Brasscrow Hand Forged High Carbon Kukri with Walnut Scales | Raven Etched Full Tang Blade | Brass Bolster and Brass Pins | Leather Sheath | Norse Camp Gift | RK-2171

This is a plain steel kukri in the older working pattern, cut from 1095 high carbon and left bright rather than blackened. The blade carries a standing raven etched into the flat just forward of the bolster, wings folded, the way the bird appears on Norse metalwork rather than in heraldry. The scales are walnut, warm and open grained, pinned through the full tang with three brass pins to match the brass bolster and the brass butt cap.

What makes this one worth having over a plain camp knife is what travels with it. The leather sheath carries the two traditional companions in a front pocket, the small skinning knife and the plain steel burnisher that a hill kukri has been carried with for generations. Every piece is made by hand in the Czech Republic. Ransack Viking brings them into the United States, checks the edge, the pin peening and the sheath stitching on each one, and ships from our Memphis, Tennessee warehouse.

The forward angle is the whole point of a kukri, and what a kukri is actually for goes through where the shape came from. The raven is Odin’s bird before it is anything else, and the two ravens sets out the sources. If you want a shorter belly for dressing game, the skinner knives cover that job.

Specifications

The karda and the chakmak

The two small pieces in the front pocket of the sheath are not an afterthought. The single edged one is the karda, a small utility knife for the fine work a heavy kukri is clumsy at, skinning, whittling a peg, trimming cord. The blunt one is the chakmak. It has no edge at all and it is not supposed to have one. It is a steel, used to straighten a rolled edge on the main blade in the field by drawing the edge along it, and historically it doubled as the striker against flint for a fire.

Together the three pieces make a self contained kit. That is the reason the pattern survived. A hill farmer carrying one belt sheath had a chopper, a fine knife, an edge steel and a fire striker, and none of it needed a workshop to keep working.

Plain high carbon and why it is not stainless

This blade is 1095, a simple high carbon steel with roughly one percent carbon and very little else. Hardened to 54 to 58 HRC it is tough rather than brittle, takes a keen edge quickly on a stone and gives that edge back just as quickly when it dulls. That is the trade a working blade wants. Stainless resists rust better but needs more work to sharpen in the field and chips more readily on a heavy chop.

Because there is no chromium to speak of, the bright polish will patina. A grey or blue grey film will creep over the flats with use, and that film is protective rather than harmful. Real red rust is the thing to keep off, and a wipe and a film of oil does it. Walnut is a close grained hardwood that has been used for tool handles for centuries because it absorbs shock without splitting along the grain.

Engraving, runes and your own design

Use the rune converter on this page to turn a name, a date or a short phrase into Elder Futhark and we will cut it into the steel, the leather or the wood. If you would rather have a Viking pattern than a rune line, choose your own design in the engraving option above the add to cart button and tell us where it goes. Where a piece already carries an engraved design, your chosen engraving replaces it rather than sitting alongside it. On this kukri the mirror flat below the raven takes a rune line well, and the walnut scales will take a shallow cut if you would rather have it on the handle. Engraving is done here in the United States after the piece arrives. Details are on the engraving page.

Handling and balance

The brass butt cap adds weight behind the hand, which brings the balance point back a little compared with a steel fitted kukri of the same size. The practical effect is that this one feels quicker and less like a chopping axe. It still chops, but it turns better and it is easier to control on a light cut.

Grip it near the butt for chopping and choke up behind the bolster for carving. Keep your thumb off the spine directly above the cho, since that is where a hard cut concentrates shock. The lanyard hole is there for a wrist loop if you are working somewhere a dropped blade would be a problem.

Care

Dry the blade after use and oil it. Mineral oil, camellia oil or a light gun oil all work, and the same oil suits the small companion blades. Brass will dull to a soft gold over time, which most people prefer, and a metal polish on a cloth will bring the shine back if you want it. Keep polish off the walnut. Give the wood a wipe of boiled linseed or a hard wax oil once a year. Feed the leather sheath with a neutral cream and do not store the blade in it long term, since damp leather holds moisture against steel. More detail sits in steel care.

A curve like this does not sharpen the way a straight edge does, and sharpening a curved blade works through the stroke.

Made in the Czech Republic

Every one of these is made by hand in the Czech Republic, forged, ground, fitted and finished by the people who make it. Nothing is drop shipped from an importer catalogue. Ransack Viking imports them, inspects each blade, each pin and each stitched sheath, and holds stock in our Memphis, Tennessee warehouse so orders leave from a shelf rather than a production queue. Processing runs one to two weeks, and an engraved order sits at the longer end because the cut is done after the piece lands. Shipping inside the United States is free, returns run seven days, and the lifetime warranty against defects in forging, grind, heat treat and fittings has no end date and needs no receipt.

A note on handmade variation

Hand made, not machine made or bulk produced, so what arrives will not be a pixel for pixel copy of the photograph. Walnut is the obvious one. Grain, figure and tone vary from board to board and no two sets of scales match. The raven etch is cut individually so its depth and contrast shift a little. Brass will arrive at slightly different states of polish, and the leather sheath will have taken dye at its own rate. The steel, the hardness, the profile and the build are the same every time. The character is not.

Frequently asked questions

Does the small blunt knife need sharpening

No. The chakmak is meant to be blunt. It is an edge steel and a fire striker, not a cutting blade, and putting an edge on it would ruin what it does.

Will the bright blade rust

It can if you let it sit wet, because 1095 has no chromium in it. A wipe and a light film of oil after use is all it takes. A grey patina is normal and is not a fault.

How does this compare with a damascus kukri

The geometry and the way it cuts are the same. Damascus gives you the layered pattern and a slightly harder heat treat. Plain 1095 sharpens faster in the field and costs less, which is why working kukris were rarely pattern welded.

Can I get the raven replaced with runes

Yes. Order the engraving option and send your text. Your chosen engraving replaces the raven rather than sitting next to it, so tell us if you want the bird kept and the runes put on the handle instead.

Are the companion knives included

They are. The karda and the chakmak both come in the front pocket of the sheath, along with the kukri itself. There is nothing to buy separately.

Is it legal to carry

Fixed blade carry rules vary by state and by city. Check your local law before carrying it in public. Most buyers use it at camp, on the land or at home rather than carrying it about.

What is in the box

• One 1095 high carbon kukri with walnut scales and brass fittings
• One brown leather belt sheath
• One karda skinning knife and one chakmak burnisher in the sheath pocket
• Your Elder Futhark rune line or chosen Viking design, if ordered
• Lifetime warranty against defects in forging, grind, heat treat and fittings
• Hand made in the Czech Republic, shipped from our Memphis, Tennessee warehouse

Explore the range

See more in kukri knives, Viking knives, Norse arms and engraved and personalised pieces, plus the guides.