Let me start out with an apology.
I know not everyone is into fixed blades, Kukri dance offs, or using dumbass machetes
to split wood… but the fact is we’ve still got about 20 or so minutes of Kukri related
videos to get through before we move onto another hour of fixed blades you’re not
interested in.
Oh wow another Ontario video…
I understand that there are a few new Taiwanese made Spydercos you’d like to know are worth
over $150.
To answer that- there’s a good chance it has a better edge grind than their American
made ones, and everything is worth your money.
Or what about that cool new Benchmade 380 the internet is abuzz about… how well does
that 1.5 inch blade perform relative to it’s $136 price tag.
Well it’s great if you live in a tree and bake cookies, and your fuck you Kebler money
won’t let buy a box cutter.
Do I sound grumpy?
Let’s get happy and swing around some kukris like the neighbors aren’t watching.
They are though (whispers) Today we’re going to be comparing the standard KaBar 1249 Kukri
machete and the basic bottom of the tactical barrel Cold Steel Kukri.
Cold steel makes about 50 kukris, like you’d expect them to, and KaBar makes a few too…
the other main one you see is the smaller Combat Kukri.
And if I know anything about combat it’s 11 inches is always better then 8.
The real goal is to compare 2 cheapish westernized Kukris that are usually suggested on the first
pages of retailers when you type in kukri or machete.
So let’s look the the overall length and weight.
With and without the sheaths or the blue lines.
Just so you know none of these Kukris are any good.
Just gonna beat the Kukri experts to the comments.
Blade size and cutting edge.
They’re not real or historical kukris so you shouldn’t buy them.
I’d post the comment from my Himalyan Imports kukri video, but the kukri review group dude
decided the best way to educate people on kukris was calling names- and he deleted it.
Handle size and grip area.
Now I don’t want to sound like a knowitall but I’m even more traditional than that.
I prefer rocks.
Fuck the bronze age.
That’s for soft modern people with a penchant for spoken languages, and plumbing, and watching
their social media stars while using the plumbing.
Tallnesses.
If it isn’t made from a rock then it isn’t worth a shit.
None of that fancy Neolithic polished and honed stuff either, I’m talking Paleolithic
big sharpened rocks you child.
I swear to god I will delete the comments Science-plaining there’s a good chance that
the better, lighter tools they had didn’t survive because they weren’t made of rocks.
So the Cold Steel vs the Ka-Bar, do you have to watch the whole video.
Yeah I get it- I don’t like it either, so yeah the easy answer is the Ka-Bar.
But isn’t the fun part the journey?
Can we meet half way, just turn down the volume so I get a good average watch time?
Now Cold Steel makes nice knives, but they also make extremely cheap ones.
To oversimplify a bit if you’re buying one of their long bladed machete things under
$30, you’re getting an obtuse behind the edge and thin piece of sharpened sheet steel.
Not all are flat pieces of steel, but most are.
That’s true on this kukri made from 1055 carbon steel in South Africa.
Since it’s thin there’s flex- not something common in a traditional kurki.
The Kabar is made from a thicker piece of SK5 steel, but it has some tapering on the
blade stock, and has a much more traditional fixed blade style edge at 22 degrees per side.
Which is sharper and can shave wood better for instance.
SK5 steel is kind of like 1080 carbon steel but Sk-5 refers to specific Japanese manufacturer.
I learned this by having to do some internet detective work based on blade forums hearsay,
K-Bars website, and the fact you can search for blades with Sk-5 steel on Knicecenters
website and the Kabar comes up… but it’s listed at 1085.
So I feel real good about it being accurate.
Both blades are coated with anti rust material.
The Ka-Bars is more like those traction anti-slip pad technology you find on boats… a bit
like fine sandpaper, and the Cold Steels which is said to be baked on but is thin and smooth.
In my whoopings, the Ka-Bars coating wore about normal on the sides and edges but the
coating started flaking on the spine in one spot.
As far as 1055 vs 1080 or 1085 or sk-5… the Sk-5 has a higher carbon content and should
hold an edge longer.
However since the edges are very different angles, it’s hard to make an A and B comparison.
In place of that though we have subjective anecdotal evidence and internet conjecture-
and the Sk-5 steel seems to be better using that metric.
The handles.
Neither have removable scales, so if you ever destroy them, then you’ll have to send your
busted shitty machete to a person much smarter than yourself to rescale it.
Ok they’re not smarter, just focus on different things.
Like for instance, my 3 favorite boobies are in descending order, the Nazca, the Blue-footed,
and masked.
Both manufacturers claim to have full tangs.
The KaBars handle feel is like a hard rubber, it has a comfortable hand swell and stays
in in the palm as you swing and hit random places on the wood.
The Polypropylene handle of the Cold Steel is harder and not quite as rubberized or thick
as the KaBar’s, but it has that can we call it knurling?
That would be the right word for flashlights, but I’m not looking up the definition again.
I of course prefer the thicker rubber one.
One thing that might be brought up though is the KaBars handle material has a more give,
so it seems water can works it’s way down into the handle.
I did not noice this with the Cold Steel.
Since it’s coated it may not make much a difference.
The sheaths.
Lynn bless Cold Steel, yeah he can bless something he’s created just like any standard tactical
God- they make super cheap sheaths that fit a lot of stuff.
I have bought many sub $10 from them, made from cheap core-ex or nylon or whatever.
The sheaths work, but they’re not the best.
I’m not sure what you’d expect out of tactical shit for the masses that costs $20
shipped to your door?
Cold steels sheath isn’t a dangler and rides higher.
The Kabars is half leather have corder, dangles, so you can sit with it better and rides lower.
Also it is easier to snap and unsnap, to sheath and desheath.
Yeah that’s a word.
So I prefer the Ka-Bars, and need a shower after this entire paragraph.
Comparisons.
Or unused and some recycled footage from that last Kukri video I did, if I don’t care
you don’t that’s how it works right?
First the two compared to one another, like preceding minutes before it . The Cold Steel
has a longer blade but is lighter by 3 ounces or so.
Not a huge difference in chopping fatigue, which is a real subjective and unmeasurable
thing.
I prefer the Ka-Bar for several reasons though.
I paid about $35 for this on sale when Ka-Bar had a half on sale on their website- Black
Friday or Christmas I forget which.
It’s worth the $55 you’d pay right now, because your chump ass missed the sale.
Now still my favorite- the Zombie Tools Vakra.
I know it isn’t traditional, of course traditional is always the best- whatever it is you define
as traditional.
Small pox is traditional, vaccinations aren’t.
That’s why I bring my small pox crystal with me wherever I go, if I hold it above
a persons head and it spins counter clockwise, I keep my kids away from them.
At least 6 feet, because it’s science.
Of course death by a sabertooth is even more traditional than smallpox, so maybe I’m
wrong.
The Vakra chops well, has a great sheath, and a fairly comfortable handle.
Now the BudK.
The Bud K feels light and quaint almost compared to the Himalayan import choppers…
But it’s crude and made in India, and not Nepal so it’s less traditional overall.
A lot of the cheap kukris in the 20-40 range you see on websites are Indian made.
This one has served me well for years, despite being designed and marketed to idiots like
myself.
Now the Himalayan imports.
Fine kukris indeed, however as that fine gentleman pointed out but it more of a dick way.
it does have a thick blade stock- some might say overkill, and the handles could be more
comfortable.
I’m considering in the future getting a Kalish blades kukri, maybe a Tora, because
I just don’t have any real self control.
It’s an odyssey isn’t it.
I said mostly this in the last video, but it didn’t stop being kukri-splained but
I can’t review what I don’t currently have.
Ok wrapping it up?
What do I like about the Cold Steel, other than Lynn travels to each country and kisses
each blade as their being QCed.
It’s cheap, and the coating holds up well.
It’s an ok chopper, just your standard basic.
A basic Kukri.
However it’s my least favorite of all the kukris.
The blade has a lot of flex, and in chopping, you don’t want flex or wobble when you hit
wood.
Cold Steel makes some thicker larger alpha kukris.. the Kukri plus looks like it might
be a little better but it seems a little thin if you want a chopper.
For example remember my all terrain chopper review?
That blade was too heavy for an effective machete, but too long and thing for an effective
chopper.
Now the Cold Steel Kukris is a little too sort for a machete for my tastes, if you define
a machete is something to clear grass, weeds, smaller vines, and something you chase horny
teenagers with near a picturesque lake.
Choppers are generally shorter than a machete, with thicker stock, and good for heavier woodier
plant based material.
That’s where the Ka-Bar is better.
It is slightly shorter, a little heavier and a nicer, sharper edge.
A man might even put on a brimmed hat and bushcraft with it even.
It chops and slices better than the Cold Steel- personally it’s worth the extra $30.
It’d be super nice though if Ka-bar gave it some removable handles.
Same style and thickness, but just held on with screws, like an Esee or Becker Ka-Bar.
Also the merits of even having blade coating aside… should it really chip after 20 minutes
of use?
In my experience with beating on a lot of blades, this is not normal.
I’d prefer uncoated, and just caring for the blade personally- but Ka-Bar never asked
me.
Also after doing about 20 minutes of digging, all of Cold Steels Kukris with the black blade
all have relatively the same blade thickness as the one in this video.
About 2.8mm… the magnum, the ultralubricated, and the plus.
The mall ninja choas edition with the knuckle cutout looks a little more in line with the
Ka-Bars blade stock, however it look like something you might have to hide from your
parents or probably not bring to the ICP show.
The more expensive Cold Steel Gurkas Kukris look nicer to me because they have a more
desirable blade stock and look.
The TLDR or is it TLDL is, Cold Steel does not make a Kukri with specs on paper that
I’d like for under $100, they’re all too thin and flexible in the blade area to be
used as a good chopper in my opinion.
Ontario makes a decent looking one at $60, but at $55 the KaBar is probably one of the
most affordable, and decent performing budget kukri.
Unless you want to go with the cheap Bud K Indian made one.
I mean there’s some schrades, united cutlery, and some other cheap stuff in iffy steel-
but try those at your own risk at under $50.
So like, subscribe, comment, Patreon.
Also not I’m making a big move at the end of January, I’m trying real hard to give
you guys a video a week while I’m doing it.
Be patient if that’s to the case.
And thanks again for there Patreons and people who donate to the channel, and watch the entire
videos to help me get that Google money.
It will help out a little when between my current job and my next.
Thanks for watching.