[Ian]

Hi tw:

Sorry you missed out on this one. In the late 1990s I had the opportunity to visit the Jungle Environment Survival Training (JEST) facility on Bataan Peninsula near Subic Bay in Central Luzon not far outside Manila. The instructors there carried work knives that were similar to the one you show, with similar scabbards. The hilts and scabbards were painted either red or black (not sure what the significance of the red or black meant). They were all Aeta men (also referred to as Negritos) and called their knife an itak (which is Tagalog for knife/bolo).

JEST was set up by the US military, but when the last of the US soldiers left the facility was taken over by the Philippines Army. It was being used sporadically for training when I visited. I got to talking with one of the instructors and he gave me one of his old, very well used knives that he no longer had any use for. It was a generous gift because the steel is usually recycled into another knife. It was a heavy bladed, fat belly bolo like the one you show, in a worn wooden scabbard that had been painted black at one time although the paint had largely chipped off. One of my kids now uses it as a camp knife. Still holds a good edge.

I think the knife you show is one of these mid- to late-20th C. jungle knives. Nothing very special but a good solid work knife.

Ian.