Valiant Trading Company - maybe good, maybe bad

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Kirk D

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Two months back, I "purchased" a UTILITY GOLOK, Item Number: AJ-20, and my money went into PayPal. Now that's a total of $90.00 AUD ($67.14 USD), so it's not THAT expensive...., but I'd like to HAVE it. I put in an email to Valiant a month back, and another one 20 weeks back, and got nothing back.

Tried an email yesterday, and there was a failure notice. Yahoo's "the qmail-send program at yahoo.com" said:
"This is a permanent error; I've given up. Sorry it didn't work out.
<info@valiantco.com>:
Sorry, I couldn't find a mail exchanger or IP address. (#5.4.4)"

I've heard that the man owns the Valiant has medical issues on his father, and is in and out. On the other side, the golok (according to his internet "store") has the blade, so all it would have to do is mail it.

I've heard very good things regarding Valiant. I've also heard that others are still waiting for their blades for 1-2 months..., so I'm not sure whether Valiant is "Good" or "Bad". I'm still waiting for the blade..., but I wanted to mention this issue if others are thinking about buying things from that company.
 
Valiant has emailed me twice, exactly the same, in last 2 days..., so I think he's emailing to quite a few people. That's all I wanted, an email saying there's some issue, but they will eventually get it going. I've involved some other company's that did the same... no email, no nothing.

Valiant said:

"We deeply apologise for the delay in responding to any of your queries and/or orders.
I just got back home last Friday, May 19th from Indonesia.
My father passed away on May 2nd after a long battle against his terrible health and I've been thru the longest day of my life in the past 2-3 months time.
We apologise for unable to process your orders in the meantime but try our best to get back to you within another week or so.
Again, please accept our apology for the long delay. We truly thank for your patience and kind undestanding."

That's fine..., I'll wait for the knife. I'd heard Valiant is a good company.
 
I don't think you will be disappointed with the Valiant golok when it shows up.
I have a couple of them and they are a bargain for what they cost. I have not heard of any unsatisfied people when dealing with Valiant up until the last couple of months when his father became very sick.

Be sure to post back when you finally receive it along with your impressions.
I am very satisfied with mine.
 
Alex,

You said I should "Be sure to post back when you finally receive it " :D

I got it yesterday. Valiant said "Friday, June 9th by Airmail w/o insurance. It usually takes 10-14 working days to reach you. If you don't get it within 3 weeks time after receiving this notification, don't hesitate to contact us immediately!"

I got it Thursday, June 15..., that's pretty good shipping, six days from Australia to Georgia!

The knife is very nice..., very sharp..., for approximently $65. Can't complain that. Haven't used it yet. I'm quite happy with it, so far.., only "problems" are handle is shorter than I'd prefer, but my hands are BIG; and the sheath belt thing (I know, I've lost a lot of words when I had my second stroke) is so close between the sheath and thing on the side of the sheath that allows you to attach the sheath to the belt is so thin I don't have any belts can be attached to the sheath.

So, anyway..., I have no complaints for what I bought, given the money involved. Length of the handle isn't much different from several knives I've got.., and people in Asia are smaller to be with. I'm gonna have to figure out using the sheath properly.

In other words.... :thumbup:
 
im glad you like it, finally there are western's like product made in my country (indonesia).
the company based in aussie, but the product is totally handmade in indo with traditional style. i assumed yours come with the bufallo horn, is it? thats the best handle material IMO, coz it absorb vibration much.

tomo
 
KirkD,
I agree with you on the golok's sheath not being the easiest to use. What I did with mine is slide the golok's sheath inside a cheap regular machete cloth or nylon sheath. The golok's natural sheath then assumes the function of a liner and the machete sheath allows you to put it on a belt. Try to find a tight fitting nylon sheath for the golok sheath to slide into. I found a pretty decent olive green nylon one for about 5 bucks at a local army surplus store. Home Depot also sells some cheap canvas machete sheaths.

Be careful when you swing that golok because it cuts like a chainsaw.
Hit one of your limbs and amputation or severe damage is likely.
 
Tomo,

I figured that Goloks are made in Indonesia. Valiant company sells those knives from several countries..., handy to get those type knives from the actual countries that USE those knives :)

And mine IS buffalo. Those type handles feel like plastic :rolleyes: , but I've got a couple other knives (Grohmann Small Camper and Original) I've bought with buffalo handles. That's pretty nice. I've got quite a number of stag and sheep horn..., but the feel on those horns is much different.

Alex,

I was wondering if I could find a really THIN handle <g>. Or a thin cord that could be made into a larger sheath thinger (whatever word :o ). The machete might word.., though my knife I bought has a blade only 9" long. I've got a couple 12" machete sheaths. One of those sheaths is Cordura and has a flap that be over the top of the knife. I've got several knives that can fall off the sheath if jumping around or, obviously, upside down, and this Golok is the same.

Anyway..., a new knife. Always feels GOOD to get a new knife :cool:
 
Kirk,
Wandi is good to go. I'm sorry to hear about his father's passing - I was aware that he was terminal but that he was going through some medical treatment.

As for the golok "belt" loop....that is NOT a belt loop the way you understand it for western knives. Most golok/parang users do not wear a belt....but either stick it in their "obi" or use a thin cord to fashion a lanyard to be worn around the waist. Wearing a long blade in a fixed fashion is a disaster ...think about how western swords were carried...they need to be able to move around so that movement is not restricted.
 
I appreciate the information on the sheath. I now know that, apparently, a obi is a "sash"..., yep, not used much in the western use :eek: :)

I did think about the cord. May still try that one.

I agree, long blades aren't very confortable if you're sitting. A 5" blade can usually used sitting, but having a machete (or a longer golok/parang).., I usually pull my belt partly off and remove the long blades ;)

I assume you're "I'm sorry to hear about his father's passing" was meant for Suwandi.
 
Kirk D said:
I assume you're "I'm sorry to hear about his father's passing" was meant for Suwandi.
Click to expand...

yes.

try the lanyard manner....I do that all the time in the jungle (when I'm there). With a proper lanyard, I can either tie the golok around my waist or hang it across my torso when wading through streams (don't like encouraging corrosion). Plus I don't always like wearing belts since the technical garments I wear already have that built in nylon belt and buckle.

1 inch nylon webbing makes a really good lanyard / tie-in belt.

also, I usually wear the golok on my left (I'm a right hander), edgeforwards.
 
Suwandi gave me an email this evening. Said:

"Well... the natives use thin rope or rafia inserted to the "belt-loop" instead wearing it thru belt.
Parang Bandol hopefully would be restocked within another month or so."

That Parang Bandol looks interesting. Very similar to the blade that Ray Mears uses in jungle and island areas.

http://www.valiantco.com/newproduct.html
 
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