New sword, dha? darb? whatever

[illmade2]

As you all know, with the exception of my beloved kurkri's I am a Euro kind of guy...I like things simple, double edged and pointy.....but after a recent ebay purchase I have developed a new fondness for a sword I really had never thought twice about before.

The seller called it a Siamese Lanna Sword which I must confess I could find little about a animal of that name on the internet, it has the characteristics of a Dha or Darb but also some differences from the examples I could find.

Now over the years I have seen those sorts of swords at flea markets, pawn shops and antique stores, and no matter how nice the furniture was they had one thing in common, a blade with all the grace and beauty of a piece of sheet metal which is what most of them were made of.

With finances being what they have been over the last few months I have not purchase anything for myself but when I saw this and it fell into my limited price range I figured what the hell...it came with out a scabbard which sucks but I can live with out.

Length is right at 32 in. Blade 23 in. and almost 1/2 in thick at the furrel, point of balance is 3 inches out from the furrel. The blade is very well made with a nice flex, and has a nice design chiseled along the back edge, and while being somewhat age stained it is still in excellent shape.. The furrel is copper and the butt is wrapped in copper ribbon, the handle itself is of something like bamboo or rattan as opposed to hard wood.

All in all a very pleasant sword, light, fast, and lively. If anyone has more info on this style of sword please fill me in, I would be grateful.
Sorry for the quality of the pics.

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e202/illmade2/th_dha1.jpg (http://s40.photobucket.com/albums/e202/illmade2/?action=view&current=dha1.jpg)

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e202/illmade2/th_dha3.jpg (http://s40.photobucket.com/albums/e202/illmade2/?action=view&current=dha3.jpg)
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e202/illmade2/th_dha4.jpg (http://s40.photobucket.com/albums/e202/illmade2/?action=view&current=dha4.jpg)
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e202/illmade2/th_dha2.jpg (http://s40.photobucket.com/albums/e202/illmade2/?action=view&current=dha2.jpg)

[the blade master]

hi illmade
it could be one of two things a burmese dha or a thai krabbe
more than that i dont know never heared of a darb tho
mick

[Mako]

Could it be a 'fun daab' as used in Thai fencing?

http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/5770/k430241.jpg (http://img87.imageshack.us/i/k430241.jpg/)

Just a stab in the dark...looks about the right size and shape but I don't know for sure. :-?

[illmade2]

do they use sharpened blades for fencing?? Damn they got some balls if they do...

Darb or Daab I have seen Thai swords refered to as, have never heard of a krabbe will have to look that term up, probably all one in the same..

Thanks guys if you come across anything else let me know...I wish it still had the scabbard I have a feeling that would have narrowed things down a bit, but what ever it is it is a amazingly well made little weapon for what it is....

[Mako]

do they use sharpened blades for fencing?? Damn they got some balls if they do...
Nah :) they use blunt ones for fencing, I meant the real deal.

Darb or Daab I have seen Thai swords refered to as, have never heard of a krabbe will have to look that term up, probably all one in the same..
I think Mick meant Krabi, one of the pair of short swords used in Krabi Krabong?
No...I didn't know what it was called until now either.

EDIT:
Scratch the above...it looks like fun daab and krabi krabong may be the same thing.

I've got a headache now. :)

[illmade2]

EDIT:
Scratch the above...it looks like fun daab and krabi krabong may be the same thing.

I've got a headache now. :)

Me too...I think I'll just call it a sword...seems to cover all the bases that way.:ohyeah:

[the blade master]

hi mako
thanks for that right word wrong spelling oops

[Taygrd]

Nice looking blade. First one I have seen.

[Dotanuki]

Guys,

If you have seen the movie "Bang Rajan", you can see this type of sword in action!

Look at this clip;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDHs50YhPsM


This is a great movie!!
It is the Thai's fighting the Burmese, If you notice they both use variations of the same sword, I would not doubt they also had different names for the same sword.

[the blade master]

looks like a film well worth watching kinda reminds me of the spartans at thermopoly

[illmade2]

Looks like a movie to watch..thanks

[thana357]

Lanna was old name for small kingdom composed of Northen provinces in Thailand so if your E-bay seller obtained this sample from the area then the name was accurate but there is no significant different between Lanna sword and the rest of Thai sword but I beleive Northern provinces prefer smaller and shorter sword than the bigger one that Ayotaya people used (if you watch Ban Rajan the movie you will see the big and long blade daab use in that movie -they called Daab Yai , daab means sword and Yai mean big = big sword ) . Lanna mean million rice field so name because of rich argriculture area there (Democratic republic of Laos old name was Lan Chang -Lan means Million and Chang means elephant ,there were lot of elephant in Laos ) . krabi Krabong is tradition sword dance and fighting system that also part of curriculum in primary school for all Thai student .I am not certain when this system was put in school but it was not too long ago because the term krabi actually mean saber (like European cavalry saber -the krabi actually imitate cavalry saber with rawhide D cup hand guard ) Krabon means stick . Nice sword indeed .

[bobO]

Welcome and great post. Just got yourself your first rep.

[illmade2]

Thanks for the great info and a belated welcome to the forum.

[Dotanuki]

Welcome and great post. Just got yourself your first rep.

Thana, seconded by me also, with rep also! :)