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The H'mong knife - from Vietnam
- Thread starter hunglvq
- Start date
Hi Kronchew,
Every dog has a good story to tell. Glad that your dogs could find a home with a nice master.
The one I'm keeping now is a male. He is just 42cm high (at wither) and weights only 12kgs. I found him ill treated in a farm in 2007, then I bought him as low as $100. He was really naughty at first but few months later, he attaches with me like a shadow. Wherever I go, he follows. He is a hunting dog and his hobbies is hunting. He catchs chicken, goat, duck, tits... and I did have problem with my neighbours. In Jan 2008, I moved him to live with me in Hochiminh City and he has nothing to hunt, just have some cocroaches and rats to play with.
The below pix I took him jumping on a fence to escape to the neighbor's garden to "hunt". The fence is 1.6 meter high.
I dont keep my dogs in the cage or string up their neck but let them live free. A greyhound or a PhuQuoc dog is not yet a dog when we put them into the cage. Hence, most of my dogs are stolen. Just told to myself: "Let's treat them good, even if they got stolen tomorrow, nothing to regret".
Below is me and a female PhuQuoc dog that I lost in Jan this year. I dont know if they killed it for meat or not. Really sad!
Every dog has a good story to tell. Glad that your dogs could find a home with a nice master.
The one I'm keeping now is a male. He is just 42cm high (at wither) and weights only 12kgs. I found him ill treated in a farm in 2007, then I bought him as low as $100. He was really naughty at first but few months later, he attaches with me like a shadow. Wherever I go, he follows. He is a hunting dog and his hobbies is hunting. He catchs chicken, goat, duck, tits... and I did have problem with my neighbours. In Jan 2008, I moved him to live with me in Hochiminh City and he has nothing to hunt, just have some cocroaches and rats to play with.
The below pix I took him jumping on a fence to escape to the neighbor's garden to "hunt". The fence is 1.6 meter high.
I dont keep my dogs in the cage or string up their neck but let them live free. A greyhound or a PhuQuoc dog is not yet a dog when we put them into the cage. Hence, most of my dogs are stolen. Just told to myself: "Let's treat them good, even if they got stolen tomorrow, nothing to regret".
Below is me and a female PhuQuoc dog that I lost in Jan this year. I dont know if they killed it for meat or not. Really sad!
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What a terrible uncertainly to have endure.
You have my condolences and hopes for a better future for you and any dogs you get.
Hi Kronchew,
The below pix I took him jumping on a fence to escape to the neighbor's garden to "hunt". The fence is 1.6 meter high.
I'm guessing that his name was, "Boing!"
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What a terrible uncertainly to have endure.
You have my condolences and hopes for a better future for you and any dogs you get.
Yeah, wondering about its fate would drive me nuts... hope for the best I guess.
I was always a cat person until this moment.
Oh wait, you mean the species of bird.
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- May 18, 2010
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Cool pics. I'm Hmong. I don't know about gunsmithing, but knives are a big thing. I don't know about guns over there other than the so called "rebels" use old AKs from the war to stay alive. I'll take a pic of a knife that one of my relatives made for my mom.
I don't know about gunsmithing, but knives are a big thing. I don't know about guns over there other than the so called "rebels" use old AKs from the war to stay alive. I'll take a pic of a knife that one of my relatives made for my mom.
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Mates,
Thanks for your sharing.
That's nice name! His name is Phen (reddish fawn). It's the name the first master gave to him. In here, we often call the dog by the color like black, fawn, brindle,... It is believed that when the dog has an ugly name, the dog can stay with you longer.
Sorry CSG! What I mean by tit here is a kind of small bird. It is sparrow. I remember the wrong word
I remembered one time in May '08, he climbed on a 2.5m high net fence to catch a cat. When he was near the top of the fence, he made a final jump. It was not lucky that the jump was not strong enough, and his left thigh was thrusted over from inside out by a sharp pointed metal bar (you often see this sharp bar on most of the fences). I had to take him to the vet. That was a really memorable experience with him.
Thanks for your sharing.
That's nice name! His name is Phen (reddish fawn). It's the name the first master gave to him. In here, we often call the dog by the color like black, fawn, brindle,... It is believed that when the dog has an ugly name, the dog can stay with you longer.
Sorry CSG! What I mean by tit here is a kind of small bird. It is sparrow. I remember the wrong word
I remembered one time in May '08, he climbed on a 2.5m high net fence to catch a cat. When he was near the top of the fence, he made a final jump. It was not lucky that the jump was not strong enough, and his left thigh was thrusted over from inside out by a sharp pointed metal bar (you often see this sharp bar on most of the fences). I had to take him to the vet. That was a really memorable experience with him.
The gunsmithing is another interesting part of the H'mong culture. They are making a kind of hunting gun called "Sung Kip" in Vietnamese language. You can google it. They use a self-made drill bit to drill the hole thoughout a round metal rod, sometimes, they drill the crowbar. It is a really painful job. It takes the men at least one week to finish the drilling job for the barrel. They normally drill near the water source for cooling off the drill. The normal practice is to drill from top downward. The more experienced men drill from bottom upwards.
The quenching of the trigger is another interesting thing. A good trigger wont break halfway in the middle of the hunt. The secret in unveiled that they burn the trigger to red hot and put into boiling oil.
I'll write more if have more time.
Cheers,
Hung
The quenching of the trigger is another interesting thing. A good trigger wont break halfway in the middle of the hunt. The secret in unveiled that they burn the trigger to red hot and put into boiling oil.
I'll write more if have more time.
Cheers,
Hung
Cool pics. I'm Hmong.
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I'm pretty sure that gunsmithing thing is new then. I'm hugely familiar with my culture and never heard of firearms smithing. We used to make crossbows though. I'll take a pic of that also if I can find it.
Hi! Where did your ancestor live before?
The H'mong people in Vietnam live in many regions of the country. Before, after few crops, they moved to another land. When they move, they also share and learn skills from other tribes. I'll find some pix & share with you.
Cheers,
Hung
The H'mong people in Vietnam live in many regions of the country. Before, after few crops, they moved to another land. When they move, they also share and learn skills from other tribes. I'll find some pix & share with you.
Cheers,
Hung
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My parents came from Laos. Dad fought in the war as an LT under Gen. Vang Pao. Mom came from southern Laos or something. Before that I believe Hmong lived in China before they were exiled. But both my parents were born and raised in Laos. I think my father's father had lineage from the land of China as my dad said he spoke Chinese as well as Hmong, but he died when my father was a boy.
Oh cool! I heard the name of Vang Pao, but not much clear about him.
I have few pix for you (from an article in an online newspaper). These pix are taken in Nghe An Province - Vietnam, near the border with Lao.
Cheers,
Hung
Burning steel to make it softer for easier drill
making holes where to feed the gun powder
Test shot
Guns confiscated by the local police as they want to protect wildlife. some accident on human also happened when mistaken human for wild animal, esp in bushy forest.
I have few pix for you (from an article in an online newspaper). These pix are taken in Nghe An Province - Vietnam, near the border with Lao.
Cheers,
Hung
Burning steel to make it softer for easier drill
making holes where to feed the gun powder
Test shot
Guns confiscated by the local police as they want to protect wildlife. some accident on human also happened when mistaken human for wild animal, esp in bushy forest.
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- May 18, 2010
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- 16
Hmm, also I do think that Hmong in China, Hmong in Laos, and Hmong in Vietnam have slightly different cultures do to long separation from the original group. Although who the original group is I wouldn't know for sure, but suspect it may the ones in China. The ones from Laos are the most universal in the U.S. as they hold a lot of celebrations, and New Years (Harvest celebrations) events.
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Hung,
Thanks for the awesome thread. So sorry it has taken me so long to post. I've been trying to locate some knives we had in storage to post some pictures. As soon as I find them I will do just that. In my opinion (though I maybe biased), the Hmong knife (the one with the clipped point) is the quintessential "if-only-one" knife. It meets all my requirements...it can chop, slice, dice, stab, mince, etc...It may not be the best for each of those task but it can perform them all competently.
Thanks for the awesome thread. So sorry it has taken me so long to post. I've been trying to locate some knives we had in storage to post some pictures. As soon as I find them I will do just that. In my opinion (though I maybe biased), the Hmong knife (the one with the clipped point) is the quintessential "if-only-one" knife. It meets all my requirements...it can chop, slice, dice, stab, mince, etc...It may not be the best for each of those task but it can perform them all competently.
They might come a little smaller or larger but traditionally Hmongs would use the same knife for a variety of tasks. Living in a mountain agrarian society, having seperate knives for every different task may be beyond most families means. So whatever few tools they do own have to be very versatile. I remember my father using the same knife to do a woodwork, hammering nails, opening cans, all besides your regular kitchen chores. I had a friend who was a salesman for Cutco and he told me they could never sell Hmong families knives because they would only want Hmong knives because they had no use for other knives.
As a Hmong person I think that would be a great idea, especially with your awesome heat treat and 5160. Nice handforged Hmong knives are hard to find here in America nowadays. It seems all the bladesmith's have retired. Now most Hmong people are starting to gravitate towards more modern designs and produced Hmong knves. But they are not the same. I'd especially be interested in a remake of my personal favorite Hmong knife with the clip point
maybe with a few modifications such as a full tang and guard as mine didn't come with oneCool pics. I'm Hmong.
I believe he's referring to the old flintlocks or matchlocks Hmong people were famous for making back in the olden days before American supplied M16's. The Hmong in Vietnam never received M16's so I believe they may have kept the art of making traditional flintlocks alive.
It's the ones in China...Hmongs are the aboriginal native "Chinese". They were living in that part of the country before the arrival of the Han Chinese (the majority ethnic group) as stated in their histories. Hmongs only migrated into Vietnam and Laos in the 1700's.