Barung; weapon, tool or tourist piece?

[migueldiaz]

From a book (Space & Identity, by Sakili) borrowed from a friend, here's a pic of how a modern Tausug carries his kalis (kris):

[KuKulzA28]

Didn't they wear it with the bottom edge facing up? When did this change?

[ThePepperSkull]

Hmm.

The barong pictured in this page is reminiscent of something made by Jimmy Lubian, a man in Sulu who i believe still makes barong (and more often times than not restores them). I believe forum member zamboanga once had a Lubian-made blade. I could be mistaken though.

EDIT: Here's a thread that showcases his work further down in the page: http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=1525



The etch work on the MOP inlay in the piece on this thread is less reminiscent of Lubian's work though (at least what little I have seen of Lubian's work).

[migueldiaz]

thepepperskull, thanks for that post.

on a related matter, one of the key leaders of the bandit-terrorist group, abu sayyaf (bearer of the sword), was killed in a military operation last week (his pic is below, and also in post no. 9 of this thread). the u.s. govt. had a bounty of $5 million on said leader's head.

anyway, the reason for this post is that i was looking in newspaper reports for the types of blade this deviant moro group carries (especially the leader). unfortunately, this is all that was reported:

"The weapons taken from the group were a Belgian FN rifle, two M-203 grenade launchers and a Squad Automatic Weapon rifle."

[KuKulzA28]

Originally Posted by ThePepperSkull

The barong pictured in this page is reminiscent of something made by Jimmy Lubian, a man in Sulu who i believe still makes barong (and more often times than not restores them). I believe forum member zamboanga once had a Lubian-made blade. I could be mistaken though.

EDIT: Here's a thread that showcases his work further down in the page: http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=1525



The etch work on the MOP inlay in the piece on this thread is less reminiscent of Lubian's work though (at least what little I have seen of Lubian's work).

Cool, I never heard of Lubian! It is too bad I have no way of contacting him. I like the look of his work, or at least what I can find of his work on the EA&A forums here.

Originally Posted by migueldiaz

unfortunately, this is all that was reported:

"The weapons taken from the group were a Belgian FN rifle, two M-203 grenade launchers and a Squad Automatic Weapon rifle."

Modern warfare, modern weapons If I was one of those Abu Sayyaf fighters, I would probably have a gun as my main weapon as well. But I'll agree that it's always interesting to see when traditional blades find employment as secondary weapons and machetes.

[Dimasalang]

Originally Posted by KuKulzA28

Modern warfare, modern weapons If I was one of those Abu Sayyaf fighters, I would probably have a gun as my main weapon as well. But I'll agree that it's always interesting to see when traditional blades find employment as secondary weapons and machetes.

This reminds me. A Filipino T-Shirt company made a modern day "Weapons of Moroland" Shield for one of their shirts. Out with the Kris's and Kampilan's...in with the M60s and M16s.

[Rick]

Originally Posted by migueldiaz

thepepperskull, thanks for that post.

on a related matter, one of the key leaders of the bandit-terrorist group, abu sayyaf (bearer of the sword), was killed in a military operation last week (his pic is below, and also in post no. 9 of this thread). the u.s. govt. had a bounty of $5 million on said leader's head.

anyway, the reason for this post is that i was looking in newspaper reports for the types of blade this deviant moro group carries (especially the leader). unfortunately, this is all that was reported:

"The weapons taken from the group were a Belgian FN rifle, two M-203 grenade launchers and a Squad Automatic Weapon rifle."

Barung on the left hand side, last figure .

No ?

[Bill]

Originally Posted by Rick

Barung on the left hand side, last figure .

No ?

Looks like one to me. I've seen barungs for sale in high end mall shops in Makati; just like the one Miguel posted at the top of this page. They use to be $500, but that was a few years ago. Kind of odd, one barung might end up lopping off heads & the next one goes home with a tourist. But then again, that's been happening for some time.

[Dimasalang]

Originally Posted by migueldiaz

thepepperskull, thanks for that post.

on a related matter, one of the key leaders of the bandit-terrorist group, abu sayyaf (bearer of the sword), was killed in a military operation last week (his pic is below, and also in post no. 9 of this thread). the u.s. govt. had a bounty of $5 million on said leader's head.

anyway, the reason for this post is that i was looking in newspaper reports for the types of blade this deviant moro group carries (especially the leader). unfortunately, this is all that was reported:

"The weapons taken from the group were a Belgian FN rifle, two M-203 grenade launchers and a Squad Automatic Weapon rifle."

Just amazes me really. The Moros were never truly conquered in 1913...just disarmed for the time being. The war continues.