Cambodian ???
 

Just won this on epray and am wondering what to call it. The information from the auction stated "This knife was brought from Cambodia in the 50's by a photographer." It is supposed to be about 26 inches in total length. By looking at the cut-out for the blade on the end of the scabbard the blade should be fairly substantial. The binding on the scabbard should be an easy repair as long as the braided sections don't get damaged in shipping. Would this be called a bolo, machete, parang or something else? Any and all comments on this would be greatly appreciated.

Best,
Robert

Hi Robert. Yes it could certainly be Cambodian, but could also be Laos, Thai, Burmese. I DO think though SE Asian. The Kachin have knives with similar scabbards, and I would think that it is probably a work knife rather than a weapon, though could obviously be used as one.
Mark and Nathaniel would probably have more input than I.
Stu

Thank you very much Stu. I am only going by what was posted on the auction site as to where it was collected but as we all know anything said in a description should be taken with a grain of salt. Hopefully the others will be kind enough to comment on this as well.
Best,
Robert

It's "Montagnard"--hill tribe. As Stu notes, not necessarily from Cambodia and more likely from further north in Laos, Thailand or Vietnam.

The handle was once much longer. Compare exampes 263-266 here:

http://www.arscives.com/historysteel....swordlist.htm

Thank you very much Andrew for identifying this as a Montagnard Daab and for link to the great photos and information. Using the dimensions listed on the link and the known width of the boards under my example I have been able to work out a close estimation of the length of my piece. It looks to be 72 cm in total length with a 46 cm blade and a 26 cm hilt. This is the same blade to hilt ratio as item #264 in the link you provided while the scabbard is a very close match for item 265. Unfortunately the guard on my piece seems to be missing and will have to be replaced. Do you have any suggestions as to where I might be able to find one? I have attached a few new photos of the hilt on my example but until it arrives I will not be able to really get a good idea of if has been shortened at some point in time or not. Also if you look closely at the third new photo it looks as if this might have had wire wrapping next to the collar at some time. Again my thanks to both you and Stu for your help in identifying where this is from and who it was made by.

Best,
Robert

My pleasure, Robert.

#264 is from my collection, and I believe the handle was shortened somewhere along the way. Almost all of this type of sword have very long handles (not all, just most).

In any event, the guard is largely vestigial, and often not much more than a "guitar-pick" or diamond shaped piece of metal. Some have pierced coins as guards. Finding an original guard will be difficult, so you might consider getting something fabricated.

Hi Robert,
Doubt you will "find" a guard but one could be made reasonably easily. It is likely to be just a disc, maybe decorated or more likely I think, plain, but maybe with some edge "knurling" of some sort. It really comes down to "how far do you want to go?". Do you leave it as a work knife, or restore to the "dha" format with a new handle?
If the latter is the case then perhaps Andrew or I, can supply a bigger pic from The History of Steel Catalogue,of the item concerned.
Stu

Hello Andrew, fabrication is not a problem. Could you by chance post a photo of what a common guard would look like with dimensions ? It would be of great help if you could. The main reason that I am not quite sure that the hilt has been cut down is the odd bent it seems to takes at the very end. Thank you again.


Hello Stu, we must have been posting at the same time. I do not want to change this to try to make it something more than it was originally. If this did not have a guard when it started out it does not need one added now. I just thought that it might have had one originally and wanted to replace it if it did. So now my question is, do you think that this originally had a guard?

Best,
Robert

Hi Robert, I think Andrew is best to answer this, as the item shown in the Catalogue is his, though it certainly looks as if it had a guard. It looks from the pics you have posted that there is a gap between the blade and hilt. I suspect that the blade is probably loose in the handle, and the guard has maybe dropped out, but you will know that when it arrives.
Stu

I think Stu has it absolutely correct--that gap between the handle and blade is where the guard would be.

All examples of this type I have seen and handled (including three currently in my collection) have a guard. I'll post some photos when I get a moment.

Best,
Andrew