Kukri, School me

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my buddy wants a Kukri, I’d like to get him one for his bday.
I know jack about knives. Who makes quality Kukri?
He will definitely use it in the woods so not gonna be a display item.
 
I love the feel of my Cold Steel, but I haven’t actually cut anything with it yet. Almost took off my left thumb with a heavy machete and now my wife frowns whenever I reach for the big knives.

Pretty sure this is mine, you can find them for less than MSRP.
https://www.coldsteel.com/gurkha-kukri-in-01-steel.html
 
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Cold steel. Carbon V
Flat grind, and 5/16" at the spine.


I ABSOLUTELY LOVE Carbon V, but the factory that produced it folded in 2007. I wish I would have had the foresight to gather up several pieces but I wasn't as informed when it was still available. If you see it in the wild, it is certainly worth buying.


That being said, I agree with those upstream that like the Condor.


The Condor Heavy Duty Kukri is a better "working" blade than their K-Tact Kukri, and it's cheaper.
 
I have the Cold Steel Machete Kukri and their Gurkha Kukri plus. Sadly the Carbon V were gone before I decided I needed one. They both work well, but I like the heft of the Kukri plus. They both take and hold an edge well. But are no longer made in the states. Keep the machete on my tractor and the Plus on the 4 wheeler. Amazing what you can cut with the shape of the blade and just a flip of the wrist. If I was serious, I would hunt down the Carbon V. Buddy of mine has one and it does have slightly more heft.
 
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Thanks for the suggestions!!
 
I have one that my dad brought back from India. He was in Burma and India flying "The Hump" in WWII on supply planes to China. I'll have to take a picture of it. It has a little small knife in the top of the sheath also.
 
Make sure both you and your buddy follow proper protocol;
Once a Kukri has been drawn, it CANNOT be resheathed until the blade has tasted blood.

Seriously, that’s a thing.
True, the first piping design lead I worked from was in Korea and asked a Gurkha to see his knife.
The guy pulled it out and JT looked it over and talked to him about how nice it was, handling sharpness and the style.
When he handed tit back the guy cut his own thumb and put it away.
JT asked why and he was told the same thing, The blade does not go back into the sheath until it has drawn blood, someone else or mine."
 
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Make sure both you and your buddy follow proper protocol;
Once a Kukri has been drawn, it CANNOT be resheathed until the blade has tasted blood.

Seriously, that’s a thing.

Given their general use as farm, kitchen and work tools I believe that's just for the Gurkhas.

Gurkhas_07fc76_5570524.jpg Gurkhas_d7db7c_5570524.jpg gurkhas-because-a-big-guy-with-a-little-knife-and-8213873.png
 
Make sure both you and your buddy follow proper protocol;
Once a Kukri has been drawn, it CANNOT be resheathed until the blade has tasted blood.

Seriously, that’s a thing.
:D
 
I do a lot of chopping both at home clearing brush and for work. A kukri is great for clearing sapling up to larger growth, but wouldn't be my choice for briars/cane/brambles/vines.

That said, some of the best are indeed made in Asia/India, where they were invented and still made the exact same way out of differentially treated (edge is harder than spine for toughness and edge holding) truck leaf spring steel. Kukri House and Himalayan Imports are the big names for importing quality, and they have many fine specimens if you want the original real deal.


As far as American brands the Kabar Becker BK21 is my absolute favorite. It is the perfect shape, edge geometry, and weigh for processing wood, and I've gotten to where I prefer it to a hatchet (which is pretty much how a kukri works).
https://www.amazon.com/Becker-BKR21-BRK-Reinhardt-Kukri/dp/B016QT71Z0

That said, having use many Ontario knives, I would have total faith in their offering:
https://www.amazon.com/Ontario-Knife-1064206-OKC-Kukri/dp/B00519UT42

Or KaBar's non-Becker Kukri, though they took some liberties with the design:
https://www.amazon.com/KA-BAR-KA1249-BRK-2-1249-9-Kukri/dp/B001H53Q8A

I also have a few older Cold Steel Kukris, one in Carbon V and fairly rare one in 1095 steel. I haven't used any of their current models since they started outsourcing so much of their work and Camillus (who I believe made their Carbon V) closed doors. I do, however, have their cheapo Magnum Kukri machete, which has honestly been an absolute beast after I put several hours up front fixing the absolute garbage edge geometry. I've absolutely abused the hell out of that thing, and its primary job is chopping roots, and it has held up well for the 15 or so dollars it cost.

I've no experience with the Condor Kukri. I did have one of their Goloks and it was a (barely) sharpened pry bar that was going to require hours of reprofiling, so I passed it along. I would defer to thrillhill on that one as the resident expert.


Also, only added Amazon links for direct price comparison. Please buy from a good, reputable knife dealer instead.
 
Cold Steel and Condor make solid Kukri like blades but they are not real Kukris. If you want a real Kukri you need to buy one from Nepal or India. There are several online retailers who offer real hand made Indian sub-continent Kukri blades.


px0F6pO.jpg
 
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Cold Steel and Condor made solid Kukri like blades but they are not real Kukris. If you want a real Kukri you need to buy one from Nepal or India. There are several online retailers who offer real hand made Indian sub-continent Kukri blades.


px0F6pO.jpg
I don't know what metal Cold steel uses for their machete but it is tough. Forged in Fire did an episode where they made Gladius' and they tested them with a machine that swung their swords against a Cold Steel gladius and didn't hurt the Cold steel a bit.
 
personally, i like the shortest of the three Kukris i own.
it handles better and stays "out of the way".
it's an old Cold Steel Gurkha model.
 
I don't know what metal Cold steel uses for their machete but it is tough. Forged in Fire did an episode where they made Gladius' and they tested them with a machine that swung their swords against a Cold Steel gladius and didn't hurt the Cold steel a bit.

I think they use run of the mill 1055 or 1060

I have a few, and they are on the soft side (as you would want for a machete) which I abuse the living hell out of (chopping roots, even in a gravel driveway, digging, shaping locust posts, hammering, etc) and they hold up with zero fuss. They hold an edge surprisingly well for such a soft steel.
 
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LOL, nobody can afford it!

Jason Knight kurkris. I always really like his style.

I follow Jason Knight on other social media, he is amazing!
 
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