[RobT]

Hi Jerseyman,

I have two dha with very similar iron hilts. On mine the non-iron area is ray skin and taken together with the iron segments, the hilts look like sections of bamboo with the ray skin areas as the nodes. As is yours, my blades are hua tat khong. Mine don't have any sheaths either and I don't know whether they are Kachin or Achang but I always assumed Kachin. I have no idea about age but I can find no seam in the iron so I suspect that they may have been made from iron pipe.

Sincerely,
RobT