I'd been looking for a Wiseman-like parang for a while, too. I was appalled to see the "official" version being offered in 440A stainless steel. In my opinion, that is a catastrophic blade failure waiting to happen--with exactly the tool, and possibly under exactly the conditions, in which you want a catastrophic blade failure least.
Also, 105 pounds sterling is a heck of a lot of cash. If you bought that, could you afford to give it a real workout to test it--I mean, chopping it deep into a hardwood log and leaning on it to see if you could break it with just your body weight and muscle force? It's nice to have a knife that has a guarantee that lets you do that BEFORE you take it out in the field and risk your life.
I would definitely go for non-stainless steel for a big survival knife.
So, here's what I'd look at:
Valiant Blades (mentioned above) carries some really interesting knives. They have some parangs (expensive) that are pretty close in configuration to the one Wiseman mentions, and some cheaper goloks, etc. that are more straight-bladed heavy machete-like (but thicker) knives. These aren't exactly cheap, but you can get one for less than $200, and I'd trust them over anything stainless any day.
If you happen to have a friend who'll be in Malaysia or Indonesia enough to pick one up at a hardware store (where I gather that they're cheap and commonly available), you can probably arrange to get the real deal for a tiny amount of money. Actually, if you've got some business initiative, have the friend pick up $150 worth of them, then keep one each and resell the others on BladeForums, and you'll more than make up for your costs, I bet.
For a knife that you really CAN buy, then stress-test and (in the unlikely event of a break) send back if necessary, try Himalayan Imports khukuris. Best way: browse through the H.I. forum, get an idea of what you like (for a general-purpose 10-inch-bladed knife that can both chop and slice, I'd look very seriously at the British Army Service, or BAS, model), then note the times when H. I.'s proprietress, Yangdu Martino, seems to be posting the special offers each day. Lately, it's been around noon. Lurk on the site, refresh your screen often, and e-mail an offer to buy anything that interests you with a good price. Your window of opportunity is usually 5-10 minutes, so move quickly. You can easily end up with a very reliable, testable, durable wilderness knife with a real hand-forged carbon steel blade for $65, or maybe even less if you're lucky. If it breaks, send it back and they'll replace it. If you break the super-thick (half-inch at the spine!) chiruwa ang khola model, they'll supposedly send you TWO replacements. (I like the chiruwa ang khola, but it's a little thick and heavy for many other-than-chopping uses, so I tend to actually USE some of the slightly thinner knives, like the BAS.) As a bonus, each H.I. khukuri comes with a little knife that fits into the same scabbard for finer cutting work (it's called a "karda"), as well as a knife-looking steel for steeling the edges of the actual cutting knives. H.I. khukuries are truly tough knives; I've tested every blade I've bought from them as described above, and none has ever broken. They're also shorter in overall length than some of the big parang-like knives, which can make for easier carry. One downside is that they look a bit like pistols, and thus could draw some unfavorable attention if you're thinking of going somewhere where pistols are frowned-upon. Unlike a lot of knives, these actually have some real character, given their handmade-ness.
Another good option is the Filipino bolos available from
www.reflectionsofasia.com . These, too, are hand-forged, carbon-steel knives. The handles are usually of rough water-buffalo horn. They usually cost around $20 plus shipping from California. They are supposedly differentially tempered (as are the H.I. khukuris, by the way--main cutting section of the edge is hard; the rest is kept softer to prevent catastrophic breakage). Reflections of Asia has one with sort of a fat, short blade that'll probably do most of what Wiseman wants his parang to do--and it'll cost you only about $25, delivered. Not bad, eh? You will want to sharpen the blade, maybe grind off some rough spots, and take a Dremel tool and round off any sharp angles on the handle that jab into your hand; you'll probably also want to treat the leather sheath with some oil to make it more supple and durable--but it's a better knife for $25 than you're likely to get for many times the price elsewhere. Like the H.I. knives, these also have that hand-made, "been there, done that" character that's lacking in some of the production knives.
Lastly, you might consider Ka-Bar's "large heavy Bowie" (I think the model number is 1277). It's surprisingly light, due to its flat grind and acute point, but quite comfortable; it is definitely not a super-heavy knife, despite the deceiving name, but it's plenty heavy-duty for most applications. It will nonetheless chop quite credibly--I've used it to assemble a shelter frame from tree branches with it--and its flat grind makes it genuinely good as a slicing knife, as well. You can get these on eBay for under $50, if I remember right. While I doubt you'd get a free replacement if you snapped it in testing, for that price you might be able to afford to give it a test before walking off into the jungle.
Good luck!
Their website calculates this shipping charge as $28.50--which almost doubles the price, and gets you up into the Himalayan Imports low-end price range. (IF you're buying them via one of Yangdu's sales; if you go to the available-everyday online store, I think the H.I. BAS goes for $100 or so.)
