Borneo parang with file blade

[AHite]

I recently acquired this parang that appears to be from Borneo. I was intrigued by the blade, which looks to have been forged from an old, large file. The steel quality is good and it holds a nice edge. I was happy that the wood scabbard still has all of the rattan bands in place. The round part of the wood handle has a split in it, which I stabilized with glue. Overall length with scabbard is 29 inches/.737 meter.

he ferrule on the wood handle appears to be made from an old rubber tube. At first glance I thought it was bone but it is soft when pressed with my fingernail. The spine of the blade is approximately .25 inch at the thickest part, and tapers down at the end. Rounded end of blade was supposed to be useful as a skinning tool, I've read. The parang has a nice feel to it, and the heavy blade could cut woody plants with ease.

This is a great tool blade to add to my machete collection, but obviously if used as a weapon would inflict grievous harm!

Andrew

[RobT]

AHite,

I don't know if it is just the photo but the sharp bend down near the hilt makes your parang look like some sort of parang latok variant.

Sincerely,
RobT

[Amuk Murugul]

Originally Posted by RobT

AHite,

I don't know if it is just the photo but the sharp bend down near the hilt makes your parang look like some sort of parang latok variant.

Sincerely,
RobT

Hullo RobT!

.....= parang/duku panjang/panjai.

Best,

[RobT]

Amuk Murugul,

I did an online search using the names you supplied.
Parang duku quickly brought up a seller (Chicago Knife Works, myparang.com) who called his modern creation “My Parang Duku Latok 10in”. With its sharp bend close to the hilt, it looks like a short version of AHite’s parang. It has a copper ferrule.
Panjang panjai brought me to another website (My Personal Parang Collection #5 - The Parang Panjai). The site says it features “All Articles, Types of Parangs”. In this article, the writer describes a newly made parang panjai he just received from a supplier and says, “When I first saw the bolster, I cringed and informed my supplier, please do not send me any with a rubber hose bolster!” The writer goes on to say that the bolster (ferrule) is typically made of rattan, copper or steel but the maker decided to use rubber because it expands and contracts with the hilt. In a question and answer section below the article, the writer says the parang is 2 feet long and a photo in the article shows that it is a close match to AHite’s parang.
You nailed it Amuk Murugul.

Sincerely,
RobT

PS: It would appear that panjai means house so a parang panjai would be a parang intended for housework.

[JeffS]

Cool parang, thank you for sharing.