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Old 5th October 2014, 03:23 AM   #3
Timo Nieminen
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Join Date: Mar 2012
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#6: Tourist barong. Long slender scabbard with lots of carving, with a turtle and something that looks like a rat, and curly foliage. Blade is much shorter than the scabbard, and crudely made and finished. I wouldn't trust this blade to be anything other than mild steel. No collar, some rattan binding on the grip. 3.95mm at the hilt, 3.8mm mid-blade. 382g, 692 with scabbard.

#7: A delicate lightweight barong. Not short, but it's light for the size. The blade is thin and narrow. I think the collar is brass, but it's hard to tell, because it's slathered with epoxy inside and out. Scabbard is covered in fancy woven rattan(?). 5.1mm at the hilt, 3.5 mid-blade, 445g, 552 with scabbard.

#8: Ornate hilt and scabbard. Scabbard is bound in what looks like very thin rattan, which is breaking and falling off (which is why it's wrapped in plastic). Collar and 2 metal rings, separated by twisted wire binding. Decorative plugs in pommel and wooden part of grip - these might be bone. The hilt has been varnished over the metal rings and wood and plugs, and it looks like the wire binding went on after varnishing. According to a (modern) label that came with it, "Mindanao, late 19th/early 20th". I would have said later than that. 5.85mm at hilt, 3.7mm mid-blade. 650g, 914 in scabbard.

#9: Interesting barong. There's a hole in the blade, which is wired to the hilt. There's a pierced coin at the junction of blade and hilt; the tang goes through the coin. Blade is hollow-forged. Crescent marks on both sides of the blade. The tip is pitted. According to a note written on the scabbard, this was collected in 1931. 7.9mm at the hilt, 5.55mm mid-blade, 637g, 814g in scabbard.

#10: Decorated blade. Flared collar. I don't like flared collars like this - the grip is not as comfortable. Lightweight. 5.9mm at hilt, 3.5mm mid-blade. 512g, 693g in scabbard.
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