Vietnam Souvanir Dha Collection

[Andrew]

Ian posted a great thread on these swords (check out the "classics" sticky thread) some time ago.

Nice collection! I like it.

I bet those are the initials of whomever brought that sword back with them. "BLM"

[kronckew]

interesting. the 'good' ones are signed and distal tapered. and fairly heavy. the not quite so good ones with light sheet steel cut out blades are decorative even if they should never ever be used to cut something. the very worst ones have ornately carved grips and scabbards to offset the appalling blades. as in all things, you get what you pay for. the locals still buy the good ones to hang by the door for things that go bump in the night, especially the two-legged wolves. they all have relatively short stub tangs that only go in a few inches of the handle, held in by resin. they were like that even when they wer primary weapons centuries back, they work.

yours look more on the good end if the blades are decent steel & properly heat treated and distal tapered. i am a bit leery of the ones with the s-guards like the one on the right. the pointy scabbards are typical thai. the flat or rounded end ones tend to be burmese, tho not exclusively so. cozun sharbs in aranyik, thailand used to offer fully string wound scabbards like yours, so i gather they are common.

i have two krabi krabong dancing swords with string wrapped scabbards and grips. sadly sheet steel blades. they are the equivalent of chinese practice wushu dao.

if you youtube, look up krabi krabong for an idea on how they were used.

my string wound 'dancers' - 2 at top. the lower one is a late 20th c. one for those who travel, but has a good distal tapered & tempered blade & individually braided rattan rings on the grip.