[AHite]

Originally Posted by Ian

ausjulius, you may be right about northern Burma. There is another group that has used a similar scabbard construction, with aluminum strips around a wooden scabbard, and that is the Hmong/Miao people of the Vietnamese/Lao/Cambodian highlands. Their knife has a clipped point also but tends to be wider in the belly than the example shown, as many knives are from that region. The hilt treatment also would be a little unusual for Hmong construction, but nevertheless a possibility.

Andrew, if your scabbard is original to the knife, then the knife has not seen much use. That makes dating a bit more difficult. It does appear to have some age, although hard to tell from the pictures. The misleading tag could be incorrect, and it's possible this piece was a bring back from the Vietnam War rather than WWII, in which case a Hmong/Miao origin would be more likely. Distinguishing between a 50+ year-old knife and an 80 year-old knife is not always possible, especially from pictures.

Andrew, does the blade have a fuller? Some Burmese blades do have a wide fuller.

The blade does not have a fuller. The Vietnam connection is intriguing. Thanks, Andrew