Borneo parang with file blade
I recently acquired this parang that appears to be from Borneo. I was intrigued by the blade, which looks to have been forged from an old, large file. The steel quality is good and it holds a nice edge. I was happy that the wood scabbard still has all of the rattan bands in place. The round part of the wood handle has a split in it, which I stabilized with glue. Overall length with scabbard is 29 inches/.737 meter.
he ferrule on the wood handle appears to be made from an old rubber tube. At first glance I thought it was bone but it is soft when pressed with my fingernail. The spine of the blade is approximately .25 inch at the thickest part, and tapers down at the end. Rounded end of blade was supposed to be useful as a skinning tool, I've read. The parang has a nice feel to it, and the heavy blade could cut woody plants with ease.
This is a great tool blade to add to my machete collection, but obviously if used as a weapon would inflict grievous harm!
Andrew
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