Mixed-age and mixed-ethnicity kampilan

[drac2k]

Beautiful Sword;I really like the file work on the back of the tip of the blade.
Funny, I always assumed that the kampilan was a two handed weapon;seeing is believing,thanks for educating me.

[Sajen]

Hello Raymundo,

Congrats, a very nice kampi! Similar to others I like the beautiful hilt and also the scabbard is a nice vintage variation. Are the mounts from aluminium?

Best regards,
Detlef

[xasterix]

Originally Posted by Sajen

Hello Raymundo,

Congrats, a very nice kampi! Similar to others I like the beautiful hilt and also the scabbard is a nice vintage variation. Are the mounts from aluminium?

Best regards,
Detlef

Thanks very much yep, those are aluminum mounts, and roughly made- they were pretty sharp at the edges, and I had to blunt them so that I don't get injured every time I grasp the scabbard.

[Ian]

The T'boli also use sections of tin sheet on their scabbards. It is stiffer than aluminum and can give a nasty cut/scratch. I can see some sharp points where the edges meet. Perhaps tin rather than aluminum? During WWII, U.S. bulk foods (grains, beans, flour, salt, sugar, cooking oil, etc.) often came in large tin containers that got cut up and reused for other purposes. Just a thought.

[xasterix]

Originally Posted by Ian

The T'boli also use sections of tin sheet on their scabbards. It is stiffer than aluminum and can give a nasty cut/scratch. I can see some sharp points where the edges meet. Perhaps tin rather than aluminum? During WWII, U.S. bulk foods (grains, beans, flour, salt, sugar, cooking oil, etc.) often came in large tin containers that got cut up and reused for other purposes. Just a thought.

Halloo Ian, you're right, and I stand corrected- it is indeed tin

[Ian]

The file work here looks like the ron dah on Indonesian keris. It is interesting to see how the "open" form of the ron dah developed on this blade. If we look at the examples towards the spine of the blade, they are "closed" at the top. But as we progress towards the tip they become more "open." This must surely be due to greater corrosion towards the tip, resulting in loss of the thinner areas that enclose the space.

Alan Maisey has commented on a similar phenomenon occurring on a decorative piece of metalwork he acquired. He thought that the "closed" form may have represented the Hindu "om" while the corroded form ended up looking like ron dah.

[xasterix]

Originally Posted by drac2k

Beautiful Sword;I really like the file work on the back of the tip of the blade.
Funny, I always assumed that the kampilan was a two handed weapon;seeing is believing,thanks for educating me.

Thanks very much!

It's common to be confused regarding the kampilan's proper wield. I believe the mainstream depiction is the culprit- of course, these depictions were gleaned from pre-WW2 references from the Spanish and American POV, which usually described "campilan" as 2-handed.

However, I dug up some references which provide an interesting twist- from the Spanish POV, there were TWO species of "campilan." Check out this translated passage:

"After midday the Moro Bansil, who has recognized the Spanish government, also arrives: his intention is to confer with Señor Tenorio. He is accompanied by a group of three Moros, one of whom carries the tabas, a kind of campilan, with a silver handle, a sign of power among those people; the other carries in his hand his master's parasol, which is a simple colored umbrella with fringes decorated with many tassels; the third carries the petaqufa or copper box with different little drawers, where the various ingredients and utensils that the Moros use to prepare and consume the buyo are kept."

Mellado, F. (1863). El Christianismo
semanario religioso, cientifico y literario. Vol 2: Issue 49-100. Retrieved from https://www.google.com.ph/books/edit...?hl=fil&gbpv=0

In this instance, it's noted that "tabas" (which we now know of as "panabas") is a campilan species, and is 2-handed. But it doesn't stop there: here's another reference - possibly written by a Frenchman- which clearly describes two campilan species yet again:

"The campilan bears a great resemblance to the sabres of our hussars, and is shaped like a long thin lath, with a wooden handle, held by both hands, which like the sword of a knight, is without a guard; the blade is very long, and straight, and thin, of great strength, and should never bend. The instrument I have described, is called the two-handled campilan, but there are other varieties of this weapon, which are more easily wielded; they are, however, more for ornament than use- the handles of some of them are of coarsely-carved ivory, very often bearing the resemblance of some fabulous animal, such as a syren, or dragon."

Yvan. (1855). Six months among the Malays, and a year in China. Retrieved from https://www.google.com.ph/books/edit...?hl=fil&gbpv=0

Based on the description, the first campilan, the two-handed one, is the panabas; the second one- handle resembling syren or dragon- we already know.

Based on these findings, it would be interesting to go back across all historical references of "campilan" and try to guess which species was being described. Most importantly- in the Battle of Mactan, with Pigafetta noting that the campilan resembled a "cutlass," perhaps it's not the one-handed variant that was used- but rather the two-handed panabas!