Shipping daggers/keris to/from Taiwan/Philippines?
 

Hi all! Does anyone know anything about getting daggers/keris into/out of Taiwan/the Philippines? If not, how can I find out? I'm pretty new to this, so any insights would really help!

I've moved to Taiwan and am planning a trip to the Philippines over Christmas. I'm planning to get a Keris while I'm in the Philippines if possible and bring it back to Taiwan. Also, my uncle is returning from the US to the Philippines with a couple of daggers with 6"-7" blades that I want to pick up there and bring back in stowed luggage along with the keris. The problem is, while I've done this with the same daggers when I brought them from China to the US, I keep hearing some people say Taiwan's laws are really strict about this kind of thing and others say it's no issue.

Specifically, the US shipping company I want to use for all my stuff (in one big crate) said that shipping weapons (including daggers, etc) into Taiwan carries strict penalties and confiscation. I've heard something similar from someone else here. However, I've already bought a North African dagger/short sword with a 16"+ blade from ebay and had it shipped here no problem. Also, I talked to a guy in a local shop who sells antiques from China and he said as long as you're not bringing them directly from China there's no problem in actual fact- and that the only problems happen on the Mainland (Chinese) side, not at Taiwanese customs.

One more complicating factor is that I know from past experience with unrelated issues in Taiwan that you can get 10 different "official" answers about the same thing from the same office on the same day, no matter what you're trying to do!

I have shipped several swords to Taiwan without a problem, the only thing is that the customs will not accept sharpened edges , So you have to make them blunt. That is what my customers in Taiwan always wants me to do.
what I always do extra is wrapp the blunt edges in multilayers of tape etc so that it is clear they can not be used directly.

regards,

Arjan

Please clarify for me your statement about "making them blunt;" you mean putting tape on the edges and the tip, not grinding them down, correct ?

I hope you don't mean grinding them down! They still have the original edges from the original smiths who made them and are renowned for being razor sharp (they're the same kind as in my profile pic). Having that edge is part of the attraction for me.

Another question, if they decide they don't like the edges will they directly confiscate them or just ask me to blunt them? Also, is there any difference between shipping and bring them through on an airplane in stowed luggage?

I WOULD CHECK WITH THE AGENTS AT THE AIRPORTS IN THE PHILIPPINES AND TAIWAN TO MAKE SURE BEFORE ATTEMPTING TO BRING ANYTHING IN JUST TO BE ON THE SAFE SIDE.
YEARS AGO I WAS IN THE PHILIPPINES AND BOUGHT SEVERAL EDGED WEAPONS AND I HAD NO TROUBLE. WHEN I ARRIVED IN TAIWAN WITH A SUITCASE WITH LOTS OF EDGED WEAPONS THE TROUBLE BEGAN. I WAS NOT ALLOWED TO BRING ANY OF THEM INTO THE COUNTRY AND HAD TO LEAVE THEM AT THE AIRPORT. WHEN I LEFT TAIWAN I WAS ALLOWED TO GET MY ITEMS BUT WAS NOT ALLOWED TO BRING THEM PAST CUSTOMS TO PUT THEM IN MY CHECKED LUGGAGE. SO THERE I WAS WITH MY LUGGAGE CHECKED AND A SACK FULL OF EDGED WEAPONS IN HAND AND STILL HAD TO CLEAR SECURITY BEFORE BOARDING. I SAW OUR PILOT AND CO PILOT AND TOLD THEM MY PROBLEM AND THEY TOOK MY ITEMS WITH THEM INTO THE COCKPIT AND GAVE THEM TO ME WHEN WE ARRIVED AT OUR DESTINATION. TAIWAN WAS THE ONLY COUNTRY WHERE I EVER HAD SUCH A PROBLEM. TO THEM A KNIFE WAS A KNIFE EVEN IF IT DIDN'T HAVE AN EDGE SO I DOUBT THAT WOULD HELP GET ANYTHING PAST CUSTOMS.
I WAS LUCKY . SO I WOULD CHECK VERY CAREFULLY AND SEE IF THERE IS A PROPER WAY TO DO IT AND GET ANY PERMITS IN WRITING AS THEY WERE VERY STRICT BACK THEN AND TODAYS WORLD IS MUCH DIFFERENT SO LAWS MAY BE EVEN MORE STRICT TODAY. GOOD LUCK

Driftwould, i really think you are asking the wrong people here. Your questions really need to go to the authorities. You may get a few personal experiences here, but you will not get any guarantees or actual law that you can count on.
Discussions on how to sidestep customs of various countries should be strictly discouraged here.

I agree with David on this and think it is time to close this thread. If anyone wants to continue this they can do so by PM.

Robert