Vietnamese dha?

[fearn]

Hi All,

Question for the dhafia: In WoodenBoat No. 216, there's an article about Vietnamese boats made from woven bamboo, from an island in central Vietnam. (If you're into boats, see also this link).

In the text, the author talks about how much of the boat is made using a long-handled, short-bladed "machete" to cut the bamboo. Unfortunately, he doesn't show it in any of his pictures.

Obviously, they are using some type of dha, but I don't know either the local name or what they look like. Does anyone here have a specimen of a dha from Vietnam they'd be willing to show?

F

[Rick]

Ah, the forerunner of the WEST system .

Seriously though, maybe the implement in question resembles more a jumbo rattan splitting knife than a dha .

[Nathaniel]

Hello Fern,

Interesting boats! Thanks for posting. I'm not exactly sure...but if I had to guess I would think perhaps a very simple working knife like: http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=5163 which is fairly common style from Burma to at least the hills of Vietnam ...that being said I'm not sure, what the Vietnamese coastal proper knives would look like perhaps though like a short Chinese DaDao/ Vietnamese Douk Douk...ie something with a full tang.

That being said these are the types of knives though used for splitting rattan or bamboo or as a draw knife for wood shaving/ cutting in and around Thailand:
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...attan+splitter

I would not be surprised though if what is used really is not at all that specialized, but just a general work knife that they use for everything!

[fearn]

Thanks all.

Nathaniel, I could see it being one of those rattan/bamboo splitters (I finally found a picture of a woman using one for bamboo). Somewhere, I'd gotten it stuck in my head that the bamboo knives tend to have straight edges, which is why I was thinking about a dha.

In any case, if someone has a vietnamese knife, by all means, put a picture up.

Best,

F

[DaveA]

A long handled "machete" might refer to a mak.

The mak is an agricultural tool used for clearing woodlands in Vietnam. The mak is thought to be a tool/weapon of the Montagnard tribe in Laos and Vietnam. This mak is 26 inches in length overall. The blade is 11 3/4 inches long with a width of 1 3/8 inch and a full width of 1/2 inch at the spine. It is extremely sharp and solid. The grip is made of an unexceptional wood and cracked from age and use. It is 14 inches in length, and bound with copper wire. This mak was brought to the US from Vietnam by a war veteran. A tag on the mak reads “Chu Lai village.”