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Monthly Archives: June 2014
Very cool video review of HI Khukuris
As many of you know, I think very highly of HI khukuris – both the organization and the blades they produce. This is a great video where the reviewer does a thorough job and explains why he likes the MI M43 that he tested so much. At any rate, if you are interested, check this out as it is very well done:
There are three websites you might want to check out to learn more:
1) The actual HI website where they have history, photos and you can place orders:
http://www.himalayan-imports.com/
2) They have a forum on the BladeForums website as well where people discuss their offerings:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/forumdisplay.php/739-Himalayan-Imports
If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at in**@ro*********.com. Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.
Video: How to Field Strip an AK Rifle
To me, the AK family of rifles are some of the easiest designs on the planet to field strip … but I have done it hundreds of times. For a newcomer, how to take the rifle apart can be daunting. I took a few minutes and assembled some of my favorite videos and online resources / manuals to help clarify matters:
AK manuals that are online:
- https://www.tnguns.com/shop/manuals/AK47Manual.pdf
- Grainy but you’ll get the point: http://guns-nn.ru/manuals/manual_ak47servicemanual_en.pdf
- http://www.centuryarms.com/manuals/WASR%20type%20sporting%20rifles_FINAL.pdf
- https://www.ar15.com/content/webPDF/VEPRIIManual.pdf
YouTube Videos:
Now Brownell’s did some videos on Youtube also but they split them into separate parts:
Part 1 – Disassembly:
Part 4 – Reassembly
We will have a future post about cleaning and maintenance so keep an eye out for it.
A Suprisingly Affordable Flashlight: LiteXpress LXL439001 – Impressive Quality & Cool Rotary Model Selector Switch
I use a lot of flashlights and the problem is that I tend to lose them. Thus, while I like and appreciate high-end lights, they can be expensive to lose, crush, etc. As a result, I tend to try and find decent lights at a low price. In my recent trolling of Amazon I was intrigued by the LiteXpress LXL439001. You might think I was trolling for lumens but I am way over that – I want something in the 40-100 lumen range with good battery life, is LED, and rugged yet affordable. If I lose it, I don’t want to have an awful sense of loss.
I also prefer AA or CR123A batteries, which I buy in bulk. You guys may know this already, but shop for CR123A batteries on Amazon plus Walgreen’s Alkaline batteries are great and very affordable. When it comes to the CR123As, buy brand name and check reviews – all the major light manufacturers warn against the no-name cheap import batteries due to the risk of fire. I check brands such as Surefire, Energizer and Streamlight for volume deals on Amazon. The price savings are huge compared to local stores.
At any rate, what attracted me wasn’t lumens or some tacticool styling feature – it was the little rotary switch on the tail end and it stopped me dead. I loathe the “click and try to get it right” 3-5 mode lights. Seriously, they drive me crazy. I want something simple and predictable. I’m not even a huge fan of low-high-off but can deal with it. I’m sure you’ve seen the lights where they have all kinds of features – typically low, high, strobe, SOS, etc. You know what I really want – on and off. The LiteXpress has an on/off switch and the genius in in moving all the features to the rotary with symbols – I can go straight to whatever mode I want and if I hold the on/off button down, then the intensity can drop down from 122 by 10% increments.
You see, the LiteXpress is designed in Germany but built in China. There is an attention to design in this light that frankly surprised me so much that I bought it and decided to write about it. When the Amazon box arrived, I opened it up and found the light secured in a plastic blisterpack shell. Of course, I had to snap a few photos to share with all of you:
Features:
- 122 lumens max but can decrease to 10 lumens
- Push-button on/off on the barrel
- Rotary selector switch on the tail end. The modes are lock, high, flash (strobe or SOS can be selected), and temporary on/off. Pretty cool.
- Three color filters that firm slide over the output end of the light
- LED battery indicator: green = 100%, Yellow=approx 50% and Red=approx 10% remaining
- It came with 2 Duracell CR123A batteries
- Aluminum case
I have been using it a few days now and really like it. It’s higher quality than I expected and you’ll find it hard to beat for $23. If you are looking for a decent flashlight, you might want to check it out.
Update on 7/1/14: We lost power last night and this flashlight was fantastic. I used it last night and this morning after the powerful storm went through. It worked great the whole time and even after at least 45-60 minutes of ontime the batteries are reported as “green” by the power indicator. We may well not have power tonight either and I will be using this more again if that happens.
I am so very impressed by this flashlight that we are now selling it! It’s in our online store at: http://shop.roninsgrips.com/LiteXpress-LXL439001-X-Tactical-101-Flashlight-LiteXPressXtactical101.htm
Video: Tales of the Gun – AK-47, The Kalashnikov, FULL EPISODE
In case you missed the original Tales of the Gun episode on the AK-47 when it aired in 2010, here it is. This is a very well done episode that goes into the history of the design and how it served in battle. Fans of the Kalashnikov will definitely want to watch this.
By the way, what I like about this particular Youtube video is that the quality is pretty good and it is the whole episode vs. being chopped up.
Video on the History and Manufacturing of the AK-47
This is a very interesting video that covers some of the history of the AK-47. I found the portions showing testing and manufacturing very interesting.
Why We Branched Into Himalayan Imports Khukuris
I’ve had folks ask why we branched from AK furniture into Himalayan Imports khukuris. The answer is simple – both AKs and HI khukuris are incredibly rugged, dependable tools that may not be the most “pretty” things made but you can bet your life on them. In fact, I got into the HI khukuris after so many board members on www.akfiles.com said over and over that HI khukuris are absolutely the best available. So, in the fall of 2011, I bought my first HI khukuri – a massive Super Chiruwa Ang Khola. Then I bought another … and another … and another. They are addictive just like AKs as well!
What I found amazing is that the bladesmiths in Nepal (known as “kamis”) are working in the HI factory in very primitive conditions forging these blades from salvaged truck springs (5160 alloy) and using basic hand tools and anvils. Their methods have been handed down from grandfather, to father, to son for hundreds of years making differentially hardened, field serviceable blades. The engineering, if I dare call it that, is so amazingly cool. They figured out what worked and what didn’t by trial and error over hundreds of years. Each khukuri is unique and reflects the kami who makes it. These aren’t mass produced pretty knives rolling off a conveyor belt. Instead they are extremely functional tools with a long proven history. If you like reading about history, there are so many fascinating references on the Internet and books available!
At any rate, as I journeyed along, I noticed a lot of guys who owned AKs also owned an HI blade or were very interested in getting one. Given that we’ve been working with plastics for over three years now, it seemed like a good fit. Starting in the spring of 2013, we began planning for the custom Kydex sheaths including research into designs, materials and tooling. Over the course of the summer we made a number of test sheaths until we hit on the current type of design and how to make it. We also found out that a lot of folks, women included, didn’t just want a sheath – they wanted to get the blade from us as well to one-stop-shop. Thus, we first started making sheaths for our spare blades to sell plus we got into rehandling the khukuris using the various types of micarta that are available.
Favorite Book on Assault Rifles – “The World’s Assault Rifles” by Gary Johnston and Thomas Nelson
This book rounds out my two most used reference sources (the other being Iannamico’s “AK-47: The Grim Realer) when it comes to looking for photos on AKs plus other assault rifles.
Coming in at over eight pounds and 1200 pages, this book has a ton of photos, very clear text and is organized by country. The book covers over 500 weapons from 51 countries with over 1,000 photos in fact and was a massive research effort.
Without a doubt, it covers a ton of material and what I like is that it is well organized. There is a good table of contents up front and a detailed index at the end. You can go search by country alphabetically even. This is one of those books, where you can even just flip it open and learn something.
There are special sections on operating principles, ammunition as well as more detailed write ups on certain weapons of interest such as the German FG-42 and Sturmgewehr, the Russian AK family, and US arms such as the BAR, Lewis, M1 Carbine and M16/M4 family.
This is definitely an excellent reference book
