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Old 31st July 2016, 11:35 AM   #1
Royston
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Default Borneo jungle knife HMP

Here is a jungle knife, presumably from Borneo. What makes it interesting is that it is stamped H.M.P

Dimensions are shown in the photos and the blade is 1/4 inch thick at the ricasso.

What is the significance of HMP ?
The owners initials ?

Or is it His/Her Majesty's Prison ? I suppose that this is possible if it came from British North Borneo although I cannot find a reference to there being one as all the searches I tried just came up with POW camps.

All comments welcome.
Regards
Roy
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Old 31st July 2016, 07:44 PM   #2
Sajen
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Intersting piece! But have no clue, sorry.
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Old 31st July 2016, 08:33 PM   #3
Ian
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What a lovely short parang. Reminds me of a baby parang latok or buko. Definitely a serviceable tool/knife. I would say this one is WWII vintage judging from the sheath with its metal (iron) bands that look as though they came from old ammo boxes.

The closest name I can think of is buko, which is the Land Dayak's equivalent of the longer parang latok. Even for a buko, the blade is unusually short. There is a brief description of the buko in v. Zonneveld's book (p. 36).

The imprint of "H.M.P." does not ring any bells for me.

Ian

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Albert van Zonneveld. The Traditional Weapons of the Indonesian Archipelago, Zwartenkot Art Books: Leiden, 2001.
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Old 31st July 2016, 09:15 PM   #4
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Hi Roy,
What about HM Police??? More likely than "Prison" I suspect.,
Stu
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Old 1st August 2016, 02:24 AM   #5
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The blade form looks a bit like a Lumad sangi.

Nothing else does though.

Good Luck,
Leif
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Old 1st August 2016, 09:46 AM   #6
Henk
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Gentlemen,

Searching in dutch on HMP Dutch Army gives the result that HMP refers to the Dutch Indonesian Army

het Nederlandsch-Indische Leger (H.M.P) - KNIL Voorschrift, DvO 11-5 ...

Unfortunately i cann't figure out what HMP means.
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Old 1st August 2016, 10:55 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Henk
Gentlemen,

Searching in dutch on HMP Dutch Army gives the result that HMP refers to the Dutch Indonesian Army

het Nederlandsch-Indische Leger (H.M.P) - KNIL Voorschrift, DvO 11-5 ...

Unfortunately i cann't figure out what HMP means.
HMP = Handleiding voor de militaire paardenverplegers

= "guide for military horse care"

I don't think the letters in this blade refer to a dutch military guide.

No other clues though.

Appears to be Borneo style imho.

Would call it a parang myself.

Best regards,
Willem
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Old 4th August 2016, 09:04 AM   #8
Royston
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Thanks everyone.
Didn't think of Police. Will have to investigate further.
Cheers
Roy
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