The Pandat (other names also include Kamping, Parang Pandat, Parang Pandit or Mandau Tangkitn) is the war sword of the

Dayak people The Dayak (; older spelling: Dajak) or Dyak or Dayuh are one of the native groups of Borneo. It is a loose term for over 200 riverine and hill-dwelling ethnic groups, located principally in the central and southern interior of Borneo, each ...

of northwest

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java Isl ...

(

Sarawak, Malaysia Sarawak (; ) is a state of Malaysia. The largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak is located in northwest Borneo Island, and is bordered by the Malaysian state of Sabah to the northeas ...

and West Kalimantan, Indonesia) and is never used as a tool. On October 18, 2016, this weapon was featured in season 3 episode 9 of the American bladesmithing competition series '' Forged in Fire''.

Description

The Pandat has a short, heavy, single-edged blade with an iron hilt. It has no real handle, but a short cross-piece of iron or bone passes through the handle. The sword is wielded with one or two hands and used primarily with downward strokes. Its blade and hilt are forged from one piece and the blade is bent, just before the hilt, at an angle of 25 degrees. The bend in the blade is located in the transitional part between the blade and the hilt. Both the back and the edge are straight and run apart, so that the blade's broadest part is at the point. The blade length is generally between and the handle is about long. The sheath is usually made of wood and decorated with traditional patterns. It may be decorated with feathers or tufts of hair or simply painted red.

Use

It is thought that a downward cut would be highly inefficient and unbalanced, throwing a great strain upon the wrist. Pandats are well balanced for upward cuts, but this would perhaps not be a very effective form of attack. The Pandat's typically bent blade is very similar to Parang Latok which, unlike the Pandat, is used as a tool.

Description

Use

See also

References

Further reading