Looking to dabble in other southern Asian weaponry.

DarthTaco123

DarthTaco123

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Mar 28, 2013
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As much as I like the khukuri I'd love to expand my collection (ok two Khukuri) beyond what I have. I know the Tulwar is always a classic, but what other southern Asian blades would you recommend, and where would I find them?
 
pretty much pick any island and there will be a near- unique weapon associated with the tribal peoples who dwelt there, igorot head axes from luzon, or nagaland swords and axes in india/burma, lets not forget the various "dao" or "dha" of burma and vietnam, there are blades from borneo( many many) taiwan, bone weapons from the asmat near aus, fiji cannibal clubs , and of course the huge array of moro weapons and the tribes that resisted them. :D

very few areas of the world have as much variety , the archipeligo lends itself to this situation, but from japan to papua headhunting seems to be a big deal. other than khukuri , keris are extremely popular, but I tend to think picking a tribe or island you like, researching it a bit, and if you like the art and such go into that, from khukuri I got into dha then into headhunters ( naga and kachin) then specifically to mandau of the dayaks.
 
Head hunters sound...hunty. From the quick image search I did, some look like the old Woodsmans Pal. I've always thought the Keris is cool, but I think the curvy shapes have my simple mind dumbfounded. The issue with Asian weaponry is almost all of them look beautiful, but there are so many to even attempt to collect I can't fathom it. I may look around for a 18th or 19th century khukuri (or replica thereof) just because of their sheer size and capability, not to mention the history.
 
If you're looking for something you can actually use, I'd recommend a Parang, Golok, or E-nep. If you're looking at antique weapons as Gehazi says there's hundreds of different local bladed weapons in that part of the world.
 
Im dabbling around in Thailand at the moment. I have a 60cm squaretip E-toh I really like. I also got a Latin machete, another longer E-toh (Darb), and an E-nep on the way. A Prah is next on the Thai list. Their recent military coup slowed things down at the end of last month but looks like things over there are straightening out. I really want an old Mandau and a recently made Ilang Parang. There are some very nice Parangs made in Thailand as well. Now with the new Kamis at HI kickin out such good stuff my worldly adventures are likely to be confined to Nepal for a bit:D
 
You can still get some pretty nice vintage Filipino blades for not much $$, and the variety is endless.
 
Blades from the Philippines offer a great variety. I second the golok, enep, parang and barong.
 
Talwar are neat if you find a good one-I had two wootz talwar years ago...the hilts appear to be held on with something like Laha.
 
I tried to etch the blade on my Tulwar in case it was wootz, but it just turned the blade a frosty gray color.
 
Do you want a "field" grade one or a fancy pants one with gold koftgari and whatnot?

One word of advice: there are a LOT of tourist tulwars on ebay. They're usually easy to spot though. The blade's usually have MADE IN INDIA on one side and some sanskrit on the other. They almost always have a bolt at the tip of the hilt. They usually come with a scabbard made from fake red or blue velvet like material.
 
I don't need a fancy schmancy one, I'm looking at one I ebay for 200 obo but idk if I an post the link here or not.
 
For a plain but serviceable tulwar I'd say 200 is fair but not a deal. If you're willing to watch auctions for a year you can probably get closer to $100. It all depends on how long you're willing to wait. And of course you will pay more for a wootz blade or a German trade blade.

For reference I paid about 80 bucks for my tulwar after shipping, but as you can see it's not exactly a "classic" example.

Now that I think about it, if you're willing to pay in the $200 range I wouldn't go to ebay for your first talwar. Go with a reputable reseller like Fagan arms. They might charge you a little more but you're guaranteed to get a real weapon. With ebay it's always a crap shoot.
 
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So the bay is often overpriced. I'll keep an eye out, what other sources would you say I should check out?
 
Ebay is cheap but often fake. If you're willing to spend money, go with a reputable seller. You might have to spend $250 or $275 for something that'd go for $200 on ebay, but you're 100% guaranteed to get an authentic piece. Like for me, I bought my Tulwar for $80 which is a steal. But before that I bought a totally fake Tulwar for $100 that's worthless. So you could say I spent $180 on my "real" tulwar, which is still like the world's worst tulwar. If you buy from auctions you have to factor in the money you waste on fakes. Assuming it's okay to plug antique blade sellers here, I recommend fagan arms if you want to be 100% confident of an authentic weapon.
 
Fagan is quite a bit out of my price range at the moment, but I'll try to keep an eye out on other outlets. It should also be noted that I'm looking for a user, not a wall hanger.
 
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