Identification please

zelbone · 5th December 2005, 10:33 PM

#0000 steel wool and WD40 works great together...

I agree with the guys here that it's probably a mandau or parang ihlang from one of the Dyak tribes. However, there is a Moro sword called a gayang which is almost identical to the mandau. The gayang is found on the island of Sibutu which is technically part of the Philippines but much closer to Borneo than the main islands of the Philippines. Here you can see the influence of the Dyaks. It's almost impossible to tell the difference between the gayang and the mandau...basically they are the same sword.

Mickey the Finn · 1st December 2019, 11:46 AM

I've searched for the words "necromancy" and "resurrection" in the Keris Warung Kopi and did not find the results I thought I might, so I feel no misgivings about posting a reply to this post, although in a different forum.
I have a Mandau very, very similar to this one. If I didn't know better, I might have even mistaken your photos to be of my Mandau in better days, before it came into my care and control. As you did not post photos of a "scabbard", I presume you acquired it without one. Mine came with an attached length of weathered yellow polypropylene rope instead of the usual suspension, telltale tack holes from where it was attached to someone's wall, and the concomitant buildup of dust on/in the upper side of the scabbard and it's rattan bindings. The blade and hilt had the appearance of having had an honest working life, and what I suspect may be beeswax applied, presumably as a corrosion prevention/blade preservation measure. After much "surfing" over not much more than four years, I've become convinced that someone, perhaps on the island of Borneo, was (and perhaps still is) a prolific maker of working Mandau, a great many of which are remarkably similar in appearance to the one shown in your original post.
I've read in the past of a specific term used to refer to a more-or-less dedicated working blade of Mandau form, but that term eludes me at the moment.
I would post a photo of my own example, but, in addition to being techno-challenged, I'm lazy and a slob. The last place where I think I remember seeing my semi-functional camera was under approximately four years buildup of unopened mail. It's not that I haven't opened my mail in four years, it's just that every three or four years I carry another heap down to the basement when it exceeds it's angle of repose. [If it's Bad News, it's impossible for it to come to pass as long as the envelope remains unopened].

5th December 2005, 10:33 PM	#1
zelbone Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: VISAYAS and MINDANAO Posts: 169	#0000 steel wool and WD40 works great together... I agree with the guys here that it's probably a mandau or parang ihlang from one of the Dyak tribes. However, there is a Moro sword called a gayang which is almost identical to the mandau. The gayang is found on the island of Sibutu which is technically part of the Philippines but much closer to Borneo than the main islands of the Philippines. Here you can see the influence of the Dyaks. It's almost impossible to tell the difference between the gayang and the mandau...basically they are the same sword.

1st December 2019, 11:46 AM	#2
Mickey the Finn Member Join Date: Dec 2017 Posts: 90	I've searched for the words "necromancy" and "resurrection" in the Keris Warung Kopi and did not find the results I thought I might, so I feel no misgivings about posting a reply to this post, although in a different forum. I have a Mandau very, very similar to this one. If I didn't know better, I might have even mistaken your photos to be of my Mandau in better days, before it came into my care and control. As you did not post photos of a "scabbard", I presume you acquired it without one. Mine came with an attached length of weathered yellow polypropylene rope instead of the usual suspension, telltale tack holes from where it was attached to someone's wall, and the concomitant buildup of dust on/in the upper side of the scabbard and it's rattan bindings. The blade and hilt had the appearance of having had an honest working life, and what I suspect may be beeswax applied, presumably as a corrosion prevention/blade preservation measure. After much "surfing" over not much more than four years, I've become convinced that someone, perhaps on the island of Borneo, was (and perhaps still is) a prolific maker of working Mandau, a great many of which are remarkably similar in appearance to the one shown in your original post. I've read in the past of a specific term used to refer to a more-or-less dedicated working blade of Mandau form, but that term eludes me at the moment. I would post a photo of my own example, but, in addition to being techno-challenged, I'm lazy and a slob. The last place where I think I remember seeing my semi-functional camera was under approximately four years buildup of unopened mail. It's not that I haven't opened my mail in four years, it's just that every three or four years I carry another heap down to the basement when it exceeds it's angle of repose. [If it's Bad News, it's impossible for it to come to pass as long as the envelope remains unopened].