What is a bolo?

[misanthropist]

You know, I asked the filipino guys about this at work today. For some reason we have about five of them down at the warehouse. Working, not in storage.

Anyway they all agreed that a bolo was like a machete, but shaped "like a regular knife, pointy at the end. Not like a mexican machete."

They distinguished between bolos, parangs, and goloks, explaining about each one of them. They all described the golok as a farmer's tool with a square end, for instance. The shape they drew for the bolo looked pretty much like the first picture. I didn't know they would be familiar with parangs or goloks, but they immediately knew the words although of course they pronounced them a little differently: PA-rang with a slightly rolled R; GOluks, and bolo with just a slightly flipped "L."

A couple of them knew what kukhris were, as well. It was a pretty interesting conversation, in fact.

 

[misanthropist]

To make things even more complicated, there are "bolo machetes" which are simply stamped out blades (as BL describes above) with large bulbous tips. Incidentally, the African panga is, typically, also a machete, and many current manufacturers produce the shape.

Until this thread, that's what I thought a bolo was. I have an old tramontina one of these.

 

[stitchawl]

Don't know if they still do, but Randall Knives in Orlando used to have walls filled with various bolos. One seeminly popular bolo was issued as the medical corps knife in the Pacific theater of WW II. Not very long... perhaps 12" blade length, rounded weight forward tip. Here's an image I found on the net.
http://www.corpsman.com/forum/photopost/data/500/ff2d_1.jpg

Do a Google Image search of 'bolo knives' and you'll bring up a dozen pages filled with different styles.

Stitchawl

 

[antonio_luiz]

Bolo now appears to be a generic name for any blade that is wider at the tip than the belly - such as the Spanish CETME bayonet. I have a Martindale bolo machete and find that it is light in the hand (not so tiring to swing) but has enough forward weight and shape to slash woody stems easily. I found the CS version too heayy.

 

[Angus McGunnigl]

I have one that I got overseas(PI) in the 80's. Looks alot like the one hatchetjack has.

Helluva thing it is.

 

[redneckswami]

Bolos are great! If you are lucky enough to find one that was made in the Phillipines in the 80's or earlier, I'd recommend picking it up. The local smiths around the U.S. bases would typically make them (for sale) from a Jeepney leaf spring, and they were regarded as really great knives - durable as all get out, and all of that. However, the best ones were made from huge ball bearings from P-3 (Navy ASW aircraft) or other engines. The smith would typically trade a really nice leaf-spring bolo, for a ball bearing or two.

 

[HighDesertWalker]

That's exactly how the Valiant blades are made....from leaf springs. They are differentially hardened as well, using the clay process. I imported and sold Valiant from an eBay store for two years. As the value of the dollar fell so did the profitability of the operation, and I eventually had to shut down.

Suwandi, the proprietor of Valiant, is dedicated to preserving the art of knifemaking in the Indonesian Archipelago. He has a large personal collection of traditional blades from the region, and most of his modern replicas are based on the artifacts in his collection.

 

[Bushman5]

a Bolo is also reference to several roundish weights all attached to a cord, spun over the head and released. In a flock of birds a bolo is deadly.