ID for Chadian/Tebu/Fulani/Tuareg swords?

xerg · 22nd November 2007, 11:36 PM

Wow thanks for the replies! I'm very excited to go back tomorrow and see them in the daylight when I'm not totally exhausted and burnt out on shopping.

I'm most attracted to the tall, dark one in the center of the group shot I sent out. It bears the characteristic "leaf shaped flaring" at the tip of the scabbard and looked like it had a very nice blade to boot.

Any idea of -ballparks- on cost?

Any good way to tell Kaskara made for the tourist market vs. real ones? In my photo I would assume that the two on the left (red and black) are tourist pieces and the rest may be real to one degree or another.

I noticed that some hilts were wrapped with leather, some were wrapped with rope and one was naked metal. The darker ones tended to be leather and the lighter ones had rope. What does this signify?

One of the blades was engraved with abstract, geometric symbols. Is this normal?

Also, another request for ID: I'm not sure if you can make it out in the smaller pic, but there's a sword hanging on the wall to the far left that is slightly curved and appears to be different from the Kaskaras pictured in the center. Any inkling as to what that might be?

Thanks for indulging my questions. Chad might be awesome for sword and dagger shopping, but its internet leaves much to be desired and I can't do the amount of research I'd like to do on my own!

22nd November 2007, 11:36 PM	#5
xerg Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 7	Wow thanks for the replies! I'm very excited to go back tomorrow and see them in the daylight when I'm not totally exhausted and burnt out on shopping. I'm most attracted to the tall, dark one in the center of the group shot I sent out. It bears the characteristic "leaf shaped flaring" at the tip of the scabbard and looked like it had a very nice blade to boot. Any idea of -ballparks- on cost? Any good way to tell Kaskara made for the tourist market vs. real ones? In my photo I would assume that the two on the left (red and black) are tourist pieces and the rest may be real to one degree or another. I noticed that some hilts were wrapped with leather, some were wrapped with rope and one was naked metal. The darker ones tended to be leather and the lighter ones had rope. What does this signify? One of the blades was engraved with abstract, geometric symbols. Is this normal? Also, another request for ID: I'm not sure if you can make it out in the smaller pic, but there's a sword hanging on the wall to the far left that is slightly curved and appears to be different from the Kaskaras pictured in the center. Any inkling as to what that might be? Thanks for indulging my questions. Chad might be awesome for sword and dagger shopping, but its internet leaves much to be desired and I can't do the amount of research I'd like to do on my own!