Nepalese khukris

These are three khukris I brought home with me from Nepal.

Officers' khukri

The officers' model weighs 0.44 kg and is 39 cm long. The blade is 8 mm thick and the centre of mass is 8.5 cm in front of the handle.

This makes it a very good general purpose knife, as it's not too large or heavy.

The soldiers' model is just as well made when it comes to function, but the horn handle and blade aren't as nicely polished. (I should have gotten one of those, too, as I could have used it as a "user knife", this one I want to save from wear and tear.)

The blade may be made out of a bus or truck spring, but it's clearly made by someone who knows about knives, and the edge is sharpened to different angles at different places, indicating the different uses, slicing, cutting and chopping, you use that part of the blade for.

Sirupati

The sirupati isn't properly a "khukri", only knives looking like the army model are, other similar but different knives are named after the region where they are traditional (and made, none of these came out of factory).

This one happens to have a brass handle, but it's the blade shape which determines the style, I choose one with brass handle because I wanted as much variety in the few knifes I could bring home.

At 0.60 kg and 44 cm overall length, matched by its 9 mm blade thickness, it's a bit too large for my taste, but the balance point is 9 cm in front of the handle, so it feels nice to use anyway.

Like most khukris, this one's weak point is the sheath, which isn't very sturdy really.

Ang Khola

The Ang Khola is still another shape.

This one is 40 cm long, weighs 0.57 kg and has a 8 mm thick blade. Centre of mass is 7 cm in front of the handle. The symbols on the sheath are Nepal's national symbols. I don't know if this has any special significance in this case, but I'm told khukris with no animal content, like this, are permitted inside temples.

Should you wish to own a khukri, try to find one which is actually made to be used. They may not be as cheap, but you'll feel better owning it knowing it could be put to hard use.

Text last updated 1998 Sep 02, document modified 2000 Sep 07 by