Barung; weapon, tool or tourist piece?

[Battara]

From what I have seen from recent pandays the blades are laminated but without a separate ganga.

[wilked aka Khun Deng]

Thanks for course correction Andrew - it's been edited.

[Andrew]

No worries, guys.

Just been around this and other forums long enough to know how quickly things can turn, particularly given the mix of ethnicity, nationality and political affiliations we have here.

Thanks.

[migueldiaz]

I picked up the kris below in Mindanao from a Muslim (Maranao) trader about a year ago.

I think it's an example of the fusion between two ethnic groups. My theory is that somehow a Visayan who settled in Mindanao ended up with the kris, re-hilted it using their traditional pommel design, and then used it for his everyday 'carry'.

As a remote analogy, it's probably somewhat like WW2 Germans in Russia using the much respected T-34s.

[KuKulzA28]

that, a utility knife, and a gun would be my "EveryDay Carry" if I lived there too!

migueldiaz, maybe you can help me answer these...
How common are these laminated blades do you think? What prices do they run at? How many are made per how many tourist swords are made?

I think those would be good indicators for those who don't live in the Philippines.

[Battara]

Interesting piece - the blade and scabbard are Maguindanao.......

[migueldiaz]

Originally Posted by KuKulzA28

migueldiaz, maybe you can help me answer these... How common are these laminated blades do you think? What prices do they run at? How many are made per how many tourist swords are made?

KuKulzA28, the older ones would be the ones that will have laminated blades. And in two shops I went to last year in Davao City in Mindanao (in a strip retail for Moro crafts called Aldevinco Center), each would have about 15 krisses and only one or two out of the 15 would be older pieces, and they would of course be the ones that will have laminated blades.

That's just anecdotal evidence of course. I'm not really in a position to gauge the relative proportion of the quantities between the old ones vs. the tourist versions, because I haven't surveyed these shops enough.

Originally Posted by Battara

Interesting piece - the blade and scabbard are Maguindanao.......

Thanks for the comment, Battara. If you don't mind my asking as I really don't know, what would be the particular features of the blade and scabbard that make them Maguin.? Thanks in advance