Earlier in the week, I took delivery of something that was a first for me. A kukri.
This was it - actually, the little one on the far left...
It's a jungle kuk from Tora - a "blem" or blemished (imperfect) item and I picked it up for £25 of BB. Even though the regular price is only £32 or something, this was just so silly cheap for a big bit of sharp steel, I couldn't resist it. At that price, I thought, the thing is almost disposable - so if I hate it, I'll cannibalise it or junk it. The kuk arrived in, well a blemished condition. Which was exactly as advertised, it was a bit rough round the edges, the brass bits were unpolished and a bit jagged in parts, a bit of rust on the blade and the edge was a bit dull. But 1/2 hour with some abrasives and the brass bits were smooth and shiny, the rust had gone, I'd put an edge on it with my belt grinder, then etched the blade (which revealed differential "tip down" hardening) and honed a polished edge onto it with a bit of compound and my 8" buffing wheel - it now shaves just like any other knife I own.
Hmmm, so how does it perform? Well having never owned a kuk before, it took a bit of getting used to. I discovered pretty quickly that the right point of balance, is slightly choked up on the blade. If you hold it too far back, the handle bites into your palm and the thing feels nose heavy. But if you choke up on it a little, the whole balance changes and it becomes quite deft and smooth. Hmmm, starting to like it. So out into the garden (well, my dads garden, all I have is a yard) for a bit of brush work. I'm not doing a full kuk revirew, there are tons on the web, but needless to say, this thing chops like something designed for the job - which, of course, it was. But it also works brill as a scythe, a regular knife, a draw knife, a spoke shave etc. About the only thing it was crap at, was the fine & detailed work (there's a small auxilliary knife that comes with the sheath which could cover this). I have to be honest, if I only could take one tool, I'm thinking right now, it'd be this small kuk.
I think the reason I like it so much is it's slender, fairly straight blade and small size. For reference, it weighs 500g exactly, that's about the same (maybe a tad heavier) as a granny B mini hatchet I think, but a damned site more useful. The small size, makes it very dextrous and quick. I think the jungle kuk was designed as a special forces weapon for the nepalese). It's just about on the upper limit for a big knife, with a 10.5" blade (but still quite small for a kuk). It's small size, means it covers a lot of options quite well. It's not ever going to be as good as a decent sized axe, but it's surely as good as a mini hatchet, if not better. The ability to clear brush with a scytheing motion is well useful too (something an axe cant do at all) - clearing out campsites and making light work of cleaning off poles. Even though it's a small kuk, at 10mm thick, it's pretty indestructable and you could batton this puppy as hard as you liked. - A couple of pics...
Although it looks tiny compared to the other kuks in the pic above, you can see here it looks pretty hefty compared to the small forrest axe and WS knife...
Even though it's a small kuk, it's built like a tank...
You can see from the spine, it's over 10mm thick and looks monstrous next to the tiny 4mm thick WS knife.
So, small for a kuk, but a big campknife by other standards. To be honest, a kukri bigger than this I think I would find too heavy and unweieldy, but this small chap is so versatile, it brill. Lighter than a SFA, a good all rounder. If you're thinking about adding to your arsenal of bushcrafter sharps, maybe a mini hatchet or another knife, I'd give one of these serious consideration too - they're as cheap as chips.
One thing to point out, they're forged by the Nepalese vilagers - from railroad track I think. Nothing wrong with that, but these guys work piece-work. It wont be finished like something that has just left Don fogg's shop, so dont expect it. It'll have forge marks and imperfections. It's an aggricultural tool, made by a people who are very poor - it shows. But... a little work and TLC and you soon have it in good shape.
Highly recommended.
From...
http://www.toratoratora.co.uk/kukri/products.asp
This was it - actually, the little one on the far left...
It's a jungle kuk from Tora - a "blem" or blemished (imperfect) item and I picked it up for £25 of BB. Even though the regular price is only £32 or something, this was just so silly cheap for a big bit of sharp steel, I couldn't resist it. At that price, I thought, the thing is almost disposable - so if I hate it, I'll cannibalise it or junk it. The kuk arrived in, well a blemished condition. Which was exactly as advertised, it was a bit rough round the edges, the brass bits were unpolished and a bit jagged in parts, a bit of rust on the blade and the edge was a bit dull. But 1/2 hour with some abrasives and the brass bits were smooth and shiny, the rust had gone, I'd put an edge on it with my belt grinder, then etched the blade (which revealed differential "tip down" hardening) and honed a polished edge onto it with a bit of compound and my 8" buffing wheel - it now shaves just like any other knife I own.
Hmmm, so how does it perform? Well having never owned a kuk before, it took a bit of getting used to. I discovered pretty quickly that the right point of balance, is slightly choked up on the blade. If you hold it too far back, the handle bites into your palm and the thing feels nose heavy. But if you choke up on it a little, the whole balance changes and it becomes quite deft and smooth. Hmmm, starting to like it. So out into the garden (well, my dads garden, all I have is a yard) for a bit of brush work. I'm not doing a full kuk revirew, there are tons on the web, but needless to say, this thing chops like something designed for the job - which, of course, it was. But it also works brill as a scythe, a regular knife, a draw knife, a spoke shave etc. About the only thing it was crap at, was the fine & detailed work (there's a small auxilliary knife that comes with the sheath which could cover this). I have to be honest, if I only could take one tool, I'm thinking right now, it'd be this small kuk.
I think the reason I like it so much is it's slender, fairly straight blade and small size. For reference, it weighs 500g exactly, that's about the same (maybe a tad heavier) as a granny B mini hatchet I think, but a damned site more useful. The small size, makes it very dextrous and quick. I think the jungle kuk was designed as a special forces weapon for the nepalese). It's just about on the upper limit for a big knife, with a 10.5" blade (but still quite small for a kuk). It's small size, means it covers a lot of options quite well. It's not ever going to be as good as a decent sized axe, but it's surely as good as a mini hatchet, if not better. The ability to clear brush with a scytheing motion is well useful too (something an axe cant do at all) - clearing out campsites and making light work of cleaning off poles. Even though it's a small kuk, at 10mm thick, it's pretty indestructable and you could batton this puppy as hard as you liked. - A couple of pics...
Although it looks tiny compared to the other kuks in the pic above, you can see here it looks pretty hefty compared to the small forrest axe and WS knife...
Even though it's a small kuk, it's built like a tank...
You can see from the spine, it's over 10mm thick and looks monstrous next to the tiny 4mm thick WS knife.
So, small for a kuk, but a big campknife by other standards. To be honest, a kukri bigger than this I think I would find too heavy and unweieldy, but this small chap is so versatile, it brill. Lighter than a SFA, a good all rounder. If you're thinking about adding to your arsenal of bushcrafter sharps, maybe a mini hatchet or another knife, I'd give one of these serious consideration too - they're as cheap as chips.
One thing to point out, they're forged by the Nepalese vilagers - from railroad track I think. Nothing wrong with that, but these guys work piece-work. It wont be finished like something that has just left Don fogg's shop, so dont expect it. It'll have forge marks and imperfections. It's an aggricultural tool, made by a people who are very poor - it shows. But... a little work and TLC and you soon have it in good shape.
Highly recommended.
From...
http://www.toratoratora.co.uk/kukri/products.asp
):
