[QUOTE=kai]Hello Bill,
"Different between them? Please explain!"
Bugis used blowguns with poisoned darts until firearms. They practised definitive warfare, always removing the head. As experianced tool makers it seems logical they would develop a blade that would dispatch & behead. I've posted a blade in the past where one of the one curve shows continuous use. The Moro charged their opponents.
"I don't see how the latter is supposed to have worked - seems akward if you're used to blades of the klewang family (Kampilan, Mandau, etc.) and Panabas."
How did the Bugis finish off a man dazed by a poison dart and remove their head? I've posted in the past a referance by early Portuguese that described the Burgis warrior as carrying a sword just for that task; although there is no description of the sword itself.
"I believe that you can stab just fine with it and with a 17.5" blade it doesn't seem to be a primary battlefield/raiding party weapon either."
I agree Bill M's sword would not be the primary battlefield/raiding party weapon of the typical warrior. Again we get into the when and where. Clearly the sword is no longer just a stabbing weapon as the keris is. It seems the older the "18thC" the less defined the point. The center example Lew posts is what I believe the "18thC" is morphing into, a slashing sword. I have a feeling that Bill M's sword is older then you think. One needs to concentrate on the blade & disregard the fittings and scabbard. It would be interesting to know what type of tang it has.
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