Hello Ian,
Thanks for the additional data!
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The defect appears to be filled with resin.
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As mentioned above I'd guess there was something inlaid here; probably nothing too fancy though IMHO.
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Blade length = 10.5 inches
Thickness of blade in front of hilt = 5/16 inch
The blade does taper towards the tip but not a great deal until about a half-inch from the tip where it tapers fairly acutely to the point. The sharpened edge starts about 3.5 inches from the hilt.
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To have one third of the edge unsharpened is certainly unusual for Southeast Asia.
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For a blade that is not very wide it is quite sturdy and thick. Probably a good thrusting weapon.
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Yeah, it does look like a very simple rencong/sewar blade (without bolster and other bells and whistles). However, the hilt does not really look optimized for stabbing, doesn't it? (The gripping area appears to be rather long: when you keep the pommel inside your palm, you pretty much loose contact with the blade and vice versa if you snuggle up on the blade?)
Apparently the 2/3 edge got resharpened quite a lot, too - IMVHO quite excessive if this blade got predominantly utilized as dagger...
Maybe a utility knife with more specialized function? Or a really convincing attempt at a sharpened pry-bar at last?
Regards,
Kai