Hand-Forged Khopesh Machete with D-Guard, Configurable

A Hand-Forged Khopesh Machete With a Steel D-Guard, Built the Way You Want It

Choose the blade finish, the handle, the fittings and the scabbard colour, then add your engraving — and we forge that exact blade. Every selection updates the preview on screen. There are 1,080 possible builds before personalisation, the widest handle choice in our khopesh range, and each one is forged to order in Kathmandu.

Underneath every combination is the same blade: 16 inches of forward-curving khopesh in hand-forged 5160 spring steel, on a single-billet full tang, with a forged steel D-guard closing over the grip and a hand-stitched leather scabbard. At around 22 inches overall and 980 grams it is the working end of the khopesh range — short enough to swing in cover, heavy enough to clear it, with the hand enclosed.

Your Choices

Blade length and construction are fixed on this pattern. For another size, a different guard style or a design of your own, use our custom forge service.

A Khopesh Built to Work

Most khopesh swords are bought to hang on a wall, and that is a perfectly good reason to own one. This is the version for the other buyer.

Sixteen inches is the machete length: long enough to clear brush and chop green wood, short enough to swing in cover without catching the blade on everything behind you. The forward curve does the rest — the sharpened edge runs along the outside of the curve, so the blade lands with the force concentrated through the belly and bites instead of glancing, and the hook at the front will pull a cut branch clear rather than leaving it hanging.

Then the guard. Clearing work is exactly where hand protection earns its keep: thorns, whip-back from springy stems, a blade that skids off wet bark, and the odd miss. The closed steel bow covers the back of the hand for all of it, and it keeps the grip locked when your hands are wet. No ancient khopesh had one, and if you are swinging the blade rather than displaying it, you will not care.

Ancient Blade, European Guard — Said Plainly

The blade is Egyptian. The forward-curving sickle profile follows the khopesh, which reached Egypt around 1800 BC from the sickle-swords of Mesopotamia and the Levant, and became the standard sidearm from about 1550 BC. It appears on temple walls, in royal insignia, and in the hands of gods and pharaohs alike. Two khopesh swords, one larger and one smaller, were recovered from Tutankhamun's tomb.

The D-guard is not. The closed knuckle bow is a European development of the 16th and 17th centuries, carried on cavalry sabres, naval cutlasses and backswords, and most famously on the Confederate D-guard Bowies of the American Civil War.

The combination is ours, and it is deliberate. If you want the clean historical line, our standard 16-inch Khopesh Machete has no guard. If you want the one you can take into brush, build this.

Which Blade Finish Suits a Working Khopesh?

Handle, Fittings and Scabbard

Nine grips are fitted inside the guard on the same full tang — the widest choice of any build in our khopesh range. Rosewood is our standard and the best under hard use: dense, stable and sure in a wet hand. Whitewood is the pale timber and stands out most inside a dark guard. Buffalo horn is glossy black with a deep polish, and bone is close to ivory; both are materials Bronze Age craftsmen genuinely used on hilts. The five two-material grips — rosewood with whitewood, bone or horn, whitewood + horn, and horn + bone — band contrasting sections along the grip, framed by the bow.

The fittings cover the D-guard and the butt, so the metal you pick changes the silhouette rather than a detail: brass reads closest to ancient bronze, silver-tone is the cleanest and stays brightest, copper darkens fastest into a deep brown, and black makes the guard recede against a coated blade for the most workmanlike build. The scabbard is hand-stitched leather cut to take a guarded hilt, in six colours, with a belt loop.

Engraving and the Udjat

The personalisation field takes a name, initials, a date, a dedication or a short line, and you can upload a crest, a unit badge, a logo or a photograph for us to reproduce. The motif most requested on this blade is the Udjat, the Eye of Horus, the Egyptian sign of protection and healing — ancient khopesh blades were sometimes marked with protective symbols, and it sits naturally at the base of the blade where the curve begins.

Why This Khopesh Works

Standard Build Specification

Blade, handle and overall length are fixed in this configurator and do not change with your selections. Because every piece is hand-forged, small variation in weight, dimensions, grain and finish is normal.

An Honest Note on This Khopesh

An honest note. Three things worth saying plainly. First, this is a hybrid: Egyptian blade, European guard, modern steel. Real khopesh swords were cast bronze and had no knuckle bow, and anyone selling a steel D-guard khopesh as a historical reproduction is inventing it. Second, a guard is a trade. You gain protection and a grip that will not be knocked loose; you lose the ability to choke up on the blade, you get one hand position, and the scabbard has to be cut for it, so it will not ride flat on a belt. Third, 5160 is not stainless. Sap, damp and green wood will all mark it; wipe it dry, oil it, and pay attention to the inside of the guard where a cloth does not reach.

How Your Order Is Made

Caring for a Guarded Working Blade

Wipe the blade dry after every session and keep a light film of oil on it; sap is acidic and marks carbon steel quickly. Two places need attention that a cloth drawn along the flat never reaches: the inside of the blade's curve, and the inside of the knuckle bow where it meets the grip, which is where moisture collects on any guarded hilt. Do not store the blade in its scabbard for long periods, because the leather holds damp against steel. Sharpen along the outer curve at the angle it came with rather than thinning the edge, since a blade that chops needs a durable edge more than a keen one. Brass and copper fittings patina with handling and polish back with any metal polish.

Shipping, Returns and Warranty

Every piece is prepared at the forge in seven to ten days, and shipping adds a further seven to ten days. Orders to the USA and Canada travel with FedEx; everywhere else ships on a DDP service, which means duties and taxes are settled before the parcel moves so there is nothing to pay on delivery. Every piece carries the Everest Forge manufacturer warranty against defects in forging and heat treatment. Because a configured and engraved blade is made to your specification, it falls outside our standard returns window except where the blade is faulty — full terms are on our shipping and returns page. Import rules on large edged blades vary by country and are the buyer's responsibility to check before ordering.

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Questions About the Khopesh Machete