Description
Designer: Bikram BishwaKarma
Blade: 19.5″
Handle: 5.5″
Spine Thickness at Bolster: 6.5mm
Total Weight: 918g
Arringal (ah-RIN-gal): The nepali name for Giant Hornet.
Bikram is a smith who has a passion for tradition and historical designs. To start off his design process he went to the National museum of Nepal looking to find a historical blade that he could replicate. Instead he came away with an idea- to take the beautiful, deeply curving old hanshee blades he saw there but expressing his own identity as a maker through it. To differentiate the blade pattern from other hanshees the made the blade broader and longer, with a striking flared fin along the spine. Then to demonstrate his skill as a maker he incorporated mild hollow forging to the blade, followed by a series of parallel fullers along the belly to trim weight and add unique visual appeal. These can be specified with a different finish level to provide a striking contrast to the rest of the blade. An angled cho puts a twist on what’s expected while helping to tie back into the traditional form. The handle is full tang, which helps with counterbalancing the large blade while also adding strength to the construction. A traditional khukuri kanzo quickly turns into a far more modern affair as Bikram demonstrates his affinity for indexed and ergonomic handles- after all he was the first smith in Nepal to make the Scourge handle. The flared rear of the handle again calls back to the khukuri, while the scales are held on with various sizes of pins. The largest of which feature Bikram’s makers mark prominently in their centres.
The final blade is an imposing affair- while not the heaviest of this batch of smith designs the strong forward curve on a blade of this size really stacks on the power in strikes. A moderately beefy grind makes this blade very well suited to hard chopping and hacking work. Delimbing, felling and similar axe/heavy machete type work are what this has its eye set on. While long enough to clear brush the very strong forward balance makes this an energy and control intensive operation. Batoning, digging and moderate prying are well within its skillset, but we wouldn’t hold it against you if its good looks convinced you to spare it such treatment. In fact the decorative and ritual aspect of this blade is something that Bikram is very much interested in. He’d be happy if it was enjoyed as an object of beauty and an example of craftmanship- not necessarily sitting in a cabinet somewhere but also in traditional nepalese sacrificial roles. This handsome beast of a blade will help to ensure a clean cut on a goat (something crucial for an effective tribute) while looking good at the same time.
The Nepali name Arringal (Hornet) is a pretty great match. They’re both large and intimidating versions of things that are already pretty fearsome in the first place- not to mention that they both have a narrow waist with a broad and dangerous striped stinger. It very much fits the brief for these first run of smiths designs- in size, feel and style this is such a departure from Andrew’s work and provides very welcome variety in terms of design.
If you’re looking for an extremely impressive and imposing blade that showcases the passion of the maker you may well have found it in the Arringal.
For more information on Bikram check our Us page.
Before Purchase, please read through our section on Warranty and Factory Seconds for information on the different grind types, tang options and how they affect the level of warranty we offer.