Cross-section of originals I've handled is flat with an edge bevel at the base, with an unsharp rear bevel appearing towards the tip for a smoothly humped cross-section that is thin at both edges though sharp only at the front. This is the cutting area; thin and quite flexible.
My kampilan has a 31 inch blade, and even that seems a bit on the long side, averages-wise, but these blades would originally have been made to fit the user by some sort of biometric under which a modern person of European (for instance) ancestry might should properly use a considerably larger sword.
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