BAGOBO DATU CLASS

[Ian]

Originally Posted by Rick

I know I’m not the sharpest knife in the drawer; but how is this classified as a kampilan? This begs the question: how is a kampilan defined these days? Is it now just a term for a large Philippine sword?

Rick,

You are correct. This is not a kampilan-like blade. I don't know what this blade profile is called by the Bagobo, but we should not give it an incorrect name here. AFAIK, the kampilan is still defined by the traditional Moro blade. Similar blade styles among the Lumad tribes have different names. The T'boli call their traditional kampilan-like sword a tok. [This should not be confused with the general name for a sword in T'boli, which is kafilan--and awfully close to kampilan so as to be confusing).

I will try to search out Bagobo names for their swords, or maybe one of our members can tell us.