Junglepixiebelize - Recollections of a Gringa Pioneer
Nancy R Koerner - Copyright@2021 - All Rights Reserved
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
"Don Tiburcio's Scabbard"
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My first machete, purchased shortly after our arrival in Belize in 1976, didn’t come with a scabbard. On the advice of one of my new Belizean friends, I visited the village of San Antonio (Cayo District, not Toledo) and found a diminutive Maya man, about 4’ 10”, named Don Tiburcio, who agreed to make one for me. Since the machete was a mid-size, 22”, appropriate for my height and arm, rather than the full 25- 28”, he asked me to leave it with him and come back in a week.
During that time, Don Tiburcio took a heavy, but supple, piece of thick cowhide, and wrapped it around the machete to create an exact custom form. Once measured, he cut it to size, and pierced the edges for the lacing. An extra collar of cowhide went around the top, with a loop on one side, and a long strap on the other to go around my waist. Then he cut a piece of manteca tin (big 5-lb can of lard), folded it roughly into the shape of a triangle, pounded it flat, and inserted it down into the point before lacing it up. This would be a permanent reinforcement, preventing the blade from |
slicing into the hide when the machete was withdrawn, or sheathed. Then he soaked the scabbard in water, and cured the piece "inna di sun-haht," repeating this process daily, until the leather became hard as wood.
When it was new, the width of my machete was that of a standard Latino bush-style – with a full-belly blade – two inches wide. Now, as you can see in the photo, the blade has become a skinny vestige of its former self, the ultra-narrow point representing 45 years of hand-sharpening with a file. It is a relic and a classic. To this day, I still use it from time to time.
The price? Don Tiburcio had charged me $4 BH ($2 US) for this custom scabbard. (And yes, I gave him a tip.)
When it was new, the width of my machete was that of a standard Latino bush-style – with a full-belly blade – two inches wide. Now, as you can see in the photo, the blade has become a skinny vestige of its former self, the ultra-narrow point representing 45 years of hand-sharpening with a file. It is a relic and a classic. To this day, I still use it from time to time.
The price? Don Tiburcio had charged me $4 BH ($2 US) for this custom scabbard. (And yes, I gave him a tip.)