How practical is the Bowie Knife?

[DLCTEX]

A bowie just has class, never owned one, but will make one when I retire (soon I hope). As for hunting, I like my Gerber with a gut hook (which gut hook works best of the 7 or 8 I've tried.

[Reverend Recoil]

There are knives that are specialized for every use. A good Bowie knife can do most anything a smaller knife can do and many things a smaller knife cannot do. No other knife beats a good Bowie knife for personal defense. In Iraq I was limited to the quantity and type of gear I could carry. I needed one knife that could work well for every occasion. I chose the Bowie. Good Bowie knives are hard to find and are expensive. For chopping through bone the blade length should be at least 9 1/2" but no longer than 11 1/2". The edge should be flat ground, 3/8" thick at the guard and tapered to the point. This is best done by hand forging. The handle should also be tapered from the guard to the butt. The knife must have a sharpened clip to be considered a real Bowie.

There are two styles of Bowie knives; defense/fighting and outdoor sporting/survival.
The defense/fighting Bowies tend to have longer and narrower blades with straight handles. They are light and quick handling. The outdoor sporting/survival Bowies have broader blades with downward curving handles. They are powerful for chopping through joints when butchering large animals. The Bowie replaced the tomahawk in this regard.

Bowie knives are sheathed with a sheath covering the only the blade with a brass frog. They are carried under the belt or down the pants for concealment.

If you are interested in how these knives should be used for defense then and now, check out the techniques of Western saber fencing and the Roman's use of the gladius short sword. A good Bowie will work well with a combination of those two techniques.

Pray you never have to defend yourself with a knife. It is serious deadly business. It is one of the most revolting things that humans may do to each other. Long after the fight is over the legal and emotional baggage will hang over your head the rest of your life. Regardless of any weapon or fighting style, the best personal defense system is awareness and avoidance. Awareness and avoidance alone will keep you alive 99% of the time in any of the places you may travel.

[PatMarlin]

... the best personal defense system is awareness and avoidance. Awareness and avoidance alone will keep you alive 99% of the time in any of the places you may travel.

That's some good advise. Always being aware of my surroundings has kept me out of a lot of trouble.

[SethD]

Using a bowie as a hunting knife these days I look at a lot like using a muzzleloader. Not the most practical or modern choice, it takes a little different set of skills to use either effectively, but both are classic tools and a lot of fun. If your used to a small knife for your hunting chores at first a bowie will feel like a sword and you will wonder how how you will ever skin anything with it. You will probably muddle your way through a couple of animals that would have been a whole lot easier to skin and butcher if you had used your smaller knives. If you don't give up in disgust and choose to stick with it long enough to get used to it you will find it actually is usable. I wouldn't recommend carrying one as a hunting knife though unless you find them fascinating and don't mind endless joking from your buddies.

[Thumbcocker]

I once read a discription of the Bowie knife as "the indiginious American short sword".

[Heavy lead]

Pat,
I have a Western Bowie as you have, bought it in the mid 80's and haven't used it much, but I don't my Ruger 77 416 Rigby either, but what a nice piece of steel. I won't part with it, keep it clean and oiled and someday maybe use it. I have a Gerber machete I find quite usefull for many camp chores and use it for that, but it doesn't carry nearly as well as the bowie.
For my game knife I have used and will continue a Japan made Browning with a swept blade, saw blade and gut blade and find it's 4.25" folded length just right for such use, bought that some 25 years ago too. I have many other hunting knives I never use just keep to keep, I find myself using fillet knives a lot and actually keep two Uncle Henry Steelhead and one Case fillet knife in the kitchen (my wife prefers these too) and we use them on everything from veggies to all sorts of carving chore.
By the way, if you are a fan of the old Schrade knives, don't waste your money on the new junk ones made in China, they are junk the "new" Uncle Henry Steelhead is a piece of junk, I bought one with high hopes and have already thrown it away with disgust as the first time I used it, it bent.

[dualsport]

OK, that's it. I want pictures. As far as truly useful goes, I like a Buck Skinner, a small Rapala filet knife(unbelieveably sharp), and a little Swiss butcher's hatchet I got from an Archery store. I gotta learn how to post a picture, you'll like my knife collection. Somehow I can't see myself reaching way up in there to cut the trachea with my Bowie, but I'm sure I could. I'm sorry to say that although I've studied on it for decades I've never really mastered knife sharpening. I want everything razor sharp. Any ideas? What do you do?

[Reverend Recoil]

For knife shapening I use Spiderco bench stones. I have both a fine and ultra-fine hone. The fine hone gets the most use. Honing a knife is not hard. I suggest you practice with some cheap kitchen knives. Start by forming a good edge with a caborundum stone and finish it with a soft Arkansaw hone. Keep at it by sharpening every knife in the house. You will get it.

[dualsport]

I've got a collection of stones. I'm wondering if maybe my expectations are unrealistic. I judge sharp compared to my Rapala filet knives, which are truly just long razor blades. I can get a edge which will shave a little hair off my arm, just not like the Rapala. An example would be a Buck Special, the #110. It shaves hair, but will not get any sharper. Is it unrealistic to expect it to ever be as sharp as something like the Rapala? Maybe I'm being obsessive?

[softpoint]

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.

Another good fighter. This one with SanMai III steel, which is a hard inner core sandwiched between two softer steels. 12 inch blade, you can tell the point will penetrate by looking at it! Lynn Thompson of Cold Steel almost cut a side of beef into with one slash. And it isn't good for anything else. Probably one of the most single purpose designs ever made.

[PatMarlin]

Be a good sushi knife ...

[Multigunner]

I made a fairly nice double edge dagger using a section cut from a very old chainsaw bar, nice springy steel.
I have some of that steel left and may make a bowie knife next.

If you choke up on the blade you can weild the tip like a smaller blade for close in work, but its not as efficient as a smaller knife. But then again you can't chop down a small tree with a pocket knife or skinner.

The Kabar is a militarized version of the Marble hunting knife, a smaller version of the bowie with refinements like its ferule.

Were I to go on a Friday the Thirteenth rampage I have two large Meat scimitars, given me by a butcher for resurfacing and sharpening a few of his older knives.
These are super hard steel, but too brittle for use in the field.
They take a razor edge and are big enough to cut a torso in half much less take off an arm or a head.

For camp work I use a century old Corn knife, a sort of squared tip machette. Its an excellent chopper. I have a similar sized short machette but its not as efficient as the Corn knife.

[pilot]

I like this little Bark River for deer skinning.

[Dale53]

I have long used a Western Cutlery bowie identical to Pat Marlin's picture in place of a hand axe for building blinds (I don't like heights so portable tree stands are OUT for me). I much prefer ground blinds and sometimes it is necessary to cut a shooting path to a scrape when sitting on the ground. The bowie pictured just does a better job than a hand axe.

I use a 4" drop point knife (generally a good folding hunter type but have used fixed blade dropped points to good effect) for cleaning game from rabbits up to and including deer.

FWIW
Dale53

[Freebore]

Hey pilot, nice rack! It is pretty difficult to skin and flesh out a deer skull and that is definatly work for a small knife.

[Von Gruff]

These are three of my favourites and depends what I am doing which one gets to be used. The big campknife I made nearly 20 years ago and it has seen a lot of use in and out of camp even to butchering and dressing quite a few animals. The hunter, I have just finished and have not blooded yet but hope to in the next few weeks, while the little bunny knife has seen to many, many rabbits since I finished it 6 mnts ago. Bowies are not in the picture simply because The shape is not apropriate for my needs.



Von Gruff.

[danroy]

Any Bowie knife fans here?

I was wondering how many folks use them for hunting and camping? I was fortunate enough to buy 45nut Ken's Western large bowie awhile back, and I have planned on using it for outings up here in the woods.

Does it fill the need for a hatchet as well as a cooking knife? Or do they just look cool.

I read they are banned in some states? .. Probably could ad CA to the list. When they come to get me, they'll probably take my bowie too ..

Bowie knife fan here! I personally use them for hunting and camping as well. It's pretty useful so you should go and get yourself one...if it's not banned in your state that is.

[45 2.1]

I've got a collection of stones. I'm wondering if maybe my expectations are unrealistic. I judge sharp compared to my Rapala filet knives, which are truly just long razor blades. I can get a edge which will shave a little hair off my arm, just not like the Rapala. An example would be a Buck Special, the #110. It shaves hair, but will not get any sharper. Is it unrealistic to expect it to ever be as sharp as something like the Rapala? Maybe I'm being obsessive?

Get yourself an old fashioned razor hone like was used 100 years ago. The old soapstone variety. That will put the final touch to your sharpening and make the Rapala second best. Better than the black hard arkansas stone. They can be quite difficult to find.

[PatMarlin]

Here's mine again.

I can't wait until I can get some time to restore a couple of Rokons I got here and go camping this spring. Gonna take the bowie and put it to use instead of just looking pretty.

We live in the mountains right on the border of the national forest, and I've wanted to build a couple sleek little trailers for camping gear to pull and head out for overnighters.

Be ready for some great deer hunting adventures this spring. There are deers up here that die of old age in the outback. No one tries to get to em'.

that is the knife I sold Pat.

[PatMarlin]

This is kinda what my two Rokon Trailbreakers look like now, but they are both "Honda-kons" with Honda engine retrofits:




This is what I want them to look like when I get done: