Mongolian heavy knife?

dennee · 20th December 2010, 06:45 PM

It looks like a Bhutanese knife. The shape of both the blade and the waisted hilt are characteristic, as are the construction and tripatite covering of the sheath. The gadrooned brass fittings ("khaser") are typical on Bhutanese edged weapons that do not use a higher-grade metal. Sheet brass is common on knives and swords that are lower grade but not solely utility examples.

kronckew · 20th December 2010, 07:56 PM

definitley a bhutanese 'dossum' or 'doo zum', as noted, the faceted grip shape is a dead giveaway. yours has more of a 'sword' tip to it (swords are 'patang') and thus could be a short 'patang'. they also make these in eastern tibet, near the bhutan border - styles do blurr there a bit, but even the tibetan ones are 'bhutanese style'.

i've one, a bit more dressy:

yours is a bit more utilitarian, i like it. many older ones are made from hairpin laminated steel.

here's a photo of the current king wearing a slightly larger (and much more expensive than ours) one. note he wears it on the right side, the negative is not flipped. it's a rank thing apparently.

another link to another forum where these were discussed. the original poster is a well educated bhutanese...LINKY
best bits are on page 3.

the other 2 pages are also worth reading.

20th December 2010, 07:56 PM	#2
kronckew Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Room 101, Glos. UK Posts: 4,215	definitley a bhutanese 'dossum' or 'doo zum', as noted, the faceted grip shape is a dead giveaway. yours has more of a 'sword' tip to it (swords are 'patang') and thus could be a short 'patang'. they also make these in eastern tibet, near the bhutan border - styles do blurr there a bit, but even the tibetan ones are 'bhutanese style'. i've one, a bit more dressy: yours is a bit more utilitarian, i like it. many older ones are made from hairpin laminated steel. here's a photo of the current king wearing a slightly larger (and much more expensive than ours) one. note he wears it on the right side, the negative is not flipped. it's a rank thing apparently. another link to another forum where these were discussed. the original poster is a well educated bhutanese...LINKY best bits are on page 3. the other 2 pages are also worth reading. Last edited by kronckew; 20th December 2010 at 08:28 PM.

20th December 2010, 06:45 PM	#1
dennee Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: College Park, MD Posts: 186	It looks like a Bhutanese knife. The shape of both the blade and the waisted hilt are characteristic, as are the construction and tripatite covering of the sheath. The gadrooned brass fittings ("khaser") are typical on Bhutanese edged weapons that do not use a higher-grade metal. Sheet brass is common on knives and swords that are lower grade but not solely utility examples.