Panabas Bading
 

Greetings.

Here is a panabas that I got and restored from Baltimore. The bands are of hemp and copper bands.

What goes around the top and bottom of the exposed narra wooden part of the hilt is a strip made of silver and copper parts (I tested the silver). Copper nails keep this strip of silver and copper sections pinned to the hilt.

The blade is laminated and the top front of the blade is sculpted in semi-okir.

Recently I have been informed (by some very gracious contacts) that this type is called a bading panabas from the Maranao.

Enjoy!

I remember this one, Battara. Yet another nice restoration job!

Beautiful panabas Jose and great restoration work as always. Could you possibly post a photo of the copper and silver band that shows the construction of the panels better? My congratulation on a wonderful new addition to your collection.

Best,
Robert

Sure Robert. Will this do or would you like me to post a different picture angle?

It appears to be a tongue and slot construction.

Here is a "before" picture.

Jose, Thank you for the photo showing how the copper and silver banding was constructed as well as the before photo. Now another question, are the copper bands solid, seamed or overlapped and either folded or nailed? When looking how the wood is a much larger diameter on the end were the tang is inserted into the hilt, it makes me wonder how they would have been put into position if they are solid.

Best,
Robert

Hello Jose,

great looking panabas after your like usual good work. Have the same question like Robert.

Best regards,
Detlef

The bands are hard soldered but that section is smaller than the section without bands, so I imagine that the tang is long and the it was pressure fit into the banded section with pitch.

One exception - the first band next to the blade has a copper rivet through that band and the blade, keeping it tight.

I also made a lot of copper nails to replace missing ones.

Apologies for necro-ing this thread, Jose. Just curious if your Maranao contacts back then called this particular panabas as "bading." In Tagalog, bading means "girly gay." Not that I have anything against them, I'm just curious if it has the same meaning in whatever language your Maranao contacts used, and why this panabas would qualify as such. Thanks!

Wonderful panabas! I haven't seen one with copper bands before; We have seen Philippine copper and brass blades used for their magical properties and I was wondering if there was a connection or were these just used as materials of convenience?

A friend of mine is Cebuano, but speaks some Meranao and lives in Davao. She tells me that "bading" can mean the same as it does in Tagalog, but can also mean a few other things, including a type of cloth, or a type of blade, depending on context. If a blade is "baading," with a long "A" then that means that it's been poisoned.

My friend knows a local blade smith that she was going to be visiting anyway in the near future, and she'll see if her friend has any more info.

Thanks,
Leif

That's really interesting! Thanks for that info bit Leif. I wouldn't want to be hit with a panabas, a poisoned one seems even worse!

There was a video on youtube of a Philippino blacksmith 'poisoning' a blade by crushing spiders onto it while it was red hot from the forge. I assume that was a symbolic ritual poisoning.


see http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?p=91050