sickles/ weapons of other country than India

Michel · 7th December 2009, 03:28 PM

Thank you David,
It is indeed a parang ginah, Stone page 481 and van Zoneveld page 98, (only a description no photo) confirm it.
I have not found any name or picture for the other tools or weapons

Thanks Emanuel,
You are right with the French translation and the concave blade.
But for me, a machete is a long strait blade slashing tool, with sometime a bit of an upwards convex tip, that can be utilized as a weapon.
I have seen many in Africa and in South America. I have one from South America.
Do you really think that the pieces I showed could be named machete in English ?
I have never seen machete with such a convex curved shape.

You said : Sickle, bill-hook and scythe cover the concave blades.
You are right again but what about those with convex blades that are not arms/weapons ?
English is usually a very precise language and I am a bit surprise that a generic name for convex tools cannot be found.
May be one of the expert of the forum could help me ?
Thanks in any case, I have learned something with your post.
Regards
Michel

Emanuel · 7th December 2009, 04:51 PM

Hi Michel,

There really aren't many utilitarian convex blades that I can think of.

There are a few WWII US machete variants based on a Philippine bolo, with a wide belly and various convex curvatures. Not much thought into this, but it seems that a highly curved convex blade is not really needed for utilitarian purposes - cutting vegetation, wood, or rope

As far as i understand it, in lay usage "machete" covers pretty much any large blade that is not a recognizable sword or sabre. Technically I think of it as a relatively thin blade with no distal taper, mostly straight with parallel edges and with a sometimes broader convex tip, used primarily for cutting vegetation. Variations are endless. It would be good to see others chime in on this, as I'm not a native English speaker.

English is not always that precise. A while back there was a discussion around the difference between knife and dagger, bowie-type versus naval-type. Same as in French to some degree - couteau, poignard, dague, coutelas, subtle differences, all debatable.

Regards,
Emanuel

7th December 2009, 03:28 PM	#1
Michel Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Switzerland Posts: 139	Thank you David, It is indeed a parang ginah, Stone page 481 and van Zoneveld page 98, (only a description no photo) confirm it. I have not found any name or picture for the other tools or weapons Thanks Emanuel, You are right with the French translation and the concave blade. But for me, a machete is a long strait blade slashing tool, with sometime a bit of an upwards convex tip, that can be utilized as a weapon. I have seen many in Africa and in South America. I have one from South America. Do you really think that the pieces I showed could be named machete in English ? I have never seen machete with such a convex curved shape. You said : Sickle, bill-hook and scythe cover the concave blades. You are right again but what about those with convex blades that are not arms/weapons ? English is usually a very precise language and I am a bit surprise that a generic name for convex tools cannot be found. May be one of the expert of the forum could help me ? Thanks in any case, I have learned something with your post. Regards Michel

7th December 2009, 04:51 PM	#2
Emanuel Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 1,242	Hi Michel, There really aren't many utilitarian convex blades that I can think of. There are a few WWII US machete variants based on a Philippine bolo, with a wide belly and various convex curvatures. Not much thought into this, but it seems that a highly curved convex blade is not really needed for utilitarian purposes - cutting vegetation, wood, or rope As far as i understand it, in lay usage "machete" covers pretty much any large blade that is not a recognizable sword or sabre. Technically I think of it as a relatively thin blade with no distal taper, mostly straight with parallel edges and with a sometimes broader convex tip, used primarily for cutting vegetation. Variations are endless. It would be good to see others chime in on this, as I'm not a native English speaker. English is not always that precise. A while back there was a discussion around the difference between knife and dagger, bowie-type versus naval-type. Same as in French to some degree - couteau, poignard, dague, coutelas, subtle differences, all debatable. Regards, Emanuel