If any of you have noticed, some of the East Malaysian or Borneo parangs ( Sabah and Sarawak ) can be quite long. I am sure some of you may be wondering how on earth do the locals carry a long parang or duku . If you hang it down vertically or hook it to your belt, like a conventional parang , you will be very uncomfortable as for two reasons, one would be because the parang is so long, it will swing all over the place , and second, if you were to squat or sit, the parang will rip your belt off when the edge of the sheath hits the ground.

If you look at the picture  above, you will notice that these three long parangs all have a different way of attaching it to your waist. They do not have a belt loop, but have some cord or rattan weaving which is attached to the the sheath lengthwise. The cord is actually a length of cord with a loop, and part of this loop is tied on to the sheath. It’s pretty difficult to describe by words, but if you look at the following pictures, it should be pretty understandable.

This is how the prang looks when it is worn. Notice how the parang/ duku is horizontal compared to vertical? It looks almost like how a katana is worn too. By having the parang horizontal like this, it enables you to draw the parang easily, while it does not hinder your movement. I’ve carried these types of parang before and believe me , it is very comfortable and does not get into the way at all. I did push the parang all the way to the back once as the handle kept getting in the way while walking, but once that is done, no more problems. And when you need the parang again, just pull it back to the most comfortable position. This way of wearing the long parang is the traditional way, ie it was not invented by me, so I’m pretty sure it has evolved and stood the test of time to be the most suitable way of carrying the long parang.

 

Here is how you draw the parang . You notice that the handle and blade is forward, so you don’t have to change hands or grips when you draw and use the parang. So there you have it, that’s how to carry a long parang .