Lew Waldman's Ethnographic Arms & Armour Collection Archive


1134 - Chakmak (3) and Karda (1) - Accessory Khukuri Blades

The longest blade in this group of khukuri accessories is a karda or small utility knife, shown in the upper left of the images. The blade shows coarse diagonal striations likely reflecting honing and also patches of discoloration and mild pitting. The water buffalo horn handle is coarsely carved and shows insect damage on the smoother side. The next longest blade, lower left in the images, is unsharpened and is a chakmak or honing/sharpening tool that is also carried within the sheath of a khukuri. This blade appears to have been polished somewhat obscuring the diagonal striations and has a similar handle, also with patchy insect damaged. The blade of the intermediate sized chakmak has surfaces much like the karda described above and also shows insect damage to its horn hilt. The smallest chakmak has a blunt ended blade with some discoloration and slight pitting and has a small horn handle terminated with an iron plate at either end.

Overall length

Blade length

Weight

English (inches)

Metric (cm)

English (inches)

Metric (cm)

English (ounces)

Metric (grams)
4.5 11.5  2.6 6.7   0.7 19 
 4.5 11.5   2.3 5.8   0.95 27 
 3.6  9.1 2.1  5.5  0.4 12
 2.2  5.6 1.4 3.5   0.2


Chakmak and Karda - Accessory Khukuri Blades

Chakmak and Karda - Accessory Khukuri Blades



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