File:Luzon kalinga head axe.JPG

English: The above blade is commonly referred to as the Kalinga head axe of the people of northern Luzon in the Philippines.

Perhaps north Luzon highland axe is a more accurate term because the axe is used not only in the Kalinga region but in other regions as well.

The axe serves as both weapon and tool. As a tool, it is used as an adze, as a grappling hook when climbing slopes, as a kitchen blade, for circumcision and as shaver in the olden days, among many other uses.

The typical axe has a handle made of plain wood. The above sample has copper 'staples' for enhanced grip. The cutting edge of the blade also shows a bi-metal construction -- the cutting edge itself is made of darker harder steel, sandwiched by softer lighter-color steel.

Overall length: Handle length: 445 mm or 17.5 inches (including the 100-mm or 3.9-inch ferrule); Blade length: 350 mm (13.8 inches); Blade width: 65 mm (2.6 inches); Blade thickness at spine: 3 mm (1/8 inch) at front, 2 mm (5/64 inch) at middle, and 5 mm (3/16 inch) at the rear (spike end)

The non-uniform thickness of the blade's spine is a quick way of determining whether a Kalinga head axe is an old and genuine one, or a "tourist" version.

Other uploaded materials by the same author are here:

(a) Luzon weapons; (b) Visayan weapons; (c) Moro weapons; and (d) Lumad (non-Moro Mindanao) weapons