Moro Budiak with a bit of baling wire

Battara · 29th August 2010, 07:58 PM

Actually many of these budiaks were more for thrusting in hand to hand combat. I'm sure they could be thrown too.

BigG · 1st September 2010, 06:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Battara

Actually many of these budiaks were more for thrusting in hand to hand combat. I'm sure they could be thrown too.

Yes many spears can be thrown.. but not all.. Throwing a spear that is specifically design for thrusting needs a lot of compensatory adjustments made in how it is thrown by the wielder to the point that most perhaps would not bother.

Thrusting spears are also usually build with a counterweight at the other end. it is very unlikely that a counterweighted thrusting spear could be thrown well or at all. The counterweight just upsets the whole balance of it. The flight of the thrown spear and penetration would be greatly affected by the counterweight.

Battara · 1st September 2010, 09:13 PM

Hi BigG,

You do have a point (great pun

). If there is a large counter weight, then it is a lance in fact and not a spear. Moro spears/lances do not have large counter weights on the ends all the time, but the size of the blade is very heavy. Thus most of these, especially the budiaks, I would call lances.

BigG · 3rd September 2010, 04:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Battara

Hi BigG,

You do have a point (great pun

). If there is a large counter weight, then it is a lance in fact and not a spear. Moro spears/lances do not have large counter weights on the ends all the time, but the size of the blade is very heavy. Thus most of these, especially the budiaks, I would call lances.

Malay spears have a what I have seen as 2 distinct type. The thursting spears (tombak) with large and broad spear heads, even rectangular stems and usually simple or very ornamental counter weights... or javelins (lembings) with thinner more aerodynamic heads and shaped stems tapering towards the but without a counterweight wth similar looks like your budiaks... though not as long.

Nice budiaks & love to get one in the future..

Lee · 12th September 2010, 07:18 PM

The budiak that retains its pole weighs just under 1.1 kg (2.4 lbs) and in the hand, the weight feels very much up towards the spearhead. So, it would indeed be most throw-able, but that bit of baling wire suggests to me an intended use as a lance, as a user throwing it at an adversary who could throw it back should prefer it come apart after his (first) toss. Krieger mentions that some warriors would carry two spears - one to throw and the other for final hand-to-hand; he also suggests arms for the hunt were usually simple in embellishment compared with weapons for combat and ceremony.

I had left the budiak-head with the tag on a shelf, rather than properly putting it away. From this angle I then saw the tang in a different light and it suddenly struck me that the tang was corroded much like the tang of a Japanese sword. The tag tells us that it was without a pole in 1907 and the exposed, polished surface has remained in good condition in the century since it was presented. So that brings up the question of just how old are these spearheads of this design...

12th September 2010, 07:18 PM	#5
Lee EAAF Staff Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Upstate New York, USA Posts: 937	After thoughts The budiak that retains its pole weighs just under 1.1 kg (2.4 lbs) and in the hand, the weight feels very much up towards the spearhead. So, it would indeed be most throw-able, but that bit of baling wire suggests to me an intended use as a lance, as a user throwing it at an adversary who could throw it back should prefer it come apart after his (first) toss. Krieger mentions that some warriors would carry two spears - one to throw and the other for final hand-to-hand; he also suggests arms for the hunt were usually simple in embellishment compared with weapons for combat and ceremony. I had left the budiak-head with the tag on a shelf, rather than properly putting it away. From this angle I then saw the tang in a different light and it suddenly struck me that the tang was corroded much like the tang of a Japanese sword. The tag tells us that it was without a pole in 1907 and the exposed, polished surface has remained in good condition in the century since it was presented. So that brings up the question of just how old are these spearheads of this design... Attached Images

29th August 2010, 07:58 PM	#1
Battara EAAF Staff Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Louisville, KY Posts: 7,280	Actually many of these budiaks were more for thrusting in hand to hand combat. I'm sure they could be thrown too.

1st September 2010, 09:13 PM	#3
Battara EAAF Staff Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Louisville, KY Posts: 7,280	Hi BigG, You do have a point (great pun ). If there is a large counter weight, then it is a lance in fact and not a spear. Moro spears/lances do not have large counter weights on the ends all the time, but the size of the blade is very heavy. Thus most of these, especially the budiaks, I would call lances.