Floods Fundraiser Khukuri Raffle!
Blade Length: 13.25″
Handle Length: 4.75″
Spine Thickness at Bolster: 8mm
Blade weight: ~680g
POB: ~4.25″
For those unaware on Wednesday, August 26, 2026 a huge chunk of glacier near the Nepal/Tibet border collapsed into the Trishuli river. This resulted in utterly catastrophic flash floods, landslides and mudslides leaving at 547 people dead in Nepal and hundreds missing as of the 28th. Homes, bridges and entire communities have been swept away with ongoing emergency operations under threat of a second flood over the coming days. The death toll is expected to rise dramatically over the coming days and the true scope of the tragedy has not yet been fully established.
While our team members and their families are safe and sound in Kathmandu we feel compelled to reach out to the international community to see if we can help gather much needed financial resources to help both with the immediate emergency response and the long and hard recovery.
As a result we are putting our using our skills to work and are forging a beautiful, one-of-a-kind khukuri that we will raffle off to raise funds. Tickets are 20 usd each and can be purchased through the product page here. If you’d like to purchase multiple tickets add one to your cart then increase the quantity as needed. Right now this blade is just a workshop pattern but we will update the product page with pictures as it hits the forge and reaches completion. The winner will be drawn at random on the 1st of October. Shipping is free worldwide. There is no limit to the amount of raffle tickets that can be purchased per person and no cap on the total amount of raffle tickets that we will sell overall.
NOTE: we’re running behind on our schedule to have this blade ready to give away on the 1st of october.
We’re trying some new things on this blade to ensure that it’s special so it’s taking some time to get the RnD all sorted, further complicated by the pre-dashain workshop crunch. We want to make sure it’s as special as possible so we’re going to delay the drawing of the raffle until we’ve got it perfect and had some time to show off the final blade to generate a final push of interest. We’re committing to 1st november at the absolute latest for the draw but will likely do so a bit earlier.
We appreciate your patience here and we should have an update for you in the next week or so showing some progress on this build 🙂
Some notes on the blade. While traditionally styled the Floods khukuri is a 100% original pattern designed by Andrew Lucas specifically for this fundraiser. This will be the ONLY blade ever made to this pattern and it will not be open to custom variations via custom request. All 3 of our smiths will take part in its creation and it will bear all 3 of their marks. The exact materials and finish of this blade will be developed in tandem with community feedback through social media over the coming weeks.
It is 13.25″ long with a broad, flared bolster, narrow waist and a broad budhune profile that aims to strike a balance between blade presence and elegance. It does not feature a continuously curving spine but instead a very gentle knee somewhat farther forward than one might expect to enhance the imposing belly further. Tempering this width though is a graceful fuller that starts as hollow forging the full width of the ricasso before tapering down to a narrow channel and opening back up again into a variable width fuller, making this a budhune angkhola. This fuller tapers very finely and terminates very close to the tip for a unique and particularly refined aesthetic.
The blade will be given a taper that matches similar 19th century examples and should be very solid and reassuring in hand without being tip heavy or ungainly.
The handle will feature a simple semicircular handle ring framed on both sides by hand carving. It will feature a countersunk butt plate that will also be engraved. The engraving design is yet to be determined.
Finally the blade features a very fine, double lenticular kaudi that is designed to emulate the flickering flame of a small candle. Much like in the west small candles and oil lamps have an association with vigils, mourning and community prayer. Such candles are lit during Diwali to symbolise the triumph of good over evil. We are hoping that this particular blade can do a lot of good for those impacted by this horrific tragedy.
We will donate 100% of what is paid for these tickets directly to the Government Of Nepal’s Prime Minister’s Disaster Relief Fund. It has zero fees, overheads and will ensure 100% of donations are distributed quickly and effectively. If you are looking to donate beyond purchasing raffle tickets then that is the right place to do it. Donations made through that link are tax deductible for Nepali citizens but not for international contributors.
For those looking to donate a large amount outside of raffle tickets then tax deductibility may be a pressing concern. If so then may be worth considering the All Hands and Hearts Nepal Flood Relief Fundraiser. This is a registered 501(C)(3) tax-exempt public charity in the US and so donations made here are tax deductible. Beyond that they already have boots on the ground lending aid in Nepal, have extensive local networks and are highly donation efficient with CharityWatch rating All Hands and Hearts A+, with 92% of its cash budget spent on programs and a cost of $3 to raise each $100 in contributions.
For those concerned about tax deductibility and donation efficiency from other places we recommend using CharityWatch to gauge donation efficiency, and looking into which charities offer deductions for your locality.
If you are having issues with our checkout or have tax deductibility concerns then we can honor donations to the links provided on this page with raffle tickets also. Just send us an email with a receipt for proof of donation to websupport@kailashblades.com and we will write the tickets up manually 🙂