Kris

[Master of Blades]

I just got given a Kris as an early christmas present and can I say I love it. I dont know why but damn are they cool

 

[jfarnsworth]

Sword or Knife or what?

 

[Master of Blades]

Wavy Sword thing......

 

[Kirk]

I was curious too. Can you post a pic, MOB?

 

[Master of Blades]

Possibly if I find it.........gimme a moment. That is what it sort of looks like. Not exactly, but sort of.......

 

[dearnis.com]

Cool; looks more Indonesian than Filipino; check out Donn Draeger's "the Weapons and Fighting Arts of Indonesia" for some good background info.

 

[Cruentus]

How does it feel, though?

Kris daggers feel good to me for thrusting, but I've actually never felt a kris sword (I'm kind of a stick jock, myself). It looks like it would feel ackward to me, but I won't know until I play with one.

 

[dearnis.com]

realize tha despite the similarity (and obviously the cross cultural contact) the daggers and swords are artifacts of diferent cultures and are used VERY differently.
The daggers patterned like the one above are Indonsesian (primarily), designed exclusivley around the thrust (the tang structure is too weak for heavy slashing), and carried as much as a status symbol/talisman as a weapon. And a good one does just feel incredible in the hand.
The sword are (again primarily) southern Filipino, and are designed to swing rather than thrust. you'll note hilt similarities to barongs (same general culture); also many of the swords are not waved (there are a bunch of different names for this.
Note that I am speaking about reasonably authenitic blades, not wavy-bladed reproductions labeled as kris daggers or swords.
Chad

 

[Master of Blades]

What he said lol