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more photos is better. the blade does look like you will find it is laminated steel :) the signs are there.

the remaining cord on the grip is about right. a spiral wrap of similar thickness in red or black would work.

here's one of my moro kris with a red base layer & black braided bands:
Capture 001.jpg
 
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blue:

I doubt that your barong was a wall-hanger. Looks way too banged up from use. That's a good sign.

The handle and bolster look like they could be fixed/restored without too much work, though the pics show only one side.

The scabbard is in bad shape but there's enough left that a duplicate could be fabricated if the original can't be restored. Personally I don't care that much about scabbards, especially the older ones. I doubt you'll be carrying this barong on a daily basis, and if you did you might want a better scabbard anyway.
 
At first I assumed the banged up edge meant it must be real, but then I thought, what if it was a tourist bring back and the owner was just screwing around in his back yard? It'd be great if it was laminated steel, but I'll be happy as long as it's a "real" piece of hardened/tempered steel. I didn't pay much for it, sub-klvuk price.

I attached another pic of the hilt. Looks like a chunk is missing.

That Kris looks incredible! I love the black/red combination

Edit: Added more pics from auction
 
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My Barong arrived today! This thing is a SERIOUS weapon... definitely no tourist piece. Just holding it is a little scary. In my mind I guess I was expecting it to be a thin machete style blade, but it's thick and heavy. 16 inches long, maybe 2/3rds as thick as a KLVUK and no distal taper whatsoever. The blade has some wobble so I'll have to add that to my "to fix" list.
 
sounds like a win man, I love when I get a blade in and it is like that, sounds like a real awesome find!
 
Thanks! The blade's pretty filthy, but I do think there's a hardened steel edge "inserted" into the blade. You can see a difference in steel color. Still razor sharp, too, only a few nicks. The spine is all deformed, though, like somebody pounded it with a metal hammer.
 
The sheath on mine is almost a twin to yours. Some of the ornamental figure on the top and a piece on the bottom have broke off. Blade is very similar too.

Friend sent me just the blade, it didn't have a handle on it, just a tang. I'll try to post up some pics when I get home.
 
I'm certain our Barongs are twins. Hundreds of years ago I'm sure they fought side by side in some pitched tribal melee. We should get Bookie to write us up a story! Bawanna and Blue Lander, riding into battle on our war mules...

Did you ever try to etch yours?
 
No sir, I never tried to etch anything. I'll do it if you talk me through it, I'm not much of a metal guy cept for I like it or I don't.

I think we definitely deserve a war mule story from Bookie.

I gotta check my photobucket now and see if I got pics in there.







I looked at a few pics and made my handle, wish I'd seen yours before hand, I would have made it more similar. Mine is very comfortable and the weight is light and fast. I won't chop with it but it's sometimes tempting. Maybe light stuff some time just cause.
I can't find a picture of the sheath, I may not have taken one but I will. It is very similar to yours. I'm sure we rode similar mules together and may even have been twins separated at birth.
 
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Mr. B. Howd you do them grooves around the bolster? You got a checker tool you use to get started? I like the look! Im trying to do something on my sashimi knife now. I cut some grooves and filled it with black dyed epoxy and it looks like crap. Looks like I drew a line around it with a sharpie. Ill post pics later when I fix it. I suppose I could make a tool that rides in one groove while cutting the other? Skip line looks cool:thumbup:
 
blue lander said:
Thanks! The blade's pretty filthy, but I do think there's a hardened steel edge "inserted" into the blade. You can see a difference in steel color. Still razor sharp, too, only a few nicks. The spine is all deformed, though, like somebody pounded it with a metal hammer.
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That looks like it's pattern welded-I'm guessing pre WW2. Thats not an inserted piece of high carbon-almost all Filipino blades-even kris-are differential hardened.
 
See, mine is very top heavy. I couldn't imagine doing martial arts with it. In a melee, though, I can imagine this thing sending body parts flying whither and thither. Supposedly they could cut a man in half at the waist with one of these, and I don't have a hard time believing it. Legend has it that they could cut through a rifle barrel, which obviously must be exaggeration.

Bawanna did your blade come with goldish/yellow "smears" on the blade like mine has? That's supposed o be a good sign that some pattern might be hiding in there. If you ever want to take another go at rehandling your barong I'd glady let you borrow mine if you wanted a hands on example.

I'm curious how old this thing is top. I read post Ww2 barong scabbards were made from thicker wood while older ones were done with thinner wood. Mine's pretty dang thin.
 
Bawanna said:
No sir, I never tried to etch anything. I'll do it if you talk me through it, I'm not much of a metal guy cept for I like it or I don't.

I think we definitely deserve a war mule story from Bookie.

I gotta check my photobucket now and see if I got pics in there.







I looked at a few pics and made my handle, wish I'd seen yours before hand, I would have made it more similar. Mine is very comfortable and the weight is light and fast. I won't chop with it but it's sometimes tempting. Maybe light stuff some time just cause.
I can't find a picture of the sheath, I may not have taken one but I will. It is very similar to yours. I'm sure we rode similar mules together and may even have been twins separated at birth.
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That's very cool, Bawanna. I can see the pattern welding in your pics.
don't chop with it... the Moro barongs are pure weapons-I've fixed a couple that had a lot of ripples in the edge from hitting the wrong things...meat, OK! Green bone, OK (wrapped in meat).
 
blue lander said:
See, mine is very top heavy. I couldn't imagine doing martial arts with it. In a melee, though, I can imagine this thing sending body parts flying whither and thither. Supposedly they could cut a man in half at the waist with one of these, and I don't have a hard time believing it. Legend has it that they could cut through a rifle barrel, which obviously must be exaggeration.

Bawanna did your blade come with goldish/yellow "smears" on the blade like mine has? That's supposed o be a good sign that some pattern might be hiding in there. If you ever want to take another go at rehandling your barong I'd glady let you borrow mine if you wanted a hands on example.

I'm curious how old this thing is top. I read post Ww2 barong scabbards were made from thicker wood while older ones were done with thinner wood. Mine's pretty dang thin.
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There's this idea going around the world that everything martial arts has to be fast, but I personally disagree. Combat is a matter of timing, distance, and rhythm. Speed is useful, but not essential. And in my experience with kukris, it's the heavier ones, including the more top heavy ones that move quicker, or at least have more energy (in the scientific sense).

Bawanna, beautiful work on that barong. It makes me want it.

JW, I hadn't realized the Barong was meant as a weapon and not a chopper. It looks like it would be a tool, though it does have an awfully good tip for a tool. I've seen some of your own manufacture. About how much do those run?
 
My sheath is very thin also. Almost delicate.

When it arrived it didn't want to go in or come out of the sheath and the friend that gave it to me didn't want to break it and neither did I. I spent some time oiling and gently nudging it, finally got it out and oiled and babied some more and now it goes in and out. I generally leave it out, don't want to get it stuck in there again.
 
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i echo the 'not a chopper' comments. the weapon is NOT used as a direct impact weapon. it is not an axe. it, like a katana, is meant to be used in a slicing draw (or push) cut with finesse not brute force.

many (probably most) 'real' non-touristy phillipine weapons of age (excluding double edged types like kris & gunongs) were chisel ground, ie. the sharpening bevel is only on one side, the other is flat, or even lightly dished. if it has, a european style bevel on both sides, some westerner likely mis-sharpened it after it left the phillipines. sadly, most 'modern' ones have a western double bevel edge berause they are mostly sold to westerners. mine are thankfully 'traditional' as are my pinute and ginunting.
 
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Bawanna said:
No sir, I never tried to etch anything. I'll do it if you talk me through it, I'm not much of a metal guy cept for I like it or I don't.

I think we definitely deserve a war mule story from Bookie.

I gotta check my photobucket now and see if I got pics in there.







I looked at a few pics and made my handle, wish I'd seen yours before hand, I would have made it more similar. Mine is very comfortable and the weight is light and fast. I won't chop with it but it's sometimes tempting. Maybe light stuff some time just cause.
I can't find a picture of the sheath, I may not have taken one but I will. It is very similar to yours. I'm sure we rode similar mules together and may even have been twins separated at birth.
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Hey Bawanna... Who's the foxy lady in the bikini? She is a very attractive woman.
 
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