Recent additions

[ndoghouse]

I like the shape of the one on the bottom. Dirk/Bowie/Khuk hybrid something or other :thumbup:

 

[blue lander]

It's so refined that it must be something... There must be some Philippino name for it. Back to google!

 

[Scara]

It's so refined that it must be something... There must be some Philippino name for it. Back to google!

One? Try five, and of course if you ever use one of the names, you will find people who will tell you it's the wrong name. I have a lot of friends who lived in the Philippines and speak a variety of different Filipino languages, and trying to get them to agree on terminology is impossible. For instance, I think someone earlier said one of them was an Itak. Well, Itak is also the generic word for knife in Tagalog and a few other languages. I've been told that there's no such thing as a specific style of Itak, because it's a generic word. Then others tell me that there is a specific style, and still others tell me it's a different specific style from what the last guy told me.

 

[blue lander]

I asked an old Philippino coworker if he knew anything about them. He looked at them thoughtful for a few moments, paused, and said "Philippinos really love knives..."

That's all he has to say on the matter

 

[ndoghouse]

..."Philippinos really love knives..." ...

Therefore I must be philippino We should ask one of our forum phillllippinos.

 

[J W Bensinger]

indian dhals and aceh shields are a bit bigger than bucklers and are worn across the forearm rather than in the centre. ghatka by the sikhs in the 'indian' videos is an artform. the indian tulwar used with the indian dhals has a wide pommel disk that forces you to hold the blade at roughly a 90 degree angle to your forearm to ensure you make close in draw cuts and makes it hard to do any thrusts. the style drives the use of the shield as well. aceh sikin swords are guardless like my traditional one below:


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a display of acehenese swords. the ones with the bowl guards are indian 'ferangi' swords (ferangi translates as 'foreign', another way to say 'european'.)

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anyway, the actual use of the smaller buckler types would be different than the larger ones. eastern use is different than western.

the acehenese klewangs were a lot handier in the jungle than the dutch swords used by the dutch in their war with aceh in the late 19c early 20c.n the utch general designed a western klewang sword, had a few made in solingen, then a larger order from hembrug in the netherlands. milsco copied them exactly for theirs, and the japanese used cut down versions they captured from the dutch. thus we return to the cutlass referred to as the 1917 cutlass (mistakenly) by some i showed earlier with the marine and his long bayonet. mine is one of the ones made in solingen, these are referred to as dutch klewangs and are still used for ceremonial purposes.

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mine again for ref.
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i have an L6 'villager' talibon from the phillipenes, made by jun silva. it's chisel ground & cuts like a light sabre. i wouldn't use it on hardwood, but it's ideal for lighter stuff and keeping the 2-legged wolves at bay. it's one of my favourites.

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Kronck, I have been coveting that talibong quietly since the first time I saw it-you have some nice Silvas.
I had one of his Sundangs, but I sold it since I never really used it.

 

[blue lander]

Therefore I must be philippino We should ask one of our forum phillllippinos.

The like using 'em too apparently, especially on each other. The same guy told me about how he saw his neighbor get stabbed in the gut by a balisong when he was a kid.

 

[kronckew]

Yeehaw! a custom i ordered end of last year finally got delivered today!

a 'half sized' galloglaich sparth (anglosaxon for young foreign warrior axe) - actually more like 1/3 sized. the originals had about a 9 in. edge and a 6 ft shaft.

saw an ad while fishing thru google for something else, a similar one the UK based smith had made for a U.S. marine to take to the sandpit. that one was full polished and hickory hafted.

asked me to make me a 'villager' one with a yew haft. anyway, here she be. 6.25 in. edge, 4 in. across, 23 in. oil finished yew haft 635 g. (1.4 lb. or 22.4 oz.) hand sharpened to an almost hair poppin' edge.

 

[Bawanna]

That's gorgeous! I love that.

 

[ndoghouse]

Way cool axe. A full size one sounds like a lot of fun too. Oiled Yew looks awesome:thumbup:

 

[DarthTaco123]

Yew're right, that looks flipping sweet! Looks like those foreigners that speak Gaelic could do quite a bit of damage with that beastie.

 

[blue lander]

Nice! I can't even imagine what kind of damage you could deal with the 9 inch edge version.

I've been trying to distract myself from further purchases by playing with what I already have. I found a neat thread over at Ramanon about Philippino knives like the set of 3 I bought...

http://www.ramanon.com/topic/44557-luzon-philippines-blades/

... the one in post #4 looks similar to my big bowie one. The guy says they're usually edge hardened and tested by cutting through nails! So I etched my smallest bowie and sure enough there's a hamon. The belly's hardened of course but so is the entire tip. Having a hardened tip is a nice feature if you're going to be stabbing through things I guess!

I've tried to etch the curved one and the larger bowie but no results yet. I might need to use a stronger acid.

 

[Shavru]

Nice find Kron, that is actually about my favorite size for an axe. The bigger one would be too big for me, but that is just a nice size. But then on some of you great big guys here that might be a hatchet

Blue, I definitely understand that. I have reached the point were I had to sell of a couple of my Nihonto recently so it is really not in the cards for a while to acquire anything new. However it has given me a chance to go back and engage with each of my blades and remind myself exactly why I was so thrilled to acquire it and get the thrill back.

 

[Scara]

Well, I have a few recent acquisitions of my own. I won't post my Purna Chainpuri, as pictures are available already in the forum, but I will post my Tanto, Karambit and Hasiya, since that Hasiya was never posted as a DOTD.

First up, since it was the first of the three was the Tanto. Unknown maker, but my mentor (who sold it to me) says that the handle slabs are American Walnut, very tight grained. I like it quite a lot. Six inch blade, roughly 11 inches overall if memory serves. It even has a broad Hamon, but it's difficult to see, even in person. It also is comfortable a variety of grips, and the handle has a very comfortable palm swell.



Next is my Karambit. It's made in Indonesia by a traditional maker. It fits my hand quite well, and the edge is nice and sharp though not quite enough to shave with. The tip is very sharp. The top edge is a false edge, though it's close enough to a sharpened edge that for a while I thought it was sharp. I made the sheath myself because I didn't have one for it. It's cardboard and duct tape, with a thin gauge electrical wire as a spacer and to prevent it from being sliced through. There's no belt loop, but I've found that when I wear a thick belt I can thread the sheath through a belt loop and the karambit hangs between the sheath and the handle, and then I can draw the karambit and the loop strips off the sheath.




Now on to the Hasiya that arrived in the mail yesterday. I considered getting a Hasiya last week, but I didn't and someone else bought that one. After the earthquake I decided I should get one, if only to help Auntie have enough cash to help out everyone over there. It's very different from any of my other blades, but I like it. It's quite interesting getting to know the blade. In a few days I will post one of my usual writeups of it as a weapon.

 

[Shavru]

Heya Scara, Nice gets on those. Love the Hasiya as a traditional thing, it will be interesting to hear what you feel it's strengths might be towards fighting. I never considered if for such.

That Tanto now, that I REALLY like. I had a discussion a while ago with JW about "American Style" Tanto points. I hate em mostly because of the misnomer "tanto point" why didn't they use a different name (like chisel point I think he suggested LoL). He had a couple very valid thoughts on their efficiency for certain situations but I just dislike em on principle I guess. because even his well considered points didn't phase my dislike BUT that one of yours is gorgeous. The point for some reason is much nicer looking than a usual "Tanto" and the grip looks like it would fit the hand very nicely. Yes, that is one none Japanese Tanto I wouldn't mind owning.

 

[Scara]

Heya Scara, Nice gets on those. Love the Hasiya as a traditional thing, it will be interesting to hear what you feel it's strengths might be towards fighting. I never considered if for such.

That Tanto now, that I REALLY like. I had a discussion a while ago with JW about "American Style" Tanto points. I hate em mostly because of the misnomer "tanto point" why didn't they use a different name (like chisel point I think he suggested LoL). He had a couple very valid thoughts on their efficiency for certain situations but I just dislike em on principle I guess. because even his well considered points didn't phase my dislike BUT that one of yours is gorgeous. The point for some reason is much nicer looking than a usual "Tanto" and the grip looks like it would fit the hand very nicely. Yes, that is one none Japanese Tanto I wouldn't mind owning.

I was going to type out a post about how this particular style is more Japanese than you think, being a Shinogi tip. Then I did some research and found that I was wrong. I did find a site that calls tips that seem similar to the American tanto KIRIHA-ZUKURI or KAMASU-KISSAKI, but neither of these style feature the clip-point like drop of the American tanto. I can't vouch for the site, but it seems to have good information. http://www.ksky.ne.jp/~sumie99/styles.html
http://www.ksky.ne.jp/~sumie99/kissaki.html

However this tanto is less Americanized than it looks in the picture. The tip isn't a straight chisel line, it actually has a very subtle curve to it, which I'm told is traditional for katana and tanto tips. I think the other reason why you like this tip better is because this isn't like most tantos which are just one long straight edge followed by a sharp angle, often with a long sort of clip point down to the edge. This one has a subtle yet noticeable curve along its entire length followed by a gentler than usual curve up to the tip. This makes it a much more flowing shape than your typical sharply angled, all straight lines American tanto. So it may be Americanized, but it's a lot closer to the original Japanese style than you tend to see.

You're right about the handle. It too is non-traditional, but quite comfortable and it accommodates a variety of grips, and I imagine even grip sizes.

And they didn't use a different name because Lynn Johnson of Cold Steel thought his take on the tanto would sell better if he called it a tanto. And I'll admit, the style does have some uses. My EDC folder is an American tanto, and it works. Now that I think about it though, the American tanto in many ways is more like a mix of a chisel and a bowie in the tip.

And it's remarkable how often people remark that they'd never thought of something as a weapon until I brought it up. Maybe it should be my goal in life to make more people realize the weapon value of the things around them. Now to decide if I'm joking or not.

 

[davidf99]

Scara:

That's an interesting karambit. I like the thick, teardrop shaped scales. The main fault with most karambits that I've seen is the thin handle, the main exception being the HI karambit, and now yours. I suppose the typical thin handle could be defended on the ground that it would be easier to carry concealed.

As for the Hasiya, I'd say its main benefit as a weapon is that if you use it on someone and get in trouble with the law you can claim it's a tool, because that's what it is. However, I await your writeup with interest. The thing is, any piece of metal (or wood) of reasonable length and weight can be a good weapon, whether or not it has an edge. More important than the particular weapon is your skill and the skill of your opponent, also how well your opponent is armed, whether the fight is in open or confined quarters, whether it's one-to-one or a military operation, and whether it's a streetfight or an actual duel where both people are similarly armed. There are many other considerations. Is this a primary weapon, or a backup? Does it have to be carried for long distances? Is it sturdy enough to stand up to repeated use, or if it bangs up against something hard? And so forth.

The Japanese master swordfighter, Miyamoto Musashi, according to legend killed a major rival, Sasaki Kojiro, in a duel using a heavy staff that he carved from an oar of the boat that carried him to the island where the duel took place. I've also read that Musashi fought his first duel at the age of 13, killing his adult opponent with a six-foot staff, so apparently he was very comfortable with this type of weapon. (He was probably good with all the major weapon types of his time.)

At the other end of the plausibility spectrum, the actor Ving Rhames, in one of his zombie movies used a sledgehammer to dispatch the creatures. Despite Rhames' massive musculature, I found that unwieldy implement just as hard to accept as when another character in the same movie makes his "weapon of choice" a golf club!



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[Scara]

Scara:

That's an interesting karambit. I like the thick, teardrop shaped scales. The main fault with most karambits that I've seen is the thin handle, the main exception being the HI karambit, and now yours.

As for the Hasiya, I'd say its main benefit as a weapon is that if you use it on someone and get in trouble with the law you can claim it's a tool, because that's what it is. However, I await your writeup with interest. The thing is, any piece of metal of reasonable length and weight can be a good weapon, whether or not it has an edge. More important than the particular weapon is your skill and the skill of your opponent, also how well your opponent is armed, whether the fight is in open or confined quarters, whether it's one-to-one or a military operation, and whether it's a streetfight or an actual duel where both people are similarly armed. There are many other considerations. Is this a primary weapon, or a backup? Does it have to be carried for long distances? Is it sturdy enough to stand up to repeated use, or if it bangs up against something hard? And so forth.

The Japanese master swordfighter, Miyamoto Musashi, according to legend killed a major rival, Sasaki Kojiro, in a duel using a heavy staff that he carved from an oar of the boat that carried him to the island where the duel took place. I've also read that Musashi fought his first duel at the age of 13, killing his adult opponent with a six-foot staff, so apparently he was very comfortable with this type of weapon. (He was probably good with all the major weapon types of his time.)

At the other end of the plausibility spectrum, the actor Ving Rhames, in one of his zombie movies used a sledgehammer to dispatch the creatures. Despite Rhames' massive musculature, I found that unwieldy implement just as hard to accept as when another character in the same movie makes his "weapon of choice" a golf club!

The scales do a good job of making it fill the palm both holding it in a forward fencing grip, and when clenching it in your fist in the reverse grip. I believe this one was made in Indonesia with an eye towards selling a traditional karambit for the American market with some small concessions like grip size.

After a little quality time with the Hasiya I'd say that it has more value as a weapon than just its origins as a tool, but that can wait until I do my writeup.

Oh and the staff is a common, but very effective weapon, and nigh impossible to regulate because it's a long straight stick, anyone can make one, and many people use them as walking sticks. And your points about circumstances, skill and such are spot on.

 

[kronckew]

never been too keen on tantos or kerambits. i'd like a hasiyah tho. they're not only useful & easy on the eye, but i certainly would not feel unarmed carrying one. "but officer, it's just a tool! i had no idea it would take the burglar's arm off and disembowel him at the same time". (it dos look like a big kerambit)

p.s. - edited my axe post above. i went back & checked the smith's site. he's made it for a US marine, not a royal marine, tho i'm sure many of them would like one too.
p.p.s. - i know a marine smarter than me. or two, or three...

 

[kronckew]

...
The Japanese master swordfighter, Miyamoto Musashi, according to legend killed a major rival, Sasaki Kojiro, in a duel using a heavy staff that he carved from an oar of the boat that carried him to the island where the duel took place. I've also read that Musashi fought his first duel at the age of 13, killing his adult opponent with a six-foot staff, so apparently he was very comfortable with this type of weapon. (He was probably good with all the major weapon types of his time.)

At the other end of the plausibility spectrum, the actor Ving Rhames, in one of his zombie movies used a sledgehammer to dispatch the creatures. Despite Rhames' massive musculature, I found that unwieldy implement just as hard to accept as when another character in the same movie makes his "weapon of choice" a golf club!
...

the south sea islanders have a variety of 'paddle' clubs. they are definitely the wooden version of a sword. tales abound of them not only breaking, but severing heads and limbs. 8n the hands of a master, the japanese wooden bokken is considered deadlier than a sword.

bringing a stick to a knife fight

p.s. - one of my paddle clubs: