Finally...Central Luzon origin

Ian · 16th July 2014, 06:07 AM

The style of hilt on this knife has bugged me for years as to where it comes from: polygonal small ferrule (in this case septagonal), often with a larger polygonal wooden ring above it that is attached to a "chunky" handle which finishes in a tapered end that might be representative of a snake's head. These are almost always full tang and peened over at the end of the hilt with a butt plate to secure the end of the tang.

There are many different types of blades with these hilts. Each one has seemed "hefty" in the hand, made for hard work, and would make a formidable weapon, even if they are designed mainly as working bolos.

The knife pictured here finished on eBay today. It has the clue to the origin of these knives with the name, "APA??T," at forte over two initials "EB." The fourth and fifth letters are indistinct and partly composed of a vertical line--the possibilities for each letter are "I" or "L." So the possible combinations are APAIIT, APAILT, APALIT, and APALLT. The most likely candidate seemed to be APALIT, but I googled all four and added the search term "Philippines."

APALIT was the only one to return any relevant hits. It is a town in Pampanga Province, part of Metro Manila and within 20 miles of the old Subic Bay and Clarke Air Force Base sites. This town has been a prominent center for cutlery since at least Revolutionary times, and Pampanga has links to the revolutionary hero Andres Bonifacio who had family in the area.

Further research revealed a blog discussing a modern day panday and showed some rather poor pics of his workshop and him forging a bolo (see here).

I have yet to find who "EB" might be.

16th July 2014, 06:07 AM	#1
Ian Vikingsword Staff Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: The Aussie Bush Posts: 4,199	Finally...Central Luzon origin The style of hilt on this knife has bugged me for years as to where it comes from: polygonal small ferrule (in this case septagonal), often with a larger polygonal wooden ring above it that is attached to a "chunky" handle which finishes in a tapered end that might be representative of a snake's head. These are almost always full tang and peened over at the end of the hilt with a butt plate to secure the end of the tang. There are many different types of blades with these hilts. Each one has seemed "hefty" in the hand, made for hard work, and would make a formidable weapon, even if they are designed mainly as working bolos. The knife pictured here finished on eBay today. It has the clue to the origin of these knives with the name, "APA??T," at forte over two initials "EB." The fourth and fifth letters are indistinct and partly composed of a vertical line--the possibilities for each letter are "I" or "L." So the possible combinations are APAIIT, APAILT, APALIT, and APALLT. The most likely candidate seemed to be APALIT, but I googled all four and added the search term "Philippines." APALIT was the only one to return any relevant hits. It is a town in Pampanga Province, part of Metro Manila and within 20 miles of the old Subic Bay and Clarke Air Force Base sites. This town has been a prominent center for cutlery since at least Revolutionary times, and Pampanga has links to the revolutionary hero Andres Bonifacio who had family in the area. Further research revealed a blog discussing a modern day panday and showed some rather poor pics of his workshop and him forging a bolo (see here). I have yet to find who "EB" might be. Attached Images Last edited by Ian; 16th July 2014 at 06:22 AM.