Panabas
 

G'day :)
If you have not handled a panabas , Please do.

Good day to you. I cannot wait to get my hands on one. So much so it disturds my sleep. :o :)

The thought of my wife getting her hands on one, in an angry state, would disturb my sleep, also!

Never go to sleep with a disagreement brewing in a house filled with sharp things! :eek: :eek:


Interesting panabas. Never seen one with a "kampilan" tip. Looks old. There looks like a cup hook near the tip in the overall view that had me confused until I reaized there were others on the board.

I like the iron bands holding the blade in place.

Nice. Looks like the prong got bent in the wrong direction.
Cato suggests the prong was to distract the opponent by raking against a exposed part of the body. While this may be true in combat, I doubt it was the main purpose or often used that way.
He also states many examples of kampilans have broken or bent prongs.
He also states that the kampilans were a arsenal weapon of a wealthy datu as well a arsenal weapon for the crews of a prahus (fighting ship).
Now close combat & lack of shields (no room on ships) makes the kampilan an unlikely sea weapon; except for the feature found on your panabas.
The concave area, the 2 "nubs" & prong would be ideal for grabbing the side of another ship for boarding. The nubs for a slight indention into the wood & the prong to pull (may explain why so many are damaged).
The opposite is true also, the prong could be used for pushing another boat away.
On land, the kamplians prong area is ideal for grasping & pulling down a shield, an easy experiment will prove this.
The "saw" like substitute, on some kamplians, would provide similar results on both land & sea.
So I'll speculate that your panabas is weapon used at sea in a fighting ship, likely a arsenal weapon of the ship.

There is one in Stone's book under "panabas".

Nice puppy Scratch. Congratulations! :D I like these in particular....

Head chopper
 

G'day :)
Thank you for your interest and thoughts and link.
Hang in there Tim,It will be worth the wait I think.
Bill Marsh, Thank you for sharing pieces from your collection. I always look forward to your posts.
Battara,Stones description states Cotobatto as an origin for a similiar example, is this an island?
Bill, great info! Were other weapons also arsenal produced?
Speculation regarding crescent spike: Could this have been used to position/control the neck in a formalized execution setting? I have read both kampilans and panabas' were used in this role.
Hideyoshi, Fantastic pieces!
Thanks again for all replies the communication is appreciated.

Kind regards,

Daniel :)

Cotobato is on the West coast of Mindanao Island, I think Maguindanao country.

Scratch, Here's a Panabas that's similar to yours.

I believe that Cotabato used to be a large area covering the southern part of the island of Mindanao - where the Ubo, Tasaday, Bila-an, Tiruray, T'boli, and Magindanao peoples mostly live. Today, this area has been divided into the the provinces of North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani, South Cotabato, and Maguindanao. My guess, is that the "Cotabato" referred to is the one today known as Maguindanao Province - home of the Maguindanao people. This area lies south of Lanao del Sur (home of the Maranao). The Panabas could have been present among the Maguindanao and Maranao, because of close proximity.