The kukri, regarded as traditional to all hill tribes of Nepal, is both a formidable weapon and a tool which has innumerable uses from shaping timber to chopping up meat and vegetables. The blade is of tempered steel, slightly curved and exceedingly sharp. The handle is usually of wood or buffalo horn. A nick in the blade close to the handle serves the purpose of preventing blood from reaching the handle and is also symbolic of the Hindu Trinity of Bramah, Vishnu and Shiva. The blade is enclosed in a scabbard of wood and leather and the whole weapon is some sixteen to eighteen inches long.