My ParangDuku Chandong 12in Heavy

This is an excellent tool! Steel is good. Sharpens easily and holds an edge well.

This is the famous Bidor Parang which is an upgraded version of the standard Bidor Parang which has a poly handle. The Parang is the outdoor tool of choice for the British SAS Special Forces. It comes in two sizes, the 10 inch and the 12 inch. The twelve inch is the one I own and I can honestly say this is the best balanced tool that I have ever seen. And I say this as someone that owns numerous Kukris, machetes, Condor Traditional chopping blades as well as the Becker Bk-9.The blade is remarkable because at the base of the handle and stick rat tail tang, the blade is 1/4 inch thick, and tapers to about 1/8th inch at the beginning of the "Ray Mears " style tip (actually in the West, we call this tip a Sheepsfoot.This taper allows the blade to be incredibly well balanced with a weight forward design. The blade is differentially heat treated usually made of 5160 steel, and individually hand forged and heat treated. Mine is expertly honed, and comes to a razor edge and weighs somewhere close to 16 oz.In addition, the blade is designed and so well balanced, that even with a 12 inch blade, one can make very fine notching cuts choking on the blade at the Ricasso, and still be comfortably balanced.The only style blade which even comes close in efficiency and versatility is the 12 inch Kukri in 3/16ths inch thick.. Both blades are extremely well balanced. But while they are both great blades, the Parang is without doubt the best and most versatile and most balanced blade out there for traditional bushcraft chopping tasks.Furthermore, the blade comes as close to a one knife option as anything out there that I have seen. The blade is made in the city of Bidor Malaysia, and the Blacksmith company which makes this particular blade is the Bidor Company of Bidor Malaysia.