Is this a Tombak?

[A. G. Maisey]

We become accustomed to seeing all these examples of archetypical SE Asian weaponry --- keris, tombak, pedang & etc,& etc, &etc., but we very rarely see the weapons that ordinary people carry.

Mostly the weapons of ordinary people in Jawa and Bali are small, tuck-away knives and daggers that have no specific form or features, and are made from left over bits and pieces or broken other weapons.

Dealers in both East Jawa and Central Jawa will buy an old junk pedang, cut it into sections and grind 4 or 5 little dagger blades out of it, then they'll fit it with the cheapest possible dress. More profit in this than in trying to sell a clapped out old pedang.

What we are looking at here is one of these little daggers. It was cut from a larger blade, and it has been dressed at a level where a local can buy it and stick it in the back waist band of his trousers. If he needs to dump it, he's lost nothing.

I consider this nasty little thing a genuine, present day SE Asian weapon.