An old dayak ? Parang latok

[francantolin]

Good day dear members,

I will soon receive this nice old and strange sword,
a parang latok if i'm right.
It was described as a dayak sword but it’s not a mandau.

The blade seems laminated,
Will it match with olds models ... 1800 ??

I will post other/better pics when I get it.

[Sajen]

Nice sword! The blade tip is unusual for a latok! See the pic. taken from Amuk Murugul.

Regards,
Detlef

[Rick]

Has anyone tried cutting with one of these swords in the style that Xasterix uses?
On first look they seem like they would be unwiedly to use as a combat weapon, especially if used single handed.

[Ian]

It would be helpful to see a picture of the whole sword, but the evidence so far suggests this is a parang latok. Van Zonneveld says that the hilts on these are almost always wooden, but I have an example that has a bone hilt too. Fran, yours is only the second one I have seen with a bone hilt, and the hilt mounted in this fashion.

Regards,
Ian.

P.S. I found a thread where my example was discussed on the forum previously. There is some mention of a similar weapon used by the Land Dyaks called a buko. Also discussed inn that thread were soe characteristics that help distinguish between a parang latok (Sea Dyak) from buko (Land Dyak). Hope this is helpful to thinking about the sword posted above.

[francantolin]

Thank you all for your comments !!

I receive it and think proudly I did quickly a good job
the blade was rusty and dirty, so I began to ckean it
with vinegar , cola and 1000 sand paper,
The problem and quality I have :when I begin , I can’t stop...
the blade shows now a really nice lamination.
.
There are small holes at the basis of the hilt,
I think there were haïr attached ??

For the efficience of the blade,
It is really thick at basis and really thin and sharp at tge end.
For strike, I would grab it too with the first part of the iron hilt,
This way it feels really ́’ confortable ́’ as a big machete.
That’s the way they used it ,
handle it with both hands.

[francantolin]

And these more
I forgot the size ; total length without scabbard 65cm/ 25,6 inches

Kind regards

[RobT]

Hi All,

This is making my eyes go crazy. I have and example with the same type of tip but the cutting edge on mine is on the curved side and the spine is straight (with a 7.25” [18.415cm] false edge).

Sincerely,
RobT

[francantolin]

Hello Rob,

As for a yataghan blade ?

What seems strange is the handle who don’t seems to match with an ́’efficient’́ use
Maybe was it reassembled upside down ?

Or isn’t it sharp on both sides ?

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by francantolin

Thank you all for your comments !!

I receive it and think proudly I did quickly a good job
the blade was rusty and dirty, so I began to ckean it
with vinegar , cola and 1000 sand paper,
The problem and quality I have :when I begin , I can’t stop...
the blade shows now a really nice lamination.
.
There are small holes at the basis of the hilt,
I think there were haïr attached ??

For the efficience of the blade,
It is really thick at basis and really thin and sharp at tge end.
For strike, I would grab it too with the first part of the iron hilt,
This way it feels really ́’ confortable ́’ as a big machete.
That’s the way they used it ,
handle it with both hands.

Very nice sword!

[RobT]

francantolin,

The hilt on mine is on correctly. The difference between your blade and mine is that the spine on yours curves down to meet the straight edge but on mine the edge curves up to meet the the straight spine. That’s why I said that looking at yours and mine was making my eyes go crazy. In the first photo you posted, the edge is facing toward the top of the picture. In the photo I posted, the edge is also facing toward the top of the picture. All the examples in this thread show the cutting edge on the convex side of the blade.
Really nice blade restoration by the way.

Sincerely,
RobT