AngPana Kukuri Initial Review

I've wanted a proper kukuri (I know there are several ways of spelling it) for ages but I've been put off by looking at and handling inferior quality kukuris. Recently, I discovered and managed to get my paws on some kukuris designed and made by The Kukuri House in Nepal and was impressed by the quality of the workmanship. I now had no excuses for not trying them out.

Being an awkward customer, I didn't fancy one of the many, many kukuris available on their site and decided to have mine custom made but based on a design I liked, which the folks in Nepal happily agreed to do and at no extra cost.

I elected to base my design on the AngPana Jungle (Ang + Khola; having fuller in blade) and Panawal (Full flat tang with rivets). I wanted an 8 inch blade so as not to be too obtrusive (the original is a massive 12 inch blade) but keep the original 5 inch handle. I also wanted the green and black Dap (scabbard) therefore this would have to be custom made as well.

It arrived on Monday, only a couple of days after the 14 day stated time (which was great for a custom kukuri being shipped all the way from Nepal.) I was kept informed of progress all the way from order acceptance to shipping , which is a great credit to the company.

The item was well wrapped and soaked in oil. The convex blade would need a bit of work but it was still pretty sharp. The first thing that struck me was the weight. This is a hefty old thing and doesn't even compare it to my leuku in this area.

My thoughts are to use this as a camp chopper (like the leuku) in lieu of an axe and have an additional smaller knife; but will I end up carrying this instead of the leuku?  Perhaps unfairly I will make direct comparisons because this is the reason for me carrying these larger blades.

 

I automatically started handling the kukuri like the leuku with the hand right back near the pommel. This was a mistake as the pommel is pointed in the vertical plane and dug into my hand. I would have to hold it further up the handle. I would also have to adapt my style of handling quite considerably. The leuku requires wrist actions; this monster would sprain your wrist if you tried to use it like that!

I couldn't see this being used for delicate work at all. With the leuku, I could at least do a little bit of carving. This was more in the axe league, but could it replace an axe? I can't answer this one at the moment as with the many other questions going through my mind.

It is definitely a well made tool although it won't win any prizes in the looks department.  The unpolished buffalo horn handle obviously looks as though it has been modified to fit the new blade length (as per my request) and wasn't exactly pretty, but it was solid as with the rest of the kukuri. The flat tang showed on the top and bottom of the handle in the Panawal style.

The Dap was well made and the green leather and black frog suited the kukuri well, although the handle might be a little top heavy. On the belt, the kukuri tends to lean forward and outward, another result of it being customised. Mmmm... perhaps I shouldn't have customised it so much!

The steel is "raw" (unpolished) as requested and gives the kukuri a business like appearance as opposed to some highly polished and decorative kukuris. The cutting edge shape appears to be just the right one for general chopping use. As the description says, "...The curvature will also give much needed support to the flat surface by evenly distributing the impact force created when striking ..." All this remains to be seen after a bit of use.

I've only had the chance to have a quick chop at some old but thick wood. As you would expect this works it's way through anything that comes in its path with a similar effect to that of an axe but of course without the additional power that the axe handle generates from the swing. Power? Yes, but can it do the delicate jobs expected of a leuku or is this kukuri destined just to become another member of the axe family?

Only time will tell.