What’s the Benefit of a Kukri Knife?
The kukri (pronounced koo-kree) is an intimidating curved blade knife/weapon that originates in Nepal.
Shown below is a photo of a a traditional kukri, along with a secondary knife commonly carried along with the kukri, and a sharpening tool. The kukri’s main feature is the curved blade that resembles a machete. It also has a notch in the bottom of a blade, which helps blood, or whatever, drip off the blade rather than run down and make the handle slick. If the kukri is used as a weapon, it can catch another blade on that spot. The notch also is said to have some symbolic meaning in that it resembles a cow’s foot.
A Kukri (top) with the traditional Karda (middle) and Chakmak (bottom). The Karda is used as a utility knife and the Chakmak is a sharpening tool.
The blade of a kukri is typically 10 to 15 inches long. It hacks like a machete, is lightweight, and the bottom of the handle, because it’s typically flared out and wide, can be used as a hammer.
Modern kukris are, of course, similar but different.
Khold Khukri from 511Tactical.com
The knife shown above, with the green handle, has a 17-inch length with a 10.86 blade, so it’s right in line with the traditional knife. But as you can see, it’s quite different. The handle, rather than being wood, is fiberglass reinforced nylon. It doesn’t have that flared base, so this would likely not be an appropriate knife to use in the event that you needed to hammer in a nail.
If you drop this bright green knife in the grass, chances are you’ll be able to find it more easily than the traditional wooden handle. It still chops and is lightweight (this one weighs 1.54 pounds).
A kukri is originally designed to both be a well-balanced weapon but also to clear heavy brush. If that’s what you want one for, maybe you should get the traditional model.
