29th January 2013, 08:01 AM | #1 |
Member
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Witness Protection Program
Posts: 1,730
|
Very First Sword
this year marks my tenth year anniversary.
this was the sword that started it all: a Kalis that was given to me as a gift by a Sama when i visited Davao in 2003. i remember putting it away in the linen closet after coming back home. it would take another year before i took it out and inspected it closely. little did i know this particular kalis would jump-start my wonderful journey to the world of sword collection. my first post: http://www.vikingsword.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/002526.html does anyone else have a picture of their very first sword? please post. i figure this would be a fun thread... |
29th January 2013, 04:12 PM | #2 |
Member
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: USA
Posts: 1,725
|
No pics of my first sword, as I have a long, embarrassing history involving wall-hangers and gunto, all of which have been discarded or liquidated to support my current habits.
However, here are my first two dha/daab/dah. The pewter mounted daab is Northern Thai/Southern Yunnan (note the Chinese motifs). It was incorrectly identified on eBay as a "Thai naginata" and I picked it up for a song. Very fine blade, good age, exceptional balance--still one of my very favorite swords "in the hand." The brass mounted daab is also Thai, quite small, with a solid blade and a Thai penny last used in, I believe, 1935 (but undated) mounted as a pommel cap. |
29th January 2013, 08:47 PM | #3 |
Member
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Witness Protection Program
Posts: 1,730
|
thanks for posting your dah, Andrew!
this is one of my biggest regret; not saving this particular kalis. i kinda wish i still have it. i saw it on ebay once (after selling it). i should've snagged it then. c"mon, guys.. i'm pretty sure there are pictures of you very first one in your computer file somewhere.. |
29th January 2013, 08:51 PM | #4 |
Member
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: USA
Posts: 1,725
|
Still have both of these, Ron. And they're still two of my favorites, and two of the best purchases I've made on eBay--my recollection is I paid US$180 for the larger, US$90 for the smaller.
Better pics: |
29th January 2013, 10:00 PM | #5 |
Member
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Germany, Dortmund
Posts: 8,761
|
Nice idea Ron. I start my collection with this two keris from Madura in 1992 and still keep them.
|
29th January 2013, 10:10 PM | #6 |
Member
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 608
|
My very first sword was a swap meet replica I bought with allowance money when I was all of 9-10 years old... it lasted about a month before it broke while "fighting" with a friend (in the eternal battle between fake swords and metal trash can lids, score one for the lids). And while I most definitely don't have any photos of it, I do have a photo of where it is...
My first sword's final resting place, the Miramar Landfill: |
29th January 2013, 11:41 PM | #7 |
Member
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Witness Protection Program
Posts: 1,730
|
Lol, rest in peace, laespadaancha's first sword..
Good job on still having your first pieces, Detlef. You can actually see how far your taste have come. But then again, i never had a say on my first one.. |
30th January 2013, 10:59 AM | #8 |
Member
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: The Netherlands
Posts: 1,334
|
Unfotunately my computer crashed a few years ago.
So my earliest photo's are all gone. It was a Javanese golok, which I bought for my own training..... My second one was a terrible touristic mandau! Wouldn't dare to put images here even if I still had any of it.... |
30th January 2013, 11:57 AM | #9 |
Member
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Sweden
Posts: 1,637
|
My first sword was a 18th C Japanese wakizashi that my father bought from my Kendo teacher when I was a young teenager. Later I gave it to my brother who still has it together with his collection of mostly Chinese swords. Once I put my boy's room at fire when I was cleaning it with petrol and smoking at the same time...
Michael |
30th January 2013, 02:45 PM | #10 |
Member
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: The Sharp end
Posts: 2,928
|
I've collected swords since I was at school......
I can't even remember the first one now. I remember the first knife. A faux stag-antler hilted sheath knife bought when my parents backs were turned on a holiday in Jersey (C.I) when I was 6 or 7 and having it 'confiscated' by my mother as soon as she saw it. Got it back when I was about 8 or 9 I think. Ahhh, simpler times indeed! About 20 years ago now, I swapped and traded most of my collection with a local dealer to get two swords. A Wakazashi and the Spanish Rapier below. It's the sword that has stayed with me the longest. The Wakazashi is long gone, but the Rapier still has a place of honour. |
30th January 2013, 02:47 PM | #11 | |
Member
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: The Sharp end
Posts: 2,928
|
Quote:
|
|
2nd February 2013, 07:58 AM | #12 |
Member
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 422
|
My very first sword was a very cheap and nasty flea market Indian "cavalry sabre", IIRC, 1985. It has acquired a new handle since then, and the scabbard has been recovered. It sometimes still sees service in the garden.
This was followed by some Taiwanese katana, and then in 1997-1998, some antiques. At the end of 1997, I picked up a P1890 cavalry sword and a Masai lion spear, and, IIRC, in 1998 (or maybe 1997) a few more ethnographic pieces, namely an Indonesian sword and a Fijian-style club. The club might be made in Australia; 'twas very new when I bought it. |
2nd February 2013, 02:42 PM | #13 |
Member
Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 1,079
|
I think my very first real swords were a late pattern "Gothick Hilt" infantry officers sword, a very poor condition Tulwar and a stripped blade with its sheath of a Wakizashi.....I group them together 'cos I cannot remember which order I got them in. All gone now, sold when finances demanded. The longest owned piece I have still is this Kukri, bought for thirty bob when I was still at school.
|
9th February 2013, 12:35 PM | #14 |
Member
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Sydney, Australia
Posts: 52
|
Hello all,
My first sword was this tulwar, Not a particularly beautiful example, but a utilitarian one to which I am quite attached. Besides a modern folded steel katana, this was my only sword for some time. Happier days for my wife Kind regards, Chris |
|
|