Kris blades availability in Philippines?

WrongFriend

WrongFriend

Joined
Jul 6, 1999
Messages
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I'm going to have a business trip to Philippines for about two weeks this month. I'll have monly one or two days to spend for myself there, that I mustn't waste!
Here in Japan there can be found some "standard" Filipino balisongs. I myself own one with a sheath that I was told to be made of dog skin (fur? It looks shaggy).

So I want to find a kris blade balisong if possible. Where can I find one? How much will it be? And how big is it, 29cm OAL as a balisong should be?

Any info is appreciated.
Thanx in advance.

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(T_T) ...crying
\(^o^)/ ...cheerful
(ToT) ...crying
Mizutani Satoshi
 
Hello, the person you'd want to talk to is Batangueno. He lives in the Phillipines and knows a great amount on FHM's. They usually run about $15 and up depending where you purchase it.

I was wondering, but can you readily purchase the Seto balis? They have some real nice ones too. I'm not clear on the last question, do you want to know if the standard size is 29cm or do you want to know how long 29cm is?

Sometime I'd like to travel to Japan again, its one of the nicest places I've even been to.

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Dave

My collection
 
WrongFriend,

What part of the P.I. are you going to? E-mail me when you get a chance. I might be able to help you. Talk to you later.
 
>>So I want to find a kris blade balisong if possible. Where can I find one? How much will it be? And how big is it, 29cm OAL as a balisong should be?

You would most likely have to go to Batangas to find something special in the way of a Balisong knife. It is about a 3 hour bus ride from Manila, and is suppose to be a rather nice resort or tourist area. There are department stores in Manila and in other areas of the Philippines, that sell the Batangas made balisong knifes, but usually they just stock the more basic ones that would be more of interest to the people who actually live in the Philippines. The larger Bali's are usually a special order item, what they call made to order.

If you go to the Philippines, be sure to take small amounts of money with you. It can be difficult to get change there. Also if your from another country, there well be beggers from time to time want enough money from you, to buy a meal. They usually are hungry enough, that they will not leave you alone, tell you give them enough money to buy enough food to fill their tummy. These are usually either the muslims, or the communists, which they call the barefoot soldiers. You may run into two or three of them a day.

I did the best with credit cards, I would just find an ATM machine and withdraw the money as I needed it. You can get travelers checks cashed, but they charge a fee, and they may run you from one place to another to find a place to cash it.

The transportation is clearly marked over there, so you know who your dealing with. The Christians mark their Taxi's with Christian type symbols. Also you will find Taxie's marked with playboy bunnies or something like that. So there is no mystory as to what sort of person your dealing with, when you rent a Taxie or if you take a Jeepney. It's pretty easy to find someone like minded as your are, to do business with. Thanks, JohnR7
 
You can actually get a kris balisong from "Hahn-Manila" in SM malls. They sell the 29cm kris balisong with brass and black plastic insert (not narra wood) for around $20. Actually they have a considerable number of balisong designs to choose from.

John is right, you have to go to batangas if you want something special and cheaper.

The sheath being made of dog skin, i don't know, but i really doubt it. Most of the balisong sheaths i see in batangas are cheap looking ones and is not worth the money. They look like cheap tourist souvenirs.
 
Thank you for lots of info! I just recovered from a bad cold today, sorry for late to say thanx to you all.

David2584, there are very few chance to buy made-in-Japan balis in Japan for around two years since high school kids were eager to stab each other by balisongs watching a TV drama. I was lucky to have two 3"ers and two 4"ers at the cost of $50 for each. Not a bargain! To clarify my question, I'm sure how long 29cm is. (Though some say 29 inch is the "right" size, and still other say 29 inch blade is it.) I wasn't just sure if a kriss blade balisong can be supplied usually in 29cm OAL. Hope you had good things in Japan, and see more next time! I'd like to see you when you can come.

BA, you're always so kind guy! I'll stay somewhere around Manila, and I'll do my business in a factory in Calamba, Laguna.
Thanks, and I'll email you soon!

JohnR7, I'll follow your advice how to deal with hungry people there, and appreciate your info on bali variations in Manila!

batangueno, YOU LIVE IN THE PLACE! Great...
A kriss blade is on top of my wish list, but a longer one for MA seconds. Going to batangas sounds attractive. Only thing I'll not have enough time to see around while staying in Philippines. Thanks!
I forgot to ask, what is SM malls?

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(T_T) ...crying
\(^o^)/ ...cheerful
(ToT) ...crying
Mizutani Satoshi
 
WrongFriend, i'm sure you'll be able to get a balisong longer than the standard 29cm OAL for MA use. But i'm not sure if you can find a kris balisong longer than 29cm.

If you stay in Calamba, Laguna that's actually the town next to Batangas already. More than half an hour drive and you'll be in barrio balisong. I'm sure somebody from the factory can take you.

SM malls are the huge malls we have here around Metro Manila.
 
batangueno, I'm not that greedy to want a 29 INCH kris blade MA balisong... mmm, am I?

Now it's getting harder to concentrate on business schedules there. Too much temptation at too close area. Again, thank you for info.

FHMs are not very familiar kind of balisongs to me, so far. My only FHM closes with its edge hit inside the handle. Is it normal? I love the proportion of blade to handle of FHM. Shorter handles are combined with longer blade is beautiful in large balisongs.

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(T_T) ...crying
\(^o^)/ ...cheerful
(ToT) ...crying
Mizutani Satoshi
 
<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">My only FHM closes with its edge hit inside the handle. Is it normal?</font>
Click to expand...

Yes, most of the FHM balisongs have that problem. Come to think of it, i'll make sure next time to have a balisong made with a kick.

[This message has been edited by batangueno (edited 12-07-2000).]
 
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