4 Comments

I ordered the Panabas sword some time ago, and the quality of workmanship was so high that I knew then I would be buying more swords from BCI in the future. And I have; three swords and the Bowie Knife. Further, I have asked Gene for information on a handful of swords. I will probably make an additional purchases or purchases once I get the more detailed information from him. And speaking of Gene, as a number of other customers have noted, he is one of those people that goes the extra mile for the customer. He is one of the reasons I keep buying things from BCI. Net-net, with BCI you get a lot of quality and support for a very reasonable amount of money. If you’re not a customer yet, become one. You won’t be disappointed.

This sword has quite a nice feeling in the hand. Just holding it, tells you that it can cut quite well. The blade is pretty sharp (easily cuts paper) and looks amazing. The handle is great to hold and use for cutting. Again, the blade is beautiful. Pictures do not do it justice. The scabbard has a nice reddish-brown tint to it that looks really nice in contrast to the light wood of the end of the handle. The shipping was rather quick as well (ordered on a Wednesday and arrived Friday of that same week). Overall quite a good value for the money, and a definite buy if given the chance.

I am very pleased with my purchase of the Panabas. It is a great addition to my collection of beautiful and functional sword, Each Sword has unique attributes which making training a great learning experience. Thank you Sensei Gene for your dedication to quality.
Michael Mulconery – Pangulo Maestro/Mainland Tobosa Kali-Escrima.

Author: Stephen Samson (IP address: 198.143.33.12, 198.143.33.12.ip.incapdns.net)
Email: fmatucson@yahoo.com
URL: http://www.fmatucson.com
Comment:
I just ordered a BCI Sinmalayat through Sword Buyer’s Guide Store. I asked if I could get it shipped soon as I needed it for an event. Gene from BCI worked with SBG and they got it to me in just a few days! Gene has been very responsive and informative whenever I have inquired about products through email, and one of my students has also bought a few swords from BCI directly, and is very impressed with their customer service. The sword I ordered looks great, good fit and finish, nice balance, and cuts very well on goza and soaked rolled newspaper (36 layers). Time will tell about durability, but so far I have no indications that will be an issue. The blade, handle, and guard components have stayed tight and true, and the blade has taken no sets even on miffed but strong cuts that didn’t make it through the targets. Flexing the blade to test it shows an actual spring tempering. So far very satisfied with the purchase process, service, quality, and performance. Thanks!

I just ordered a BCI Sinmalayat through Sword Buyer’s Guide Store. I asked if I could get it shipped soon as I needed it for an event. Gene from BCI worked with SBG and they got it to me in just a few days! Gene has been very responsive and informative whenever I have inquired about products through email, and one of my students has also bought a few swords from BCI directly, and is very impressed with their customer service. The sword I ordered looks great, good fit and finish, nice balance, and cuts very well on goza and soaked rolled newspaper (36 layers). Time will tell about durability, but so far I have no indications that will be an issue. The blade, handle, and guard components have stayed tight and true, and the blade has taken no sets even on miffed but strong cuts that didn’t make it through the targets. Flexing the blade to test it shows an actual spring tempering. So far very satisfied with the purchase process, service, quality, and performance. Thanks!

I received this item a couple months ago and I now tend to favor it over the other blades in my collection. I wasn’t sure how fast shipping was, but it was delivered relatively fast.

As with all my blades, first, I cleaned and sharpened it. The edge was able to be sharpened easily with a quick touch up and it came out very sharp. As sharp as the blade is, I am confident the blade was properly heat treated, though I haven’t done any hard testing yet. The forward curve in the blade, along with the balance and weight of the blade, make controlling it much easier without sacrificing power and durability.

The handle, blade, and pommel, all have a tight fit with no loose parts and no gaps. The hand guard has a tiny bit of flex, but always holds it’s shape. It seems sturdy over all and gives a little more peace of mind with hand protection. The pommel has a nice cultural design and I’m not 100% sure, but the tang looks peened at the bottom. The handle has finger grooves that fit my hand perfectly. Although, my hands are between a small and medium size. I’m not quite sure how large hands would fit over the grooves.

Finally, My personal opinion, I love it! Not just the durable construction and natural handling, but the price was definitely right! If you like martial arts and like a wide range of blade types, Or if you are starting a collection, I highly recommend adding this to your collection.

Fantastic craftsmanship and design. This is NOT a wall hanger.It’s authentic styling and quality steel makes this sword a must have. Not to mention the excellent customer service from Mr. Gene Batan, a fellow FMA practitioner. He knows his blades! I highly recommend BCI!

This weapon is a marriage of Beauty and function. If you use a training barong, it is essential to learn how the real thing feels and moves. This blade is the real thing.

I recently purchased a tenegre from Blade Culture International and I found the whole experience exceptionally easy and pleasant. When I had questions about their blades, Gene was quick to respond, providing all the information I needed. My order arrived in a few days and was properly packaged.

The mahogany sheath was nicely done; the locking mechanism is simple but handy. The blade has a good weight to it and balances about five inches in front of the guard. Altogether it feels very comfortable in the hand.

From the Newsletter update of Paul Southren’s Swordbuyersguide.com January 17, 2017

“…Only one more review from the trip to go, and it will be a total change of pace and genre – the BCI (Blade Culture International) ‘Panabas’ – a Filipino blade that proved amazingly durable and frighteningly effective..

http://www.sword-buyers-guide.com/panabas-sword.html

Watch out for Sword-buyers-guide.com’s, issue 109 December 2016

” …From the Only one more review from the trip to go, and it will be a total change of pace and genre – the BCI (Blade Culture International) ‘Panabas’ – a Filipino blade that proved amazingly durable and frighteningly effective.. I will save the juicy details for when the review is complete, but to the right you can see a teaser pick. (the Panabas is pictured in his News Update).

All in all, it was a blast testing all these swords – so when you have a moment check them out – I would especially love to hear from anyone who has purchased one of these swords to see if their opinion on them is the same as mine or not.

Always good to be open minded when it comes to sword evaluation..!”

I’ve owned many swords and cultural knives in my time from wall hangers to fully battle ready live blades. On a scale of 0 to 10 where 5 is a very good wall hanger and 10 is a battle ready blade, the BCI Ginunting/Pisao rates a 8 to 8.5

It is extremely well made with excellent fit and finish and good materials. The Blade is 21 inches of forged 5160 perfectly ground and nicely polished. The false edge is not sharpened. The main edge easily and cleanly slices paper. The grip is ebony and the sheath is mahogany. The butt is cast aluminum and the fittings are carbon steel.

What would it take to move it to the next level? The false edge should be sharpened. The butt piece could be anodized instead of painted and the fittings could be blued instead of painted. The grip is well finished and a bit too slippery and needs to be roughed up for serious work. These are not compliants; just comments.

This blade is a keeper and BCI offers an alternative to TFW, Kahli, and Top Prado. It is a bit more expensive than TFW but appears to be finished better. It is half the price of the least expensive TP blade which are no better finished. The BCI Ginunting/Pisao provides beauty, usefulness, and value.