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Old 11th February 2009, 01:20 AM   #1
Lew
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Default Borneo Parang or Philippne Bangkon ?

Picked this up today it looks like it's from Borneo but I am just guessing?
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Old 11th February 2009, 03:24 AM   #2
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To me it looks more Borneo than Moro.
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Old 11th February 2009, 03:49 AM   #3
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I'm with you Lew and Battara....looks like a Borneo "working man's" blade.
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Old 11th February 2009, 08:06 AM   #4
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Very nice handle in itīs simplicity, and the blade is interesting. Louie, do you have the measures of this piece? I am curios specially about the thickness of the back of the blade at itīs beginning after the handle. The point of balance must be very forward, I think. Thank you.
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Old 11th February 2009, 09:16 AM   #5
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No parang found in any of the old books but my guess is also Borneo.
Maybe Sabah - where there is a mix of Malay, Moro and Dayak influences?

Michael
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Old 11th February 2009, 10:53 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gonzalo G
Very nice handle in itīs simplicity, and the blade is interesting. Louie, do you have the measures of this piece? I am curios specially about the thickness of the back of the blade at itīs beginning after the handle. The point of balance must be very forward, I think. Thank you.
Regards

Gonzalo
The blade measures about 16 1/2 inches, with the thickness at the handle being just under 1/4 inch. The blade tapers in thickness towards the tip.

Lew
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Old 11th February 2009, 11:26 AM   #7
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It is quite different from the daily working parangs that you normally see on Borneo.

Normally they are more curved and the scabbard does not have the cunning protrusion to keep it between you belt.
But the overall impression on this one says Borneo to me too.

Handy for some serious gardening
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Old 12th February 2009, 05:34 AM   #8
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Lew, thank you very much! I appreciate your answer.
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Gonzalo
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Old 12th February 2009, 07:41 AM   #9
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Hi Lew,
Nice piece. I agree that it definitely looks like a Borneo blade, but I had some observations or a possible wild goose chase . A minor detail, the wood looks (IMO) like something that would come more from the Philippines than from Borneo. The things that really caught my eye were the recessed bands of woven rattan and the way the back flat of the blade is treated. The way the back of the blade is treated reminds me of Piece A. On Piece A the back flat of the blade is ground out flat to a taper at the back edge, with a steeper angle ground in at the "fuller" line to accent the definition - it looks like a triangular fuller, but is really tapered on a distinct plane to the back edge. It looks like yours was done this way as well - is this so, or is it a regular fuller? This isn't a specific treatment I had seen before. Surfing around one day I found Piece B. I thought that due to the similarities in B and A (handle and scabbard), that A might be from nearby (on Palawan). So (to keep this short) if C (yours above) is like B and B is like A, is C like A? Could it be from Palawan? Was Palawan a cross-cultural sort of place - influenced by both the Philippines and Borneo?
Somebody stop me if the limb is too long.
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Old 12th February 2009, 11:11 AM   #10
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T C

Great observation!

Thx
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Old 14th February 2009, 09:49 PM   #11
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The parang arrived today and it's a real sweet piece. The is quite small so the original owner must have been of short stature?
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