Mixed-age and mixed-ethnicity kampilan

xasterix · Yesterday, 01:47 PM

It's pretty rare for a well-preserved piece to pop up in the Philippines (most of the nice pieces are in US, EU, etc) so I jumped at this opportunity. This kampilan is a good example of how a Moro traditional blade can have mixed components.

I believe the Maranao-made blade is mid to late 1800s, while the hilt is late 1800s to early 1900s (either a replacement or an upgrade). The postwar scabbard is Lumad-made, possibly T'boli. There's a 1903-S US-Philippine one peso silver coin pinned to the "eye" of the pommel, and a square silver insert on the blade part towards the hilt, a talismanic protection against black magic or hostile spells. Blade length is 30.5 inches, overall length is 41 inches.

I tested the kampilan on some soft targets using the proper one-handed wield: https://youtu.be/HUc8xdV3NLs?si=FHcobhjD3lkEUd1v

Yesterday, 01:47 PM	#1
xasterix Member Join Date: Oct 2018 Posts: 686	Mixed-age and mixed-ethnicity kampilan It's pretty rare for a well-preserved piece to pop up in the Philippines (most of the nice pieces are in US, EU, etc) so I jumped at this opportunity. This kampilan is a good example of how a Moro traditional blade can have mixed components. I believe the Maranao-made blade is mid to late 1800s, while the hilt is late 1800s to early 1900s (either a replacement or an upgrade). The postwar scabbard is Lumad-made, possibly T'boli. There's a 1903-S US-Philippine one peso silver coin pinned to the "eye" of the pommel, and a square silver insert on the blade part towards the hilt, a talismanic protection against black magic or hostile spells. Blade length is 30.5 inches, overall length is 41 inches. I tested the kampilan on some soft targets using the proper one-handed wield: https://youtu.be/HUc8xdV3NLs?si=FHcobhjD3lkEUd1v Attached Images Last edited by xasterix; Yesterday at 02:43 PM.