The kampilan is a massive two-handed sword usually found without a sheath. However, the blade could be wrapped with a sheet of bark or a simple sheath made of two pieces of wood and bound with a thin natural fibre string or rattan lashing which allows the scabbard to be cut through easily and the weapon be drawn more quickly. The hilt is usually forked and may have been thought as representing the opened jaws of a crocodile or the tail of the swiftlet. The red lashing may have been used to bind the hand of the wielder to prevent slippage or attached for decorative or talismanic purposes.
