Horn Combs - Where to find them in South East Asia

 

Horn products like shoe horns, combs and brushes are deemed as a luxury these days. About thirty or so years ago, these sort of items were readily available and affordable. These days if you wanted one here in Malaysia you would not find it readily available. Somehow, the Malaysian tradesmen has stopped bringing in this sort of items to our shores. You can find them online or you can head over to Trufittt & Hill over at Bangsar Shopping Centre or Suria KLCC to find some truly gorgeous shoe horns, combs and brushes made out of horn but the problem it that the smallest moustache comb (yes, they sell one of those) costs over a hundred Ringgit.

And they are all made by Abbeyhorn of the UK with their branding on them. Very good quality products but with the current currency exchange rates I rather not spend much of my money there at this moment. I do love their extra long shoe horns though. Beautifully luxurious. But as for smaller items like combs and shoe horns, there are other places to get them at a reasonable price. This is South East Asia or Asia in the first place. Artisans still produce these items at a lower price. Most can be bought at the local central market, where a lot of household wares are sold alongside food stuff.

Seen here in this article are three horn combs. The two larger ones were made in Indonesia. The smaller one is from Vietnam. I do believe Thailand also makes these too. The larger ones are of a lower quality than the one from Vietnam. The larger ones, are cruder in execution. The base of the comb's teeth are inconsistent in how they line up to the shaft of the comb. The polishing is nice on the shaft and handle but crude at the teeth. 

The one from Vietnam, a smaller pocket comb is well made. The only issue was that it was made out of a lighter type of horn. The Indonesia one with the handle looks beautiful. 

The price of each of the combs? Under RM20. The larger ones were bought at the International Craft Festival at the Craft Complex (Kompleks Kraf) Jalan Conlay, KL. This is a once a year event where a few countries from nearly every continent around the world gathers. It has happened twice already, in 2015 and 2016 and held sometime in November. 

The smaller one was bought in Ho Chi Minh City during my trip there last year. These was even more affordable. I believe it was RM5 or less a piece.

So where do you get these combs here if you do not want to order by mail? Unfortunately, you have to end up at Truefitt & Hill to do so. I find it a shame that we do not have such an industry that utilises these throwaway products especially when we do consume a lot of buffalo (especially in Negeri Sembilan).