was "Big Trouble in Little China." There's a scene in the beginning where there is a duel in China Town and the Three Storms arrive with KLOs. My brother and I had never seen such knives and had to wait for the internet to materialize before we could easily search for what those knives were called.

After scouring the internet and doing research on khukuris, we came across a review on an HI Ang Khola wherein high praised was heaped on it for being so indestructible. I always wanted to own one but by then I was just a high school kid with no money, so i kind of forgot about it.

Fast forward to two years ago when I started getting into camping, then into outdoor survival. I wanted to do more research on Becker knives (which i still love) and found Blade Forums. After reading a bit, someone mentioned Himalayan Imports and it all came back to me! Now if i'm ever on BF, i'm almost always on this forum just reading and trying to learn more! :D
 
I don't own an HI yet but soon will.'imam choosing them mainly because of reviews off this board. Secondly I tried to be cheap and ordered one from KH and while it is functional tough and I believe it will last a lifetime the fit and finish was not up to my expectations. After hearing how HI kamis pay so much attention to detail I figured I would have to give them a try. Now I am basically just saving money to purchase either a sirupate, komar, or chitlange. I am looking for a fighter first and camp utility tool second. Chopping will be limited to wrist sized limbs and smaller for shelter building.
 
Because USGI machetes are terrible, the handles specifically. The blades are not terrible but they don't work well on trees. I needed something that would work on brush but could take on trees as well, and it didn't need to have an NSN so long as it worked. One 16.5" CAK and one 25" Kobra later and history, as they say, was made.

The Kobra wasn't exactly a multipurpose tool, but that thing cleared acres of scotch broom and blackberries. I never should have sold that thing.
 
I was looking for vids of klo's on youtube. Hard to remember why, I think it was because I'd been holding on to a CS LTC for a long time, and wondered how it compared to a kukri. I saw a vid where a gentleman compared a machete to a real nepalese khuk. The difference in thickness really caught my attention.

Found KHHI first. Ordered one. Took forever and the thing wasn't right. Got dye all over my hands (sheath was wet with dye) and cut thru the side of the sheath first time I tried to sheath it (there was a hitch in the sheath). It was built stout, but fugly and wasn't really "mine".
Then I read a post in some forum where a guy said, "Get a khuk from Uncle Bill. It will cut those others in half!. I looked up who this "Uncle Bill" was, and it led me to HI. I read about him, Yangdu and their principles.
Ordered a pair of 21" Chitlangi's the next day (Calvin and Hobbes). Never been sorry. I'm holding onto several HI products now, and they are all special to me. Pair of Chits', CAK, Ganjawal, Custom Foxy, Kerambit, Pen knife, Stick knife, YCS, Kumar Karda, Wajaski and a GMBAK.

Really glad this site found me. :)
 
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I've heard of khuks a while ago but have never really been interested in larger blades, until recently. Started off with machetes, due to their cost-effectiveness. Began thinking about heavier knives. Not too sure exactly when I decided to get a khukuri. But I do know that I had heard that HI was the best. Came around here to check them out. Was pleasantly surprised with the history of the company and the general behaviour of the forum's denizens. Thought I could live with one or two... hah! Now I'm stuck here. Whether it's willingly or unwillingly? Who cares?:D
 
My experience is like this:

In HI, I have:
- Finest products with best quality. Saving few buck elsewhere but I had to spend lots of time and sweat to correct their fault.
- Variable choice of khukuris. If it's not listed in the HI store, you can place an custom made order
- A community to discuss / chat / share / learn / get review. It brings the "soul" and memory to every khukuri I bought.
- Best service and consultant from Auntie and the forumites
- Contributions to life of Kamis. Same budget, a more meaningful spend.

All roads lead to Rome and all khukuris lead to HI

Cheers,

Hung
 
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