Kampilan
 

Here are a few pictures of my new kampilan. It is 40-1/2 inches overall with a 29-1/2 inch blade that is 5/16 inch thick at the hilt. There is some chipping to the wooden hilt but thankfully not much. Were all of the grips on these originally wrapped for a better grip or were some just plain wood? Comments as always would be very welcome.

Robert

One last picture of part of the blade.

Robert

Pretty much all were wrapped; yours has a hole for the extra loop .

Thank you Rick. Could you possibly post a picture of the other side of the hilt to go with the one above? This looks like it's going to be a real pain in the --- to re-do.:eek: I think I'm going to have to do quite a bit of practicing to get this even close to being right. Or should it be left as is ? Suggestions anyone ???

Robert

Your choice..............It seems to be a battle piece.

A battle piece, that's great as I really appreciate true working blades. I was thinking late 19th centure on this, am I close ?

Robert

Hello Robert,

Yes, by all accounts a genuine, traditional kampilan!

Late 19th c. seems reasonable for the hilt; the blade tip shows signs of long-time sharpening: I'd guess that the somewhat rough blade is more likely the sign of an old village blade rather than late workmanship. What's the thickness at the base?

Redoing the rattan wrap is not terribly difficult. Just make sure to stain the rattan before working with it.

Regards,
Kai

Hello Kai,

Thank you for taking a look at this and for your thoughts. The blade it 5/16 inch thick at the hilt. Taking that into consideration, what would be your opinion as to the age of this piece? Thank you again for your assistance.

Robert

Sure .
Note the 3 woven rings under the overwrapping .

Rick, Thank you for your help with posting these pictures. With both sides I get a very clear picture of how the grip wrap was done. Now all I have to do is add this to what seems to be my never ending list of things I need to do. Thanks again.

Robert

Hello Robert,

8mm is not thick for a kampilan - many old ones are half an inch or more. However, there are also thinner ones from the 19th c. (some may be worn but one wouldn't expect a lot of wear at the base of these blades). I'd prefer to feel the balance and examine the kampilan up close and personal to get a better idea but short of that I think I'll stick with the late 19th c. guess.

An interesting feature is the kinked carving at the base of the pommel; would be interesting to see more exmples like this.

Regards,
Kai

Hi Robert,

Nice addition to the family there :) I've never owned one of these....
Or at least not for so long I can't remember lol!
Congrats on a nice find mate!
Gene

That "kinked" carving is very interesting; never seen it before, I don't think.
I think these grips are always wrapped, and very often in 3 bands of wrapping.
That yours was wrapped can be seen in the roughness/crudeness of the actual grip surface compared to the rest of the hilt.
nice looking sword.

Hello Tom and thank you for your observations and opinions on this piece. I have been looking through all of the older posts on kampilans for the different styles of hilt wrappings used and so far have not found another with this most interesting "kinked" carving that both you and Kai have pointed out.:confused:

Gene, thank you for your kind words on this and hopefully you will soon be able to find one to go with your ever growing collection. Good luck with the hunt.

Robert