Philippines Bolo and dagger
 

I bought these two knives at a show yesterday. Acquired them from the former US Marine who got them while stationed in the Philippines in 1981. He told me what region the knives were from, but the name was nothing that I am familiar with. If any forum members are familiar with this style dagger, please let me know. No sheath. The picture of the Marine when he was active duty shows him wearing the dagger on the strap of his ALICE gear. He told me that, while rucking with this gear and the dagger strapped on, he slipped and fell down a hillside, and the dagger ended up piercing his chest!

The dagger is around 30cm overall length, with horn handle.

The Bolo is a heavy duty, working man's knife. Blade is 30cm, very sharp but has a nick in it. Horn handle, with crude iron rivets. The blade is approximately 5mm thick at the handle, slimming down to the point. The sheath is typical wood construction, very heavy itself.

Overall a couple of good additions to my growing Philippines weapons collection. Having the photo of the previous owner using the dagger was a nice bonus.

The lower knife (the bolo with wooden scabbard) looks to me like a typical J. E. S. T. bolo. “Jungle Evasion Survival Techniques” I believe? Compare to S. E. R. E. Should be many examples online. I’ve owned a couple in the past but I don’t currently have any.

Hello AHite.

These look like Central Luzon knives and both are likely to come from the Province of Pampanga (quite close to the jungle training school and former U.S. Naval and Air Force Bases). The wood sheath on the bottom one is of a style commonly seen from the town of Apalit.

Both hilts seem to have been customized, possibly by the original maker according to customer specs. The base plate on the hilt of the top one is oversized for the hilt. The hilt on the bottom one has been pinned, which is not the traditional construction on Apalit knives.

Regards,

Ian


The JEST school (Jungle Environment Survival Training) is in the adjacent Province of Zambales, on the Bataan Peninsula. In the mid-20th C, until the Pinatubo eruption in 1991, this general area was home to a large number of U.S. service men and women. These types of knives were common bring back items. They are usually sturdy and reliable knives.

Thanks for your information! The former owner mentioned that the marks on the dagger handle were made by his knife. Wasn't sure what he meant then but now I think he did some of his own customizing on it.