“Customizing” the HI BAS kukri, and some of my experiences on the practical use of the HI BAS kukri in the woods.
The kukri itself is very sharp and a heavy chopper. First impression is good.
I did however find that the butt cap sometimes poked my wrist when used.
I rounded the upper end of it on my grinder and it is now much more user friendly.
The HI BAS also came with two smaller tools, a knife (karda) and a steel/sharpener (chakma).
The chakma was quickly replaced with a sharpener I made from an old file. The old chakma “blade” was removed submerging it in boiling water, loosening the laha (Nepalese hot glue). The new blade was glued to the old handle using epoxy.
Now it actually works as a burnisher and also throws sparks when struck with a piece of flint. The sides of the chakma are still a usable small file.
The small knife (karda) it came with was very dull.
A session at the grinder and follow trough with a diamond hone took care of that problem. Now I actually have a small knife that can be used. But in the future I would most likely change the small knife for an awl, as the small knife IMO is not necessary.
I also glued a small bronze bead to the tip of the sheath as the metal ferrule was rather pointy, poking holes in my trousers when worn in the belt.
The sheath and frog has also been warm waxed to waterproof it.
