A pre WWII (?) khukuri

[Billman]

Thanks for your response Spiral - khukri are not my area of expertise, so I always bow to greater knowledge - but my experience of billhooks from many lands has shown me nothing is set in stone, and there are always variations and exceptions to rules....

Since posting the previous reply I have found a little more on the Nepaese sickle, or aansi. The same name refers to both a light small rice sickle and also a heavier billhook for wood. It is a more common, and more widespread, tool in Nepal than the celberated khukri - and there are many regional variations...

I would argue that a capped ferrule is not the same as a bolster - the bolster is integral with the blade, the ferrule - capped or open - is part of the handle, to prevent it splitting when pressure is put on the tang.. The bolster acts as a shoulder to stop the handle progressing up the blade - on the sickles, a shoulder is sometimes formed by bending the blade at right angles..