three Philippines blades. luzon?

[blue lander]

Just picked up this trio. I believe the large bowie looking one would be called a Bonifacio. The curved blade is some sort of itak? I have no idea what the little one is made of.

All have carabao horn hilts. The bonifacio has MOP inlayrd dots. Both bowie style ones have tangs peened to the end of the hilt with a brass washer.

The floral pattern on the little one and the Philippines on the big one were finely chiseled into the blade. The curved blade has MS horizontally and PI vertically, but they were heavily stamped into the blade. I wouldn't be surprised if they came from whatever scrap metal the blade was made out of.

Judging from the style, I gather they're all from Luzon and are post WW2 GI bringbacks? They're all very sturdy, except the ferule on the bonifacio is a little loose. The horn has probably shrank over the years

[Rick]

" The curved blade is some sort of itak? "

This one, I feel, might be a bit older than post WWII . :)
The other two look pretty modern and shiny; way post WWII .

[blue lander]

The two bowie blades are similar in construction. I bet the same person made both of them. They're pretty dang shiny but the leather sheathes appear to have been used and abused. Both used to have belt loops that got detached at some point. They're all from the same seller and stink like stale cigarettes.

[Rick]

The 'Itak' shows more careful and better craftsmanship overall, which imo, might make the argument for an earlier dating .

[Robert]

I totally agree that the one piece stamped "MS" is of WWII (or even a little earlier) vintage and shows much better craftsmanship than the other two shiny pieces that to me look to be definitely post WWII.

Best,
Robert

[blue lander]

The finishing on the curved one is very rough, maybe it was intended for local consumption rather than overseas.