Official Issue BSI Service No.1 Kukri / Khukuri – British Gurkha Standard Issue

Hand-Forged Khukuri by Kami Caste Smiths in Kathmandu — Built to the Same BSI Spec Carried by Today's British Gurkhas

The BSI Service No.1 Kukri — also written khukuri in Nepali — is the official-issue blade of the British Brigade of Gurkhas. It is the polished, full-tang khukuri handed to every Gurkha recruit on enlistment and kept throughout their military career. This is the pattern carried for parade, duty, and ceremony in active regiments today.

Everest Forge has supplied the modern BSI Service No.1 khukuri specification to the British Gurkha Army (2008 BSI contract), Nepal Army (2015–2018), and Nepal Police (2016–2017). The kukri you receive here is forged in the same Kathmandu workshop, by the same hereditary Kami caste blacksmiths, to the same standard. Not a marketplace replica — a direct-from-forge piece in the lineage of real military supply.

The Khukuri Pattern Issued to Brigade of Gurkhas Recruits

The modern BSI Service No.1 khukuri — sometimes written "Service #1" or "Sarkari Service No.1" — entered British Army production in the mid-1980s. It replaced earlier service patterns (the GI5 and Mark series) and was refined by master smith Til Bahadur Bishwakarma to deliver a cleaner finish, better-balanced blade geometry, and a more polished aesthetic suited to ceremonial duty as well as field use.

Every British Gurkha recruit receives this exact khukuri pattern at the Brigade Selection process. It is inspected regularly by an officer throughout the soldier's career. It is the kukri seen on parade at Sandhurst, on Remembrance Day, and in every formal photograph of the modern Brigade of Gurkhas.

By tradition, the khukuri blade carries an engraving on the left side: the soldier's recruiting year and country. This dates back to a time when Gurkhas, having fought in so many wars across so many decades, would sometimes forget the exact year of their enlistment. The engraving became the soldier's record — etched onto the very kukri they would carry for the rest of their service.

Why This Specific BSI Service No.1 Khukuri

You can find Service No.1 kukris on multiple marketplaces. What separates this khukuri:

Direct-from-forge supply chain. No middleman, no marketplace seller, no resold inventory. The khukuri is forged in our workshop after you place your order and shipped directly to you.

Kami caste lineage. Our smiths are Kami — the hereditary blacksmith caste of Nepal that has forged khukuris for the Gurkhas since the regiment's founding. Meet the smiths who forge every blade.

Military supply credentials. The 2008 BSI Service No.1 contract, Nepal Army (2015–2018), and Nepal Police (2016–2017) — verifiable supply history, not branding language.

5160 spring steel, water-tempered for differential hardness. The blade has a hard cutting edge (58–60 HRC) and a softer, shock-absorbing spine (22–25 HRC) — the traditional khukuri tempering that prevents the blade from snapping under heavy use.

Photo approval before dispatch. We photograph your finished kukri and send the images for your approval before shipping. If anything looks off, we re-forge.

DDP worldwide shipping. Duties and taxes paid upfront via DHL Express / FedEx. You pay one price; nothing more on arrival. Tracked door-to-door, typically 10–14 days from order to delivery.

Full Specification

Each kukri is individually hand-forged. Minor variations in finish, grain, and dimension are part of the craft.

What's Included

Who Buys This Khukuri

Serving and veteran Gurkhas — British, Nepalese, Indian, Brunei, Singapore Gurkhas who want the same khukuri they carried (or carry today) but built to a higher standard than mass-market issue.

Military collectors — building a modern-era kukri collection alongside WWI, WWII, and historical pieces.

US, UK, EU, and Commonwealth allies — service members who fought alongside Gurkha regiments in Afghanistan, Iraq, and modern deployments.

Heritage buyers — Nepalese diaspora and families with Gurkha connection commissioning a khukuri for retirement, milestone, or gift.

Military historians — researchers documenting the modern Brigade of Gurkhas service equipment.

Note on Khukuri Customisation

The BSI Service No.1 is a standard-issue khukuri pattern. To preserve its authenticity to the official British Gurkha specification, this product is offered exactly as issued — no handle, blade, or scabbard variants.

Free text personalisation (recruiting year + country, name, date, regiment, dedication — up to ~30 characters) is included on every khukuri order.

If you want a Service No.1 with handle or scabbard variants — for example, a Gripper Handle, Yak Bone Elite version, or hand-engraved regimental crest — see the related kukri products below, or request a custom forge commission.

Import & Knife Law — Read Before Ordering

Related Khukuri Patterns You May Also Consider

The BSI Service No.1 sits at the centre of the British Gurkha issue family. Buyers commonly compare or commission alongside:

• BSI Service No.1 Khukuri with Gripper Handle — same blade, contoured grip variant ($99.99)
• Jungle PRI Training Khukuri — the unpolished training/field counterpart issued alongside Service No.1 ($89.99)
• Nepal Army Khukuri — 9" official-issue blade of the Nepalese Army ($89.99)
• Browse all current-issue military khukuris — the full active-service range

Want to learn the language of the khukuri? See our Kukri / Khukuri Terminology Guide or trace the blade's roots in Origin of the Khukuri.

Frequently Asked Questions