My first Bhutanese/Tibetan knife

[Pitt1999]

This is most certainly a young knife; probably made within the past 35-50 years. I don't know if there are knives made for the tourist market in Bhutan, but this is definitely not of tourist quality.

Even though it isn't a very large knife (7⅝ inch blade) it is quite a hefty implement. I imagine it would cut with much more force than other knife styles of a similar size, in the hand it feels like a little meat cleaver (which is what it most likely would have been used for). I would be interested in seeing someone perform some cutting tests with a Bhutanese sword considering that on a purely visual level they are just fancier and longer versions of these knives.

Even though this knife is a simple villager quality piece it has some nice details that could have been left off to save time and energy.

The first is the ferrule which is larger/more encompassing than some other examples I have seen. On other examples of these knives the ferrule only covers the area where the tang enters the hilt. My knife has a ferrule which also covers the "guard" area of the handle. This was probably done to more thoroughly prevent the handle material from splitting during use.

The second detail is shown poorly in my photographs. The "guard" narrows towards the edge of the blade and widens towards the spine. This subtle feature gives the user tactile feedback of the direction the edge is facing. If this was done on purpose then these knives are very well thought out despite their very simple appearance.

There isn't much to be said about the scabbard. A simple construction of wood wrapped in thin leather which I assume comes from a goat or sheep. The handle is quite comfortable to hold and nicely shaped into an octagonal cross section.

I also photographed some type of forging flaw at the tip of the blade that is only present on one side. It looks like the maker tried to correct it during the finishing process. It is hard to see in the photos but there are file/grinder marks right on that flaw.

[Tim Simmons]

This is definitely a regular form of Tibetan/Bhutanese knife. I put one up for sale some years ago. A heavy bladed utility knife.

[JBG163]

Yes, this is a bhutanese working knife. Almost all men have one (or several) in Bhutan

[Montino Bourbon]

This is definitely a “Down home” piece. As Crocodile Dundee would say, “This is a noife!” Slight distal taper at the point. Heavy blade.