Thai (?) Darb (?) from eBay
 

Comments?

Yes that is a contemporary Thai Darb. Are there any markings on the blade ? The guard is probably aluminum.

Hello everybody,

Sorry to intrude, but I was reading this thread and looking at the pictures. They reminded me of a blade I recently acquired. So I thought I'd join in and post pictures of my blade for identification.
Similar items to mine have been up for sale around the globe, being listed variously as Thai, Javanese, Fijian, Malaysian etc. and at varying prices. So when this one came up for sale at a VERY low price, I grabbed it. I know it looks cheap and touristy, but hey, for ten bucks, I could never get someone here to make one for me.:D

Regards.

That's what I thought too.

It looks better (for lack of a better term) than the usual daab/darb/dha listed on auction sites.

I haven't recieved it yet so I can't say if it has the usual (sine wave stampings) markings found on junk Thai swords.

No problem. I have several of these. One was even listed as a "South Seas Sword" ;)

Was that $10 before or after shipping?

We will know the end of the world is soon when the Chinese start counterfitting them :eek: ;)

Amok, The first Dha I bought is identical to yours (my son has it now and thinks it's cool), Definately made for the tourist trade, although I paid $25 for mine IN THAILAND so yours is a better deal. No historical signifigance to the design, the Thais just know that Westerners like a lot of carving so they made what they thought would sell.

Jmings, Rhys is right that this is a contemporary blade and probably very recent as I haven't seen this handle design before or this extent of design on this type of scabbard (the top design looks like an Erawan, three headed elepant, and the three four pointed stars on the bottom match a design found on the dha hwang knives carried by the northern hill tribes, kind of a mix-mash). As my son would say - "So what-they still look cool"!

Dan

... Shipping was about another $9 :)

Thank you everybody for the info (now I know it's definitely a Thai dha) and for taking my light-hearted interjection in stride:D

Regards.

Amuk Murugul the darb you have is a style I first saw when my cousin brought one back from Thailand after serving in the Viet Nam war. This type at least dates back that far and is still made today so there is no real way for me to know when yours was made