Hand Forged Kukri Knife, Service Pattern with Rosewood Handle and Tooled Scabbard

A kukri is the forward curving knife from Nepal, and this one follows the service pattern most people picture when they hear the name. The blade is 10.5 inches of 5160 spring steel, the handle is oiled rosewood, and it runs 16 inches overall. Buyers take it out for brush, kindling and small limbs, or collect it as a Nepali shape forged by hand.

Specification

The blade

5160 spring steel is what the traditional makers use and name, tough enough to take a hard chop without chipping. The flat stays dark gray from the forge with faint hammer marks, and the bevel is ground wide and polished mirror bright. The blade leaves the handle narrow, sweeps forward and down, then widens near the tip, so the heaviest steel sits furthest from your hand and it cuts above its size. The cho at the base of the edge stops a cut running back into the handle. Carbon steel darkens and it wants drying after use.

The handle

The handle is oiled rosewood, turned with a raised ring at the middle and a flared butt. The ring sits between your fingers so the handle does not travel in your palm, and the flare keeps your hand from sliding off the back. Rosewood is dense and oily enough to live with damp hands. The tang is hidden, running down inside the handle in the traditional way.

The karda and the chakmak

Two small knives ride in pockets on the back of the scabbard. The karda is the sharp one, for cord, food and fine work a 10.5 inch blade is clumsy at. The chakmak is blunt, used to true up a rolled edge and traditionally to strike a spark. Nepali makers include both and name both. Ours come with the knife.

The leather

The scabbard is water buffalo leather over a wooden core, so it keeps its shape. Brass caps the tip, a leather belt frog is stitched to the back, and the two pockets for the karda and the chakmak sit behind it. Every stitch goes in by hand. The face is hand tooled with a free geometric border around a scrolling center panel, cut and shaded into the leather, not printed.

Who it suits

This is the kukri to buy first, long enough to chop and short enough to swing inside brush.

• Anyone clearing brush, vines and small limbs
• Campers who want one blade for camp chores
• Collectors after a Nepali shape made by hand
• Someone buying a gift that gets used

What comes in the box

• The 10.5 inch kukri
• The karda and the chakmak
• The tooled leather scabbard
• A care card

Every piece is different

Each blade is forged, ground and sharpened by hand, so runs stay small and no two finish alike. The forge marks, the rosewood grain and the tooling all vary from the photographs.

Looking after it

Wipe the blade dry after use and never put it away wet. The gray patina that builds is normal and it protects the steel. Sharpen on a stone or a file, following the bevel already there, and work the belly of the curve where the cutting happens. Oil it lightly before storage and let the leather dry away from heat. More in our knife care and sharpening page.

Put a name on it

Laser engraving is 20 dollars per piece, added on this page. Around 30 characters fits on the blade or the handle. We send a proof image before the laser runs, adding 3 to 5 business days. See the engraving page.

Questions buyers ask

What is a kukri? The forward curving knife from Nepal, built so the heaviest steel sits near the tip.

Is it spelled kukri or khukuri? The same knife. We write kukri, and khukuri is that word written another way.

What is the cho? The small notch at the base of the edge. It stops a cut running back into the handle.

Will this steel rust? It can. Dry it after use and oil it lightly before storage.

How sharp is it out of the box? Sharpened by hand before it ships and ready to cut.

Can you engrave it? Yes, 20 dollars per piece, and you see a proof image first.

For the same rosewood on a longer blade see the 15 inch kukri, and for more weight the kukri machete in water buffalo horn. More sits in kukri knives, rosewood handle knives and gifts for him.