Customer Reviews

Genuine Gurkha Kukri Knife

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This Kukri is a serious piece of gear. The accessories are not very high quality, but he knife itself is a great value. It is a mass produced knife engraved with the word "India". It's not a master work by any means, but it's a very functional knife.

I tested the alloy and it appears to be about .5% carbon. It may be 1050 to 1060 or could even be one of the more complex alloys like 5160. Any of these alloys are appropriate metals for this type of blade. Depending on the temper, they can all take a lot of abuse.

This knife is a full tang (exposed tang). It has been machine forged and final shaped using a belt grinder. In fact the handle is a block of wood, riveted onto the blade and ground to shape along with the metal. Not a bad job, either. The butt plate on mine is very well fitted and well polished. The blade is very well polished for a cheap blade too. I was surprised. There were no machine marks at all outside of the furrile groove. The end plate is held tightly by riveting the end of the tang. Simple, strong construction.

The blade edge is ground to a very conservative angle...in other words, it's not very sharp compared to what it could be (and will be when I get around to it). Still, right out of the box, it would probably serve as a wood chopper without further sharpening. This metal, tempered this way should be able to hold a razor edge.

So what about the sheath? It appears to be made of very light wood covered in thin leather. Not a great job, but it may serve with a little work.

The two "eating knives" that come with it are simply junk. They are very cursory. Poorly formed of heavy sheet metal glued to a block of wood and roughed out on a grinder. Now, here's the weird part. The metal in the small knives tested as high-carbon. (I think they are 1080 or something like that). If they were properly tempered and sharpened, they could be real knives. I might even give it a try.

In all, this Kukri is a great value for the price.

Over all the quality of the blade appears to be pretty good. Its a full tang blade, not particularly sharp but that can be remedied.

The issues mainly stem from the sheath, first off, there is a cardboard insert inside of the sheath which 30% of the time would prevent the blade from going all the way in. If you remove the insert then the knife is only being held in place by gravity and could easily be knocked out. This could theoretically cause issues if one were to fall down with it on.

As well there is a brass cap on the tip of the sheath, this fell off due to poor gluing. It looks like a little hot glue could do the trick, but its a little annoying.

Otherwise the knife is great and for 26 bucks I can't really complain.

the whole thing was much bigger than i expected. im not complaning but i just expected smaller. the blade wasnt that sharp and it was a little dirty but it was easy to clean and sharpen. the sheath also holds two smaller knives which im not sure wat exsactly they are for but they couldnt cut butter when i first got it. after a few sharpenings they are very sharp.

The Kukri is a shorter and stouter machete style knife that's attained near-legendary status as a result of its use by the ferocious Ghurka warriors of Nepal. In more peaceable applications, the Kukri has gained favor among outdoorsmen looking for a large rugged-duty knife. A google search will turn up plenty of info.

The Kukri's popularity has grown to the point where several US knife manufacturers now offer their own Kukri reproductions in prices ranging from around $15.00 to over $300.00. People seem fairly impressed even with some of the cheaper reproductions of this blade. That is a testimony to the inherent quality and cutting power of the basic design.

I decided though, when I started shopping, that I didn't like the fact that those cheap blades are compromised in their choices of blade steel and blade thickness (typically about 1/8" for the cheap ones). On the other hand, I didn't want to pay $300.00 for one of the best ones so I got one of these; an authentic, Indian-manufactured blade of the same materials and basic design as the "service kukri" issued to their military.

What you get for your $20.00 is a 17 inch, full tang knife made of good-quality, high-carbon, rolled steel fitted with a rosewood handle. The blade is 12" long, 1/4" thick, with a width ranging from 1 3/4" at its narrowest point to about 2 1/2" at the business end. You also get a traditional sheath with a couple of small dull knives tucked into it.

No one is much impressed with the sheath or the small knives but so what? What you are buying is a knife and there is a lot of knife here for your money. Or perhaps it is better to say that $20.00 gets you the makings of a great knife. But there is some bad news. You do get "an authentic, Indian-manufactured blade of the same materials and basic design as the service kukri issued to their military". But I suspect that THEY get a FINISHED Kukri. You don't.

Eleven inches of the twelve inch blade aren't sharpened. Yes, you read that right. The blade arrives duller than dirt. The first inch nearest the handle isn't supposed to be sharp but the part that should be isn't sharp either. The two sides of the blade come together as a rounded "edge". Not only is the knife dull, it doesn't even have an edge angle roughed in. To put an edge on this blade you must start from scratch. And since it is good steel, setting that edge and getting it really sharp is A LOT of work.

YOU might be comfortable working this edge with a belt sander or electric grinder but I don't want to risk messing up the good temper of this steel. So I am hand honing this blade (and honing and honing and honing). This steel has almost completely ground up a course Smith's sharpening stone designed for edge setting work. The business end of the knife is STARTING to get sharp but the inner curves of the blade nearer the handle are more difficult to work and will take a lot more time.

Eventually I will have this thing "hair-popping sharp" from one end to the other. But it probably won't be this week and it might not be next. By the time I am done, this knife might be the equal of one of those $300.00 Cold Steel Kukris. But if time really were money I would probably have spent at least that much.

If you want a replica to hang on the wall or display in a case this will do fine for $20.00 (though for display purposes you'll want to polish it up a bit). On the other hand, if you want a fully functional, razor edged working blade like those the Ghurkas carry into battle, you will have to pay the price - one way or the other.

I was inspired to purchaced this knife by M40's website with the intention of stripping down the blade and sheath. Since I have replaced the uncomfortable handle, put a decent edge on the blade, and recovered the sheath I am very satisfied with it. For the money, this knife has a lot of potential as a survival, chopping/ hunting tool.

I bought these after watching M40's kukri modification page. Awesome knifes, thick carbon steel blades with the full tang. This is the best price on the web. I took one and grinded down the handle, then paracord wrapped the handle. Awesome comfortable grip now. Then blued the blade. I love these knifes, I'm going to go find something to chop-Cya

For the money, this is a good knife, but only if you're looking for a Kukri knife. Then again, I was actually looking for something practical, not for a showpiece. I can't swear if it's "genuine" or not. The blade is carbon steel, from what I can tell and takes a razor edge with some sharpening. It came very dull, so I had to use an electric sander to get a working edge on it. Once sharpened, it's an awesome knife and chopper. Once you use one of these, there'll be no going back to your Wally World cheapo machetes. Kukris are most famous for being used by the Gurkha troops, but they're a an all-around agrarian tool kind of like the machete in Latin America. Now for the bad news. The two accessory knives that come with it are awful. It's like someone cut the blades out of tin or something. I threw them away. The sheath is serviceable, but comes with cardboard shims to help retain the blade. I took those out, but now the blade is so loose it wants to fall out easily. Plus, the leather frog that holds the sheath onto a belt is not attached to the sheath itself. So, there's all kinds of opportunities for the blade to fall out. I also accidentally found out that the blacking on the leather sheath rubs right off once it gets wet. I scrubbed mine under a faucet for a while until it stopped bleeding black. Now the sheath isn't glossy, but still black and much less messy. I bought this to be a serviceable, beater knife/machete and I'm not disappointed at all. It took a little work on my part, but the end result is much better than most everything else I could buy.

For $19.99, I am pretty happy.

This blade has a good "heft" and feel in my hand. I have not used it for a prolonged chopping job, so I cannot attest to its long-term comfort.

The blade is marked "India" near the hilt.

It is a full tang blade. I am told that full-tang is not an authentic kukri design, but I like full-tang. Makes it feel/look indestructable. I suspect the extra weight in the handle moves the center of gravity back towards the handle. I plan to use this kukri as a substitute for my machete when camping. We will see how it shapes up.

Yes, it came really dull. In fact, there were several inches of 1/16 inch flat surface where the edge should have been along the contour of the blade. I started to sharpen with 320 grip wet sandpaper, but it was progressing brutally slowly, so I turned to a flat mill file. Yes, I said mill file. Even with the mill file, it took 30 minutes to put an initial edge all along the contour of the knife, then another 90 minutes with 320 grit wet sandpaper to remove the rough gouges made by the mill file. Plan on at least 2 hours to sharpen this blade. More if you are a purist. The blade is already quite sharp, but the shine has been dulled by the sandpaper. I have already used 5 sheets of 320 grit wet sandpaper, and expect to use another 5 sheets of 320 and/or 600 sandpaper to get it ready to polish up. Total cost of sandpaper is about $10. Plan accordingly.

It was clearly hand-made and has many small appearance defects to prove it. The most striking is that the blade sent to me is not flat. when holding it in your hand, pointing it away from you and looking down the spine of the blade, the bottom edge near the tip clearly twists about 1/4 inch to the right. I look upon this not as a defect, but as "romance".

If you want a blade to put to work with right out of the box, then this is not the blade for you. You will need to spend a couple hours or more to get it ready, and even then it may have some characteristics you cannot change.

If you want a tough, heavy blade that you need to invest some time personalizing, and that you won't mind abusing with big jobs around the campsite, then this is the knife for you!

The scabbard was surprisingly decent. The belt loop can be thrown away, but the scabbard itself has been quite reasonable so far. Again, I have not stress tested this product.

Still, I like the product a lot. I would give it three stars for how it comes out of the box (-1 star for the poor edge, -1 star for sloppy workmanship and scabbard), but I enjoyed sharpening it, and I really like the way it turned out. And given the low price for such a big piece of steel, I give it +1 star, for a total of 4 stars.

The only thing that came in the package that was remotely worth ordering was the kukri itself. Very thick heavy well made blade. Very dull out of the box but after a bit of work and filing it turned out pretty dang sharp. The sheath must be made of cardboard wrapped in goat hide or something similar which is very thin and cheaply constructed....in other words, it's useless and is not worthy of holding this blade. Decorative at best. The accessory small knives that come with it are useless dull, cheap unnecessary additions...I threw them out. The blade itself is high carbon steel more than likely constructed from a vehicle's leaf spring. This is common for even the highest priced kukris because of its ability to hold a razor edge and put up with whatever you care to use it for. All in all, like I said...whats makes this a four to five star buy is the kukri itself, not the sheath or the useless small knives it comes with. I have high expectations when it comes to buying quality made blades of any type....this one you will not regret. It's heavy,well made good high carbon steel and ready for a razor's edge. I'm happy with it...and at this price...who wouldn't be.

This knife is high carbon steel, full tang, with no edge and a blunted tip on it. It's essentially an unsharpened display knife, but...

With a little work (Google it), this knife is an excellent camping, outdoors, and yard work tool. It makes a great, inexpensive project. Cut away the ridge on the handle, file the blade down to reshape the edge and tip, blue it and sharpen it, and you have a great, stout utility knife that works as a knife, hatchet and machete. Throw away the cheap sheath that comes with it and make a new one. Even the little knives that come with it can be sharpened and become useful little tools.