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Old 2nd January 2018, 12:45 AM   #6
rasdan
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Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Kuala Lumpur
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I have weighed some of my Javanese kerises, but only roughly as I didn't remove the hilts before weighing. The lightest keris I have is around 140 gm while the heaviest almost 400 gm. Yes the lightest one are heavily corroded, I estimated the corrosion is around 30% tops.

However, if we add back that 30% lost material into the keris it will still be very light compared to the ones that are less corroded (presumably newer ones). So I think older keris not only are lighter because of the erosion, but it was light even when it was new. The reasons are probably the smaller size and material used.

But it doesn't mean that it is an ineffective weapon when it was new, a blade weighing around 200 gm is effective enough especially when considering the type of attire people use in those days.

Last edited by rasdan; 2nd January 2018 at 04:03 AM.
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