Pair of knives

[Nathaniel]

Originally Posted by blue lander

They just arrived today. First impression: Souvenir knives. They're tiny and the edges aren't sharpened. I was about to chuck them in the "junk" bin but the seller covered the other side of the blade with stickers for some reason and I wanted to remove them. I scraped off what I could and used FeCL to burn off the rest of the residue.

To my surprise, it appears that the larger one has a hardened edge! So I guess it is a real knife.

Edit: Small one appears to be hardened as well. I can't imagine what such a small knife would be useful for.

Classic Hmong style blade and handle. Interesting I've never seen a shealth like that were they are in a pair. In South East Asia, the Hmong live in China, Vietnam, Laos and Thailand. The largest Hmong population outside of Asia is in the USA due to Hmong fighting along side US soldiers in the Vietnam War. In he USA, I've seen Hmong knives for sale at markets during large Hmong gatherings during Memorial day, 4th of July and Labor Day.

[blue lander]

Originally Posted by Nathaniel

Classic Hmong style blade and handle. Interesting I've never seen a shealth like that were they are in a pair. In South East Asia, the Hmong live in China, Vietnam, Laos and Thailand. The largest Hmong population outside of Asia is in the USA due to Hmong fighting along side US soldiers in the Vietnam War. In he USA, I've seen Hmong knives for sale at markets during large Hmong gatherings during Memorial day, 4th of July and Labor Day.

Thanks for the info. Have you ever seen Hmong knives this small? The other one's I've seen have been much larger. I'm still trying to determine if these were souvenirs or intended for use.

[Nathaniel]

Originally Posted by blue lander

Thanks for the info. Have you ever seen Hmong knives this small? The other one's I've seen have been much larger. I'm still trying to determine if these were souvenirs or intended for use.

I would guess more along the novelty type, though you can used knives of all different sizes for specific tasks.

Here is what the more common utility type look like...they are both actually Hmong style blades. When I posted this tread initially I titled it Karen...but that is not quite correct...we visited a more temporary village which had a number of sellers from different tribal groups just north of Chiang Rai, Thailand...this type would be recognized as Meed Hmong (Hmong style knife)

http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=5163