MY FIRST BARONG

[Ian]

Originally Posted by Spunjer

i just find filipino swords unkept very disrespectful. here's a kris that was 'westernized', as explained by battara, where the blade was polished. the odd thing was, whoever did it neglected the gangya and the handle was left to frayed.

Ron:

The gangya area can be tedious to clean -- lots of little nooks and crannies -- and I think people get lazy with their "restoration" work, and leave that area to its natural state. We see this on many kris, even those coming out of Mindanao today. To some extent corrosion of the gangya may be related to kris being kept in scabbards that don't completely cover that area, but I think many times it's because the area is just too much of a chore to clean well.

Ian