Very First Sword
 

this year marks my tenth year anniversary.

this was the sword that started it all: a Kalis that was given to me as a gift by a Sama when i visited Davao in 2003. i remember putting it away in the linen closet after coming back home. it would take another year before i took it out and inspected it closely. little did i know this particular kalis would jump-start my wonderful journey to the world of sword collection.

my first post:
http://www.vikingsword.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/002526.html

does anyone else have a picture of their very first sword? please post. i figure this would be a fun thread...

No pics of my first sword, as I have a long, embarrassing history involving wall-hangers and gunto, all of which have been discarded or liquidated to support my current habits. :o

However, here are my first two dha/daab/dah. The pewter mounted daab is Northern Thai/Southern Yunnan (note the Chinese motifs). It was incorrectly identified on eBay as a "Thai naginata" and I picked it up for a song. Very fine blade, good age, exceptional balance--still one of my very favorite swords "in the hand."

The brass mounted daab is also Thai, quite small, with a solid blade and a Thai penny last used in, I believe, 1935 (but undated) mounted as a pommel cap.

thanks for posting your dah, Andrew!

this is one of my biggest regret; not saving this particular kalis. i kinda wish i still have it. i saw it on ebay once (after selling it). i should've snagged it then.

c"mon, guys.. i'm pretty sure there are pictures of you very first one in your computer file somewhere..

Still have both of these, Ron. And they're still two of my favorites, and two of the best purchases I've made on eBay--my recollection is I paid US$180 for the larger, US$90 for the smaller. :D

Better pics:

Nice idea Ron. I start my collection with this two keris from Madura in 1992 and still keep them.

My very first sword was a swap meet replica I bought with allowance money when I was all of 9-10 years old... it lasted about a month before it broke while "fighting" with a friend (in the eternal battle between fake swords and metal trash can lids, score one for the lids). And while I most definitely don't have any photos of it, I do have a photo of where it is... ;)

My first sword's final resting place, the Miramar Landfill:

Lol, rest in peace, laespadaancha's first sword..
Good job on still having your first pieces, Detlef. You can actually see how far your taste have come.
But then again, i never had a say on my first one..

Unfotunately my computer crashed a few years ago.
So my earliest photo's are all gone.
It was a Javanese golok, which I bought for my own training.....
My second one was a terrible touristic mandau! Wouldn't dare to put images here even if I still had any of it.... :D

My first sword was a 18th C Japanese wakizashi that my father bought from my Kendo teacher when I was a young teenager. Later I gave it to my brother who still has it together with his collection of mostly Chinese swords. Once I put my boy's room at fire when I was cleaning it with petrol and smoking at the same time...

Michael

I've collected swords since I was at school......
I can't even remember the first one now.
I remember the first knife.
A faux stag-antler hilted sheath knife bought when my parents backs were turned on a holiday in Jersey (C.I) when I was 6 or 7 and having it 'confiscated' by my mother as soon as she saw it.
Got it back when I was about 8 or 9 I think.
Ahhh, simpler times indeed!

About 20 years ago now, I swapped and traded most of my collection with a local dealer to get two swords. A Wakazashi and the Spanish Rapier below.
It's the sword that has stayed with me the longest. The Wakazashi is long gone, but the Rapier still has a place of honour.

My wife always say's that men can't multi-task! ;)

My very first sword was a very cheap and nasty flea market Indian "cavalry sabre", IIRC, 1985. It has acquired a new handle since then, and the scabbard has been recovered. It sometimes still sees service in the garden.

This was followed by some Taiwanese katana, and then in 1997-1998, some antiques. At the end of 1997, I picked up a P1890 cavalry sword and a Masai lion spear, and, IIRC, in 1998 (or maybe 1997) a few more ethnographic pieces, namely an Indonesian sword and a Fijian-style club. The club might be made in Australia; 'twas very new when I bought it.

I think my very first real swords were a late pattern "Gothick Hilt" infantry officers sword, a very poor condition Tulwar and a stripped blade with its sheath of a Wakizashi.....I group them together 'cos I cannot remember which order I got them in. All gone now, sold when finances demanded. The longest owned piece I have still is this Kukri, bought for thirty bob when I was still at school.

Hello all,

My first sword was this tulwar, Not a particularly beautiful example, but a utilitarian one to which I am quite attached. Besides a modern folded steel katana, this was my only sword for some time. Happier days for my wife ;)

Kind regards,
Chris