[kronckew]

most of TFW's 'traditional' weapons are not very. the proprietor is trying to have his filipino smith make them more so. they are all L6 alloy steel, the grips are simplifications of traditional ones as are the scabbards.

the blades on some are fanciful. some downright odd. their main claim to fame is they are rock solid, and sharp as razors and well balanced. they are not meant as decorations, they are meant to be serious combat weapons.

his barongs are fairly traditional, chisel ground. and his newest kris model has a seperate ganga, two bakabaka, a traditional thread wound horses hoof grip. again sharp as a razor, convex grind. his earlier kris models i never considered. one was even ugly.

i odered the stick last year along with the aformentioned kris. i also ordered a chinese dao from his new new range of non-filipino weaponry. i had a visayan barong from him earlier as a trial.

the UK customs intercepted the order and held it for about a month before informing me that they were about to confiscate the whole order because the sabre was a curved sword over 50 cm., which is forbidden for import, unless i could prove it was an antique - pre 1950 - or traditionally hand forged. oddly, straight swords of any length are OK.

anyhow, after much correspondence the vendor and i managed to convince the customs that they were indeed 'traditionally hand forged' & two months late, my swords (and stick) arrived.

barong, kris, and chinese dao: a picture is worth a thousand words. the dao especially feels like it was made for me. right length, right balance, handles like a dream. sharp as all heck and a proper thick tho distal tapered blade. i managed to find a proper chinese bronze belt (sash) clip to complete the harness.