Monday, February 8, 2010

BADEK


There were many other daggers in used in the Malay archiepalego. The commonest of them was the BADEK. It is a short stabbing weapon, with a simple, tubular wooden hilt following the same line as the single edged, straight blade which is about 8 inches long and 3-4 inch wide. The sheath has two parts, the shaft, and a crosspiece with a plain protuberance, about 2 inche deep, which is called 'the flower' though it is not carved or decorated. This flower prevents the little dagger from slipping down, once it has been tucked into the tight top fold of the sarong, with the flower projecting forwards. The shaft is narrow with a rounded wooden tip of the same patterned wood as the crosspiece, but with a different pattern from that of the shaft. There is often a brass ring at the base of the hilt which is fitted level with its wooden surface. The BADEK was easily concealed and could inflict a lethal wound.

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