Curious Iranun kampilan feature

[kino]

Originally Posted by Gavin Nugent

Xasterix,

That is some nice timber work, both the carving and the manner of joining what appears to my eyes as being a replaced pommel.
The point of the plug is consistent with several Kampilan mounting points I have seen and the larger one I have here.

What do you think "may" have been meant/intended culturally in the inclusion of separate "teeth" and having that different coloured piece being incorporated back into the pommel?

Kino,

The cut out intrigues me.

At first glance I thought what a wonderful way to retain small votive personal items, although little more than parchment could be concealed within. It seems the wire pins had been intended to keep something safe and secure within and not used for regular access. I feel a replacement hair block would have also been resin set.
Perhaps it once had a bone insert retaining hair, age cracks took a toll and eventually all became dislodged and removed?

Whilst no definitive answers may be available, what considerations have you pondered.

Gavin, maybe hairtufts set in a pieces of wood with various colors, black, red, white, change depending on the mood or as someone once suggested a noise maker similar to Tiger Bells. all speculative of course, we’ll ever know.

[xasterix]

Here's a holiday bonus for all who contributed in the thread, a preview of how my restored kampilan cuts:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMrcIqte6-4

Kampilan handling has a steep learning curve as compared to other Filipino and Moro traditional blades that I've tested.

[kino]

You deliver some clean blows with that Kampilan. Doe the blade have a lot of flex?
Good work on the hilt repair.

[xasterix]

Originally Posted by kino

You deliver some clean blows with that Kampilan. Doe the blade have a lot of flex?
Good work on the hilt repair.

Thanks!!! Yep it's the usual kampilan blade: light, thin, flexy, can be bent or unbent even with bare hands.

[Gavin Nugent]

Originally Posted by xasterix

Thanks!!! Yep it's the usual kampilan blade: light, thin, flexy, can be bent or unbent even with bare hands.

Question I hope you can elaborate on. The video demonstrated just how effective these swords would have been in open spaces, thank you for sharing... I am giving my banana trees a little side eye now to make sure they aren't giving me any attitude... watch out if they do.

What I am curious about by your definition.

Can be bent, I interpret as can flex with your hands, (I know I get about 2 inches of flex in the end half if the blades here), but unbent has me thinking that you can bend the blade and it stays bent rather than a tensile flex that retains its shape, and you can then unbend the bend initially made.

Am I understanding this correctly?

[kai]

Hello Gavin,

Yes, kampilan blades do have a bit of flex (and will return true if things are not overdone).

As you assumed, Ray was referring to the blade setting a bend from poorly aligned cutting attempts; usually, this can be manually straightened out again. (Obviously, this should be avoided with antique blades; OTOH, some trial & error is part of the valuable hands-on research and old blades can be surprisingly resilient...)

Regards,
Kai

[xasterix]

Originally Posted by kai

Hello Gavin,

Yes, kampilan blades do have a bit of flex (and will return true if things are not overdone).

As you assumed, Ray was referring to the blade setting a bend from poorly aligned cutting attempts; usually, this can be manually straightened out again. (Obviously, this should be avoided with antique blades; OTOH, some trial & error is part of the valuable hands-on research and old blades can be surprisingly resilient...)

Regards,
Kai

Yup, you got it... a bit of cutting error, and the kampilan blade should return if no successive attempts are made; but an accumulation of cutting errors- misalignment, hitting environmental stuff- can put a huge bend, or even a wave-like series of bends on a kampilan. It's easily straightened out though- I use my hands or knee. I bend the whole blade in one direction, then the opposite way; then do smaller adjustment bends as I go. A bent kampilan in the battlefield would set back the wielder probably 1-2 mins to get everything straight again. But the important thing is that it doesn't break- and so far I haven't broken any kampilan blade yet, only bent.

After that cutting session, my kampilan had a wave-like series of bends; my 2-handed vertical and backhand attempts there were incorrectly done, and the blade state reflected that. I straightened everything out after 2 minutes of bend/unbend with my hands.