That's a nice dha. To clarify this is a Vietnamese-made sword, correct? I recently acquired a Thai-made dha, along with a shorter bladed knife of the same construction. You are undoubtedly familiar with these. I'm interested in why aluminum was used as guards on these. On mine, it's a roughly 1/8 inch thick stamped aluminum sheet. I wonder if the availability of French aluminum coins started the use of this material as a guard, then later continued as scrap aluminum became more available with the warfare in the area. Aluminum as a guard material would be my last choice as a guard due to being a softer metal.
You mentioned Montagnard crossbows. I looked at one for sale by a former US GI that he acquired in Vietnam during the war. I passed on it due to the bowstring missing. Still, an impressive weapon and the former GI told a few stories about the crossbow's impressive penetrating power.
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