The beautiful parang gift from Danny
Since my trip to Sarawak, I have fallen in love with parangs from Sarawak. Old school it may be but these blades of the Orang Ulu are amazingly functional and tried tested. I have a few parang Ilang but recent pieces given to me as gifts by Danny Voon of Kuching has really impressed me a lot.
Danny hails from Kuching Sarawak and I got to know him here. He left a comment, we exchanged a few emails, followed by phone calls and soon realized the one obvious thing we have in common is a keen interest in native blades. It turns out that Danny runs kayaking trips in Kuching, ranging from short river trips to paddles that last up to 8 hours! He also does personalized trek to ‘less traveled’ places in Borneo. Perfect! And a few months after I first got to know him, Danny came to KL for a visit. That’s when he surprised me with 2 pieces of most beautiful parang from Sarawak that I have ever seen.
A comparison to my Mora Viking
I was speechless when I saw the parangs. I did not know what to say. They were way more beautiful than any blades I have ever seen. Danny assured me over and over again that the blade was a user blade, meaning it is for real use. The carvings on the handle and the sheath were made by an Iban smith. All handmade and completed just a couple of days before he came over to K.L.
Note how the string is threaded through the sheath
A closer look
The amount of detail that goes into the making of this parang is amazing. Danny, an avid collector himself described to me he only met this particular craftsman recently and found his work to be extremely unique. All the work is handmade using traditional tools and the carvings adorns both sides of the sheath which is rare. Most commonly found parangs would have carvings only on the outer side it seems.
The carving on the hilt
These belongs to the craftsman- Picture by Danny Voon
Above are some pieces owned by the same craftsman and the tools to the right are tools for carving. I told Danny I would love to meet this traditional craftsman. A good excuse to go to Kuching. In the mean time, thank you so very much Danny for this beautiful parang from Sarawak. As much as you insist that I use it, unfortunately it will remain as part of my most treasured collection items.
Cool! I recently went back for CNY and picked up a bidayuh parang and a candong too. I wonder where Danny got his parang from?
Hi Jordan….you can get in touch with Danny directly.
His number is 016-8530447 or email him at “alternativeborneo at gmail dot com”.
Best to call him direct.
Just make sure you dont lend the parang to anyone or bring them into the jungles….it is really a beautifully carved scabbard. Hope that the scabbard isnt made from elephant ivory though!!!!
Hi forestgump…yeah, I agree that it is a bit too pretty for the jungle. Don’t worry, it is not ivory, just light wood. Sure looks nice though eh. Hey…heard that the gov is spending money on the Elephant Sanctuary…good news for everyone !
I’m in love…
Nice handle and scabbard…amazing carving….
the blade is cap 222…seen a lot of these blade in many hardware store IMHO.
Hi James…yes, I think the 222 blade is a mass pro blade right? I just got back from Kuching and met the maker there. He told me that some of the blades were ‘given’ to him in return for his ‘treatment’ (he is a bomoh or something similar). He will then re-do the parang to his liking. And yes, the carvings are really really good. Will be doing a write-up on it soon.
Vincent…the carvings are works of art. I met the maker personally recently and took a peak at his collection. Its simply awesome.
I used to buy the same 222 blade few years back, asked my cousin to sepuh it. Really impressive blade actually. Well…as Danny said, don’t be afraid to used it. You do use it everyday, you can rotate any parang you like. That’s why we call it parang…use it in good health.
James
Hi James…that’s what the maker told me as well. People gave him the standard parangs, he re-do them by ‘re-tempering’ and of course refitting them with nice hilt and sheath. I have to say that his carvings are out of this world.