Kukri Knives

Why the blade bends forward

A straight knife cuts where your hand points. A kukri does not. The blade drops forward at roughly twenty degrees partway down its length, so the heavy belly section sits ahead of the line of your wrist. When you swing, that offset mass arrives at the target first and carries the energy of the whole knife into a short section of edge. The effect is closer to a hatchet than to a bowie, and it is why a kukri that weighs a pound and a half chops like something much heavier.

The second consequence is the grind. Because the belly does the work, the steel is thickest through the spine behind the bend and thins toward the point and toward the ricasso. That gives you three tools in one blade. The forward belly chops, the middle slices, and the section nearest the handle, where the edge is finest and closest to your fingers, does the fine work a big knife is usually bad at.

The shape is old and it was not designed for display. Kukris have been the general purpose blade of Nepal for centuries and the standard field knife of Gurkha regiments since the early nineteenth century, which is where most of the English language literature about them comes from.

The kukris in this collection

Two things separate the pieces on this page. The first is steel. The second is what comes in the sheath.

Kukris in 1095 high carbon

Plain high carbon blades hardened to 54 to 58 HRC, in satin, mirror polished or bright ground finishes. Sizes are consistent at about 16 inches overall with 11 inches of edge along the curve. Most carry a fuller or a swedge along the spine to take weight out of the section that does not cut, and several are engraved along that spine with an Elder Futhark rune line or a knotwork band. Handles run to buffalo horn, rosewood, walnut, olive wood, pale bone, black micarta, stacked leather washers and cord wrap. This is the group to buy if the knife will be used and sharpened often.

Kukris in Damascus

Pattern welded 1095 and 15N20 hardened to 58 to 60 HRC, acid etched so the layers read as light and dark bands across the belly. Sizes run 15 to 17 inches overall with 10 to 12 inches of edge. Two listed weights on this group are about 1 lb 6 oz and about 1 lb 8 oz for the kukri alone. Handles include buffalo horn, stag antler, olive wood, rosewood with inlay lines, walnut, black micarta and stacked leather. Fittings are polished brass or steel, several engraved with a Valknut, a Mjolnir or a Vegvisir stave.

Kukris supplied with the karda and chakmak

Traditional kukri sheaths carry two small companion blades in a pocket at the front. The karda is a small utility knife for the jobs a chopper is too big for. The chakmak is a blunt burnisher, used to true a rolled edge and, historically, to strike sparks from flint. Roughly two thirds of the pieces here ship with both. The rest come with the sheath alone, and the product page states which.

Sizes, steel and fittings across the range

Every figure below is taken from the specification panel of a piece on this page. Blades are forged and ground by hand, so read the numbers as what to expect rather than as a guarantee to the millimetre.

One figure needs care. Blade length on a kukri is measured along the curve, so a piece listed at 11 inches has noticeably less straight line reach than a straight 11 inch blade. If you are comparing a kukri against a bowie on paper, allow for that before you decide one is longer than the other.

The cho, the bolster and the tang

Every kukri on this page carries a cho, the small notch cut into the edge just ahead of the handle. Explanations for it vary and most of them are religious or symbolic. The practical effect is real enough. It stops a sharpening stroke from running off the edge into the ricasso and it gives water and sap somewhere to leave the blade instead of tracking back into the handle.

All of them are full tang, with the steel running the whole length and width of the handle. On the scaled pieces the tang is visible as a strip between the scales and pinned through with two or three pins. On the stacked leather handles the washers are compressed over the tang under a peened cap. Both are strong. A partial tang, where a narrow spike is glued into a drilled grip, has no place in a chopping knife, and there are none here.

Bolsters are brass or steel, wrapped around the front of the handle. That collar takes the shock of a chop before your hand does, and it is the part most likely to loosen over years of hard use. If a bolster starts to move, stop using the knife and have it re seated rather than chopping through it.

Handles and how they behave

Buffalo horn and stag antler are the traditional materials and both look better with age. Neither likes dry heat, so keep them off a radiator and out of a hot car, because horn and antler shrink as they dry and can crack or pull away from a pin. Bone behaves the same way.

Rosewood is dense, oily and close grained, so it polishes up and resists moisture on its own. Walnut and olive wood are drier and take a wipe of oil once or twice a year. Micarta is resin and canvas and is effectively waterproof, which makes it the sensible choice if the knife will live in a pack. Stacked leather washers take hand oil and a patina, and are the most comfortable of the lot over a long session.

Brass fittings darken over months. A metal polish on a cloth brings them back, or leave them alone if you prefer the aged look.

Using a kukri without wrecking it

Let the blade do the work. A kukri is swung, not pushed, and the weight of the forward belly is what cuts. Gripping hard and forcing the swing costs you speed and puts strain on your wrist. Loosen the grip, let the knife accelerate, and tighten only at the moment of contact.

Chop with the belly, roughly the middle third of the edge. That is the thickest and best supported section. Chopping with the point risks a chipped tip, and chopping right down near the cho puts the shock straight into the bolster and your hand. Do not use a kukri as a splitting wedge or hammer the spine with a rock, because a hardened high carbon spine is not built to be struck.

Green wood, cane, brush and rope are what this blade is for. Seasoned hardwood and bone will dull it fast, and a knot will chip it whatever the steel.

Sharpening a recurve

A kukri cannot be sharpened like a chef knife. Pushing the blade straight across a flat stone only touches the high points and flattens the belly, which ruins the geometry that makes the knife chop. Sweep instead, so the contact point travels along the curve from the ricasso to the tip through the stroke, and match the angle you find on the blade rather than imposing a new one.

A round or oval rod handles the tighter section behind the belly, and a small flat stone works the straighter section near the point. For 1095 at 54 to 58 HRC a 1000 grit stone restores a working edge in a few minutes and a 3000 grit polishes it. Damascus at 58 to 60 HRC takes longer on the coarse stone and holds the result longer. The chakmak, where one is supplied, is for straightening a rolled edge between sharpenings rather than for removing steel.

Rust, sheaths and storage

Both steels here are carbon steel and both will rust. Wipe the blade dry after use, leave a light film of oil on it, and store it out of the sheath if it will sit for months. Leather holds moisture against steel, and a damp sheath is the most common reason a well kept blade still ends up spotted. Camellia, mineral or food safe oil all work. Grey patina is stable and does no harm, and orange spotting lifts with fine abrasive and oil.

Sheaths here are stitched cowhide with a belt loop, most with a front pocket for the companion blades. The leather is stiff at first and takes the shape of the blade over a few weeks.

Engraving and gifting

Most kukris here can be engraved after they arrive in the United States. Names, dates and rune lines go along the spine or onto the flat behind the bolster, and several pieces already carry a cut Vegvisir, Valknut or Mjolnir on the bolster or butt cap. Elder Futhark is a phonetic alphabet rather than a cipher, so a name is transliterated by sound, and there is no rune for the letter C.

Engraving is permanent and an engraved piece cannot be returned, so send the exact spelling and read it twice before you order.

Where these kukris are made

Every blade on this page is made by hand in the Czech Republic. Finished pieces are imported to the United States, inspected by Ransack Viking in Memphis, Tennessee, and shipped from there, with engraving added after arrival. Small differences in grind, etch figure and handle colour between two kukris of the same name are normal, because two people made them on two different days.

Browse related categories

• Viking knives, the single edged Norse working blades
• Damascus knives in forge welded 1095 and 15N20
• Bowie knives with long clip points and deep bellies
• Hunting knives for field dressing and skinning
• Double edged daggers and Norse dagger shapes
• Viking seax knives, the single edged belt blade
• Bearded axes, the other way to carry chopping power
• Leather sheaths and replacement scabbards

Guides worth reading first

• What is a kukri and why the blade bends forward
• How to sharpen a curved blade without flattening the belly
• Knife blade shapes and what each one is good at
• Damascus vs high carbon steel: which blade should you buy
• The complete knife care guide: blade, handle and sheath
• Kukri knife guide, shapes and what to look for