How they make a kukri

Dave —I would FAR rather be shot in combat than have some soldier hack on me with that thing!

On that first trip, some Nepalese government officials had a demonstration put on by a few of their Gurkhas and some unfortunate goats. The Gurkhas beheaded the goats; in every case with a single blow from their Kukris.
 
Dave, about thirty years ago my father-in-law gave me a knife and scabbard that looks very much like yours. Also had the small knife. He worked over seas and I have no idea where he got it. Now I have to search the moving boxes to find it.
 


Gurkhas are tough fighters. I don't remember where I read it; it was probably close to 50 years ago, an account of the Gurkhas fighting in the jungles of Burma during WWII, the Gurkhas would go out at night on patrol (by themselves) and when they spotted someone in the dark environment they would sneak up behind them and run their hands over the front of the unidentified soldiers boots. If the boots had boot laces (Allied soldiers all wore boots with laces), the Gurkha would fade away with that particular soldier never being aware of the presence of a deadly threat. If on the other hand, the Gurkha felt smooth leather (the Japanese wore laceless boots), the Gurkha would quickly rise up and lop off the soldiers head with their Kukri.

The point is; Gurkhas are really tough soldiers and always have been.
 
Great video, great knife. Way leading onto way, the story about Bishnu Shrestha was awesome:
"Fighting the enemy in battle is my duty as a soldier. Taking on the thugs on the train was my duty as a human being."[6]
Simple and earnest, very uncommon. Joe
 
I read somewhere that, in Italy during WWII, the Ghurkas would slip into the German barracks and slit the throats of every other German in their sleep. Imagine waking up and seeing the guys on both sides of you dead and bloody!
 
I’m also impressed that he could sit on the ground like that through the entire process. .
My knees don’t bend like that anymore!

As a side note, I just read an article about "squatting". Americans don't squat. We use chairs for everything so we're always seated. Elsewhere in the world folks squat for a variety of reasons and their joint stay loose because they're properly used. So an older man like that can easily squat because he's been doing it all his life.

When I was with the Navy in Korea for a short while in 1997 I noticed lots of folks, young and old, waiting for buses in the squatting position. Use it or lose it, I reckon!
 
Pensioner - Kailash Blades

I had the good fortune last year of being able to order a custom made 'Pensioner' model kukri from Kailash Blades in Kathmandu, Nepal. Here is a picture of Master Blacksmith Mandip Rasaili squatting over my blade as he begins to shape it from a piece of scrap spring steel:
 

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Pensioner - Kailash Blades, continued

As you can see from the attached photos, the kukri turned out quite nice. Kailash Blades operates a website and is very easy to deal with. Standard pricing includes about a dozen photos of your actual blade while in production. Total cost, including shipping, was around $180 and worth every penny to me...
 

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As an aside, a number their of customers (including myself) have offered to contribute to a fund which would allow them to modernize production, improve safety and offer better ergonomics for their workers. That offer was declined. The production crew at Kailash Blades prefers to work in the 'old way', using traditional materials and methods - the only exception to that being normalisation, quenching and tempering of the steel.
 
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