Parang

[Ginja]

(having a busy day of it today ... working on the web; all too easy to come here for a banter!)

Anyhow. Feel a bit lazy asking this, but does anyone know where I can get a good quality parang in the UK? Watching Ray on telly last night made me think that my current parang is getting a little bit long in the tooth, and I'm worried about it coming apart in my hands fairly soon (got it in Borneo - kinda sentimental, so I don't want to destroy it!).

I'm looking for an original Malay-style design with full tang (ie. not a British machete), and I'm not too keen on e-bay ... would rather buy something like this direct from the manufacturer, or from a recognised outlet.

If anyone out there has bought one in the UK then please let me know where from ...

Cheers, G

 

[Stuart]

www.valiantco.com

very very good parangs

 

[tomtom]

jeepers those are some viscious looking blades do you have one stuart

 

[Realgar]

those are good prices too. I am sorely tempted by Golok duren and the Golok kelpa. Would I be right in guessing that golok just means blade?

Realgar

 

[Ginja]

Cheers Stuart - excellent link, a veritable gold mine of machetes!

Some of 'em look a little ornamental for my tastes, but there's plenty to choose from at very good prices. Think this has already been asked, but have you bought from these guys youtrself? And if so, what's the build quality like?

Think I'll probably give them a try anyhow ... I do love a bargain.

Thanks again mate, G

 

[masongary44]

You will probably see one on e-bay, seller R.M.Ears

Parang for sale, one previous owner, only flaw big ding 3/4 way up the blade

Good to see Big Ray is not immune to the same problems I tend to have... Its true you know... he is only human..

 

[gurushaun]

You'll see a lot of discussion of Valiant stuff over on the Outdoor forum. Some excellent reviews as well, I've been looking at one of the Golocks myself.

Cheers

Shaun

 

[ChrisKavanaugh]

Golok is derived from the sound of your opponent stepping in front of one :shock: THE RETURN OF THE KING with Nick Nolte demonstrates this. Valinet has excellent service and products.

 

[OldJimbo]

I have quite a few Valiant blades and I use and enjoy them all. Most people who email me really want the biggest and baddest blade, and despite safety advice - end up getting a long parang. Luckily in most cases, they're also persuaded to get a survival golok - and even if they still have all of their body parts after using one of those, then the parang goes onto the wall.
I use a parang lading for cutting trails where one swipe has to take down lots of saplings at once. It's an incredibly efficient tool for this. I never use it for real work without kevlar chaps,though - because it's too prone to glances and deflections.
Most of the time I use a golok. these too are absolutely deadly when combined with the draw cut - but a person is a lot more likely to learn the draw cut without serious injury. Once the draw cut is seen in action, all the safety advice Jean-Marc put up, starts to make a lot of sense.
The huge problem in discussion of these blades is that they are all designed for this "mythical" draw cut. And a person will consider it mythical until it suddenly comes together. It will come together, though - very suddenly and without having to go to ninja training schools. It'll probably happen for many in the first few hours of use, if a blade like the survival golok is chosen to start with. A person is only safe when they've seen the real capability of the blade and believe it.
Just take it on faith for now that a sharp golok will cut through an arm thickness sapling and after going through it won't have slowed down. You will eventually see that when you are the one holding the golok. Any body parts that are in the path of the blade will then go the way of the saplings.
I feel pretty safe with the goloks because I use them so much, but last year I had to show my grand-daughter how I always set up a blocker tree between the blade and me. The idea was that the blade would slice right through the sapling to be cut, and come safely to rest in the blocker sapling. Now while my grand-daughter tends to believe what I say, she sure didn't believe that I was going to be cutting through the first arm thick sapling. A while back I wouldn't have believed it either. Anyway I felt really good because I had no doubts of dropping the sapling and letting her see that the blade didn't slow down. Then I'd be pretty sure of her not using the golok without a lot of careful practise.
Unfortunately, the blade took down both the sapling to be dropped and the blocker. It was a good thing that I know JM's safety stuff by heart. Now when you drop A tree like that, the cut section slowly drops off the stump to the ground then the tree slowly falls in whatever direction it feels like. So you just reach up with the off hand and deflect it to the side if it falls on you. That doesn't work with two and so it was very embarrassing....

 

[Stew]

Jimbo,

What's the difference between a parang and a golok? Is it just in the length? (I know I could just google but others may be wondering too.)

 

[DUCky]

The term Golok and Parang are used to refer to the same knife from time to time, but the Golok is the chopper and the Parang is the slicer. A Golok is therefor often a bit shorter and heavier than a Parang.

DUCky

 

[george]

In Indonesian (and Malay) the word parang just describes the fact that it's a big knife ( a bit like saying "jungle knife") A Golok is a specific style of parang - usually slightly shorter with a broader tip. It (I believe) originated in Java though there are many different similar styles from all over S.E. Asia. It is more useful in dense secondary jungle where you may not get a long swing at whatever you're trying to cut if you use a longer blade. The tip heavy Golok gives a lot of cutting power for a shorter blade length - it has disadvantages when it comes to reach though.

George

 

[OldJimbo]

There are some great articles online at the Valiant site. The thing to remember is that many of the Valiant blades are supersized to suit westerners. That doesn't mean that they are non-traditional - but the designs on the larger blades were ones more likely to be used for weaponry and head removal than day to day business.
The big Valiant parangs are very tip heavy as you'll see in the pics. It's that and the wide tip that leads to change in direction as you go through thicker stuff. They're a whole other animal than the little parangs such as in the Ray Mears book.

 

[tomtom]

while browsing over on BB i found this and thought you might like to see...

 

[tomtom]

....also this, excelnt prices in this one.. and in the UK aswell

 

[homer]

I know a place in London that sells new 14" blade Martindale Goloks with a sheath, for £12. That is well cheap. They don't post, it's pick up only. Send me an email neiltanderson@yahoo.co.uk and i will give you all the contact details.