How practical is the Bowie Knife?

[PatMarlin]

Don' t even think about laughing, even in silence... felix

Reminds me of that "Crocodile Dundee" movie..."You call that a knife?" as he pulls out my Bowie..

[dubber123]

I have one of the Gerber Bowies they used to sell with the 9-1/2" blade. I think I cut my finger with it once, about all the use I have gotten out of it so far...

I picked up a few of the old Marbles fixed blade knives a few years ago, now those are a nice piece of craftsmanship. I think 6" is the longest of them all.

[gon2shoot]

Pat, I use a Bowie (simuliar to yours) when camping. Heavy work goes to heavy knives, I also have lighter and smaller knives depending on what I'm doing.

I also carry a 22 when carrying a 45-70 for the same reason. Put the knife to work and see what it's handy for.

[45nut]

that is the knife I sold Pat.

[waksupi]

Big knives are good for camp chores, but lack a bit for hunting. I have used big knives for the purpose, but a smaller one is always handier. I generally carry a Camillus double blade Trapper, lock back for my main cutting tool when hunting.

Here is an original Hudson's Bay camp knife I have in my collection.

[leadeye]

I have one of those big cold steel bowies I got at an auction with a box of other stuff some time ago. It works as an all purpose tool in my truck. It has chopped, dug, cut and hammered. Probably not the best treatment for a knife but it was cheap and it always sharpens up.

[Blacksmith]

Felix
Here is a link to other style Alfi knives. It was on the U.S distributers website.

http://www.alfi.com/alfi_forged_knives.html

Blacksmith

[Gerry N.]

I own a pile of knives. The ones that get used are, in order:
Swiss Army Tinker
Russel Green River Camp Knife
Old Hickory 3 1/2" Paring Knife
Rapala 6" Filet Knife
Marble's Bird and Trout Knife
Buck 102 Small Game Knife

Gerry N.

[peter nap]

The Bowies are interesting knive, but not much good for anything but fighting. I've tried using them and keep going back three old favorites.

I carry an Old Timer stockman pocket knife everywhere

When I hunt I also carry an Old Nesmuck I made years ago


If I need to chop I carry a very small Gransfors hatchet.

[BruceB]

Practical, y'all say?

I have zillions of "practical" knives, mostly of very high quality, and they serve me well. However, when Cold Steel brought out their Bowie, I immediately told my wife I wanted one. Why? Who cares? She gave me one for Christmas that year. I enjoy the feel and the appearance of this knife, mine being the carbon-steel and Kraton model. It holds its edge very well, and for extreme use this beast will still be ready for duty when lesser knives have given up the ghost.

I've put it to use on occasion, especially in the country near timberline in the NWT, where the wood is extremely small. For making firewood in that area, I like it better than a hatchet.

I had my shoemaker relocate the belt loop on the sheath, so that the top of the loop is now at the top of the sheath. This puts the hilt up in my short ribs, but I can usually find a comfy spot for the knife. This makes it MUCH less cumbersome to carry.

On top of all this, the knife has "presence", just like some rifles I own. I can't describe "presence", but I dad-gummed recognize it when I see it. My new-condition #4 , for example, has "presence", and so does my M1A. Same for this wonderful knife.

[Baron von Trollwhack]

Now you have come to the issue. The Bowie is a fighting knife, A camp axe is a camp axe. A skinning knife is a skinning knife. Do you want a Bowie in a leather sheath on your belt in a tree stand, or on a slippery trail? BvT

[PatMarlin]

Thanks for posting that pic Ken. Now isn't that a good lookin' Bowie?

I would not strap it on for hunting. But- I have 2 Rokon trail bikes that I want to restore someday, and pull a little game trailer with one with camp gear in it, so my wife and I, or a friend and I can do some overnight hunting on the trail.

That's what I figured the Bowie would be good for- camp and kitchen chores, but light weight and multi uses with one knife.

I would strap it on while riding, but in camp for sure.

[45&30-30]

I have always been fascinated with the Bowie knife and its history. The examples shown are excellent but I have never found a need for one which has prevented me from buying one. Although I came close several times with the Cold Steel Bowie.

I use a Schrade SC503 to gut and quarter deer and I've used it on elk, I never felt under knifed. It's single folding four inch drop point blade is thin and can be sharpened quick in the field with a few passes on a draw through sharpener/hone and keeps the edge well. I would prefer one of 1095 steel but as this one is still servicable after 20 years I stay with it. I suppose nostalgia has something to do with it. A present from my brother on my first leave from the Army during Christmas and carried on adventures in a couple of countries and state side.

I considered changing to a larger knife a while back until I ran in to an excellent book, Fifty years a hunter and trapper; experiences and observations of E. N. Woodcock, the noted hunter and trapper. Free Download and a treat to read.) On page 120 he notes, "A good strong pocket knife is all that I have found necessary, though one should have more than one knife no matter what kind he may use." I forgot about the second part maybe it's time for another folder. I also carry a smiss army knife along with it, never know when you might need to open a bottle of Merlot. Or tighten up a screw.

After reading Woodcraft by George Washington Sears (Nessmuk) I was really interested in his knife but again couldn't find a niche for it the axe or folder wouldn't take care of. By the way nice work peter nap. It is a fine example of his original design.

[Lead Fred]

I carry have two. My camp knife and all around beater is a Rambo 3.

My pig (and other things) sticker is a repop of Bowies first knife design.

Made by Searles of LA.

Its a fighting knife.

[dualsport]

Thanks for posting that pic Ken. Now isn't that a good lookin' Bowie?

I would not strap it on for hunting. But- I have 2 Rokon trail bikes that I want to restore someday, and pull a little game trailer with one with camp gear in it, so my wife and I, or a friend and I can do some overnight hunting on the trail.

That's what I figured the Bowie would be good for- camp and kitchen chores, but light weight and multi uses with one knife.

I would strap it on while riding, but in camp for sure.

The knife is cool as hell. End of story. You can't have too many good knives. BUT, the thing that blew my skirt up was the Rokon camping trip idea. You don't think I go by 'dualsport' for nothin', do ya?! I have two, a Kawasaki KLR 650 and a smaller Yamaha XT 350 in beautiful shape. I'm trying to finagle (sp?) a deal on a Honda 650 dualsport bike and I have dreamed of owning a Rokon for decades. Go for it Pat, motorcycle camping is great and can go well with shooting cast bullets if you work it right. Dualsport's law #1: You can't have too many guns, knives, or motorcycles. My current fantasy involves cruising the dirt backroads of Nevada on my KLR with a rifle in the scabbard, a bunch of homemade ammo, a pistol on my belt(I have a Nev, CCW), and who knows, maybe my Buck Bowie on the belt too. Lookin' for hostiles, adventure, treasure, and damsels in distress. OK, I took a breath, my take along rough duty backwoods knife is an old USAF survival knife made by Camillus, it's tough as nails and a little handier than the Kabar.

[PatMarlin]

BUT, the thing that blew my skirt up was the Rokon camping trip idea.

Well that's better than blowin' smoke somewhere else ....

Maybe we think alike cause I was born and raised in Sacramento and a confirmed river rat ...

[MT Gianni]

Go for it Pat, motorcycle camping is great and can go well with shooting cast bullets if you work it right. Dualsport's law #1: You can't have too many guns, knives, or motorcycles. My current fantasy involves cruising the dirt backroads of Nevada on my KLR with a rifle in the scabbard, a bunch of homemade ammo, a pistol on my belt(I have a Nev, CCW), and who knows, maybe my Buck Bowie on the belt too. Lookin' for hostiles, adventure, treasure, and damsels in distress. OK, I took a breath, my take along rough duty backwoods knife is an old USAF survival knife made by Camillus, it's tough as nails and a little handier than the Kabar.

I'd ride and shoot with both of ya. DR650.

[dualsport]

River rat?!! OMG, I grew up IN the American River. My first ever real book was "Two Little Savages", read over and over. Everyday possible was spent roaming up and down the river, just being wild boys. Now it's a very long county park. Funny how we end up on the same road like this, and I'm sure so many others here. I've been led to believe there's guys who wouldn't be interested in Bowie knifes or cast bullets, strange, isn't it? What's wrong with them guys? I have to fight the urge to add to my knife collection, don't make no sense, does it? I have a running competition with my son for who has the longest knife, he's winning. The rule is it has to be a knife, not machete, bayonet, etc. EDIT; MG, there's been times when I wished I got the DR, but I got a sweet deal on the KLR. I've rode hell out of ot, it's indestructable. Rode the LA to Vegas last year with junior, on the stretch from Barstow to Vegas (125 mi. of rock and sand) I crashed 5 times. Me and the bike were beat up bad. I was wishing I had something lighter.

[Reverend Recoil]

A good fighting knife is one that will end the fight with one cut. There are two knives that will do that better than most; the Bowie and the kukri. The kukri is better at choping but the Bowie is better at stabbing and with a sharpend clip will back cut. For three years I carried a Bowie knife and a Spiderco in Iraq. Those two handled every cutting chore quite well. While I was there I got a kukri knife from one of the Ghurkas. Either one will do in a pinch. While I was there I noticed that the Arabs feared more of being cut than of being shot.

[Char-Gar]

Larry is 100% Correct. The Bowie, the Arkansas Toothpick and other large knives from the time of Jim Bowie were weapons pure and simple. This was before the revolver and if a man carried a pistol it was a single shot, perhaps a pair. When the one or two shots were fired the man was defensless. Unless of course, he had a Bowie or other like knife. It was always loaded and never ran out of ammo.

A Bowie anything near the original size is about worthless as a hunting or camp knife. A knife has an edge ground for cutting and slicing. Such an edge doesn't do well choping nor will it hold up well under such use.

I once saw a letter written by Bo Randall in the 50's to a customer who complained that one of his knives chiped while chopping some fire wood. Randall was terse to say the least and said a knife was not an ax, and it the fellow wanted to use one as such, let him know and he would grind a blade for that use, but he wouldn't replace a knife a fool used as an ax.

The Bowie is long on the cool effect, but not worth much as either a tool or a weapon these days. We have learned allot about the design of fighting knives and have much better blades for that purpose these days.