Hand-Forged Farmer's Kukri Knife, Full Tang

A farmer's kukri is the domestic working pattern found in Nepali villages — plain, practical and sized for daily use rather than for a soldier's belt. Military kukris follow issue specifications with defined dimensions, regimental markings and standardised fittings, and they are generally longer and heavier. The village pattern varies from smith to smith and district to district, because it was always made for the person who ordered it. This one is a mid-size example at 15 inches overall, which is the size most working households actually use.

Coated is the most protective, since the coating shields the flats and only the bare edge needs oiling. Raw forge finish is the traditional choice and hides marks well, because the surface is already dark and uneven. Satin sits between them. Polished is the one to avoid for hard field use — not because it performs worse, but because every scratch shows on it, and a working kukri collects scratches from the first day.

Rosewood is the traditional choice, dense and warm in the hand, and it is what most Nepali kukris carry. Whitewood is lighter in colour and slightly lighter in weight, and it suits buyers who want the contrast against a dark blade. Buffalo horn is the most striking and takes a deep polish, but it is the least forgiving of extreme dryness — horn can develop hairline checks in very dry heated interiors over years. For a kukri that will be used outdoors, rosewood is the safest choice.

The karda is a small sharp utility knife for work too delicate for a 10-inch blade — cutting cord, preparing food, fine carving. The chakmak is blunt on purpose: it is a burnisher, drawn along the kukri's edge to realign it between proper sharpenings, in the same way a butcher uses a steel. Its spine is also hard enough to strike sparks from flint, which is why it is useful in a camp. Both ride in fitted pockets on the scabbard.

That is the cho, sometimes called the kaudi, and it is the diagnostic mark of a genuine kukri — a blade without one is a kukri-shaped knife rather than a kukri. Structurally, it terminates the sharpened edge, so a chip or crack at the edge stops there instead of travelling back into the tang. It also carries religious meaning, usually read as a trident of Shiva or as a representation of a cow's hoof. Every kukri we forge has one.

Yes. The steel runs the full length of the handle and is secured through it. This matters more on a kukri than on almost any other knife, because the forward-weighted chopping motion puts enormous stress at the point where the blade meets the grip. Cheap kukris commonly use a thin stick tang glued into a solid wooden handle, and that joint is precisely where they fail — usually on a hard chop, which is the worst possible moment.

Yes, if you let it. 5160 is a high-carbon spring steel, not stainless, and that is a deliberate trade: it is far tougher and takes a better working edge than any stainless alloy in this class, at the cost of needing care. Wipe it dry after use, keep a light film of oil on it in storage, and do not leave it sheathed in leather for months. Handled that way it will last generations, as Nepali household kukris routinely do.

Yes. Every Everest Forge blade ships sharpened and ready to use. We do not sell dull display blades. Handle it accordingly on unboxing, particularly around the recurve where the belly of the blade sweeps forward — the geometry there means the edge meets your hand at an angle you may not expect.

Yes. Add your text in the engraving field when you configure. Names, dates, dedications and short phrases all work well, and this pattern's broad flat blade takes an etch cleanly. Bear in mind that an engraved kukri is personal to you and cannot be resold, so it falls outside our standard returns window unless the blade itself is faulty.

Configured blades are forged to order rather than pulled from stock, so the build time shown at checkout applies before your kukri is dispatched. Engraving adds a little to that. Once it ships, DHL or FedEx delivery runs 7-14 business days with tracking to most countries. If you need it by a specific date, contact us before ordering and we will tell you honestly whether it is achievable.

Yes — that is what the pattern was designed for. The forward-curved geometry puts the mass of the blade ahead of your hand, so the kukri does the work that a straight knife of the same weight cannot. It handles kindling, limbing and clearing well. What it is not is an axe: for felling anything substantial, or for repeated splitting of large seasoned rounds, use the right tool. A kukri that is batoned through knotty hardwood all day will eventually chip, and that is use rather than a fault.

We ship worldwide with DHL and FedEx, tracked. Import rules on edged blades vary considerably between countries and sometimes between regions within them, covering blade length, carry and occasionally the pattern itself. It is the buyer's responsibility to check local law before ordering. If you are unsure about your own jurisdiction, contact us before configuring and we will share what we know about shipping there.