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Old 25th March 2020, 11:32 PM   #1
Sajen
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Hello MacCathain,

I think that your sword coming from the Bicol region, see here: http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...ighlight=bicol and the attached pictures from my own swords.
I am convinced that this is a typical blade form from the Bicol region, like you see in the provided thread that not all with me in agreement. Read the thread and built up your own opinion.
Sadly is your sword in poor condition and would benefit when you would give it a little bit care.
The last picture shows the rather thick spines of my swords, you write that it is by your sword similar.

Regards,
Detlef
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Last edited by Sajen; 26th March 2020 at 11:22 AM.
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Old 25th March 2020, 11:59 PM   #2
Battara
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I agree with Sajen, the hilt, clipped point of the blade point, and the scabbard shape point to a Bicol origin to me as well.
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Old 26th March 2020, 12:19 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Battara
I agree with Sajen, the hilt, clipped point of the blade point, and the scabbard shape point to a Bicol origin to me as well.
Thank you Jose! But I think that the leather scabbard is a later replacement. It seems that a Chinese has used this sword.

Regards,
Detlef
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Old 26th March 2020, 02:41 AM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sajen
Hello MacCathain,

I think that your sword coming from the Bicol region, see here: http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...ighlight=bicol and the attached pictures from my own swords.
I am convinced that this is a typical blade form from the Bicol region, like you see in the provided thread that not all with me in agreement. Read the thread and built up your own opinion.
Sadly is your sword in poor condition and would benefit when you would give it a little bit care.
The last npicture shows the rather thick spines of my swords, you write that it is by your sword similar.

Regards,
Detlef
Completely agreed with Detlef and Jose. To add- I believe this particular antique sword (I'd say pre-ww2) comes from Iriga, Camarines Sur, one of the provinces in the Bicol region. Iriga is reputed to be the oldest among the many smithing towns in Bicol; they would call this blade profile as 'binakla.' Roughly translated, it means 'to be made gay.' The reason for this label is that the blade is a cross-breed between a minasbad and a ginunting (ginunting is generally a pointed-tip blade, with different variations per town). The foremost indicator of a binakla is a clip-point. I'm attaching a sample of a vintage binakla, as gleaned from the Facebook page "The Minasbad Shop."

The owner of the Minasbad Shop also explained that the reason why the sword is treated as 'gay' is because it's a union of male and female. The minasbad is viewed in Bicol blade culture as male, while the ginunting is female.
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Last edited by xasterix; 26th March 2020 at 03:16 AM.
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Old 26th March 2020, 10:44 AM   #5
Sajen
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Hello MacCathain,

Can you provide a picture from your sword in the view I have shown my two examples? It would be helpful to compare the blade shapes.
Also a picture from the spine near the handle would be great!

Regards,
Detlef
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Old 26th March 2020, 11:16 AM   #6
Sajen
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Quote:
Originally Posted by xasterix
Completely agreed with Detlef and Jose. To add- I believe this particular antique sword (I'd say pre-ww2) comes from Iriga, Camarines Sur, one of the provinces in the Bicol region. Iriga is reputed to be the oldest among the many smithing towns in Bicol; they would call this blade profile as 'binakla.' Roughly translated, it means 'to be made gay.' The reason for this label is that the blade is a cross-breed between a minasbad and a ginunting (ginunting is generally a pointed-tip blade, with different variations per town). The foremost indicator of a binakla is a clip-point. I'm attaching a sample of a vintage binakla, as gleaned from the Facebook page "The Minasbad Shop."

The owner of the Minasbad Shop also explained that the reason why the sword is treated as 'gay' is because it's a union of male and female. The minasbad is viewed in Bicol blade culture as male, while the ginunting is female.
Hello Xas,
Most interesting, thank you again for sharing your knowledge.
So I have found a name for this both swords from my collection, binakla!
I have two other possible Bicol swords with a different blade shape, maybe you will be able to tell me more about them.
And a third binakla from my collection.

Regards,
Detlef
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Old 26th March 2020, 11:38 AM   #7
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And here another binakla from the above given thread, in the meanwhile went this one in the collection from Robert.
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Old 26th March 2020, 11:52 AM   #8
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And here one which get sold by ebay a long time ago.
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Old 26th March 2020, 12:17 PM   #9
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What I learned today is that Zorro really shouldn't have had a rapier, he should have had a binakla.

In all seriousness though, this is wonderful information.

Thanks,
Leif
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Old 26th March 2020, 04:26 PM   #10
MacCathain
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Thank you, all, for your thoughts on this binakla.

Detlef, here's a better view of the blade profile. A shot of the spine will follow.
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