Many style of Bowie knives were made to meet the demands of the new frontiersman & eastern 'civilized' folks as well. Many of these came from [mostly] makers back east or in England. No definitive source for the 'Classic' bowie other than descriptions by Rezin Bowie & the Musso Bowie.

I prefer the style made famous in 'The Iron Mistress' w ALan Ladd. Personally I have 3 Cold Steel TMs, a Junglas 2, multiple WEstern W49's & various other styles. I still need to get me a Voorhis example of the Iron Mistress, they come up occasionally on Ebay., usually $500 to $700 range....

Puma Knife African Big Five - Bing video


I stumbled across what seems to be a review of Linder knives, in German.

I was amazed to see obvious copies of the Buck Model 119 and Randall Model 1, as well as one of Linder's cheaper Bowie styles.

I can't understand the man, and he may be showing actual examples of a real Buck and of a Blackjack copy of a Randall, although they have replacement sheaths.

Linder Messer also makes some nicer Bowies. I think one would satisfy the average Bowie fan's desires.

And I think Case still makes their copy of the old Collins No. 18 short survival machete, used as a Bowie by Carlson's Raiders in WW II and in many USAAF survival kits in the Pacific theater. If those fit my hand, I'd sort of like one, as a compact bush knife. This is what Stan Brock had on, Wild Kingdom, but I think his was an original Collins. The Collins firm closed about 1967. They were once the leading maker of machetes.

Or, you can just ORDER a stag handle from the Buck Custom Shop.

I've owned two Model 124's and sold both because the handle is too thick for my hands. You could call Buck and see if their Custom Shop can slim one down for you, if you have that problem.

IMO, Model 124 is not a Bowie. But it is an excellent sturdy, heavy duty knife.

You may recall seeing it in a series of ads for Nocona boots in, Playboy and maybe other,big, slick magazines years ago. In a very sophisticated painting that looks real, a cowboy is holding down a rattlesnake with his boot and is about to sever its head with his Buck Model 124. I published an article on that artist and the ad. He used a real Model 124 as a model and copied it faithfully. You can even see the exposed full width tang of the knife! Both Nocona and the artist, as well as Buck, were very supportive of my article idea, and I thank them for much of its success.

At one time, Buck made a variant of Model 124 for divers. This was the Nemo. I understand the Nemo is highly collectible now, should you find one.

Good to hear from you Texas Star. Is that article available anywhere? I’d love to read it. It was a great advertisement for sure.

AFAIK, the Buck Custom shop doesn’t take orders like that for the 124. At one time you could order a 124 with almost any length blade you wanted. But those days are gone.

They “customize” a select list of models. The 124 is not on the list. But the 916 Bowie is! It’s a good option for the OP that I forgot about. Check it out here.
https://www.buckknives.com/custom-kn...-knife/CKS916/

Check out this monster 124 from the old days!

Attached Images

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That article ran, I think, in, National Knife Magazine, which was published by the National Knife Collectors organization. Alas, I no longer have records for the year it was published. Maybe they can help, if still operating. Or, you can contact the PR people at Buck and Nocona and see if they have it on file and could copy it. I don't think any of the NKCA magazine contents are Online.

I probably have a copy or two, but can't readily access my old files, in storage. I retired from writing in 2011.

I also wrote a story for, Knife World, about the Randall Model 3 knife that once appeared on cans of smoke-flavored Spam. But I doubt that Gary Randall would have time to locate it , if he kept a copy.

I published over 5,000 articles and have only a few magazines in my home, where I might find one if I moved some stuff to access them.

I'll see if I can find that article in my computer, but think it was long enough ago that I probably typed it. As on a typewriter! Remember those? I'll shuffle some things around and see if I can access a box that might have that magazine. If I find it, I can copy it at the grocer and will get your address. Another member wants an article, too, so I may make a day of that soon. And I remember Buck's PR firm. I'll see if they have it on file. Will ask their Custom Shop about stag on Model 124's, too. If I learn anything useful, I'll post here. I do have a small collection of, Playboy in a closet and will see if I can find that ad. That would at least give us the year, or close. If anyone here finds the ad, post when the magazine was printed. And someone with better computer skills may just find the ad and post it here! Actually, I think that happened a few years ago.

It’s too bad you don’t have these in digital form. I would love to read them. With today’s technology, once you get them in PDF or some sort of digital format, they would be easy to access, search, index, etc.

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Possum—The other white meat!

That thing looks as long as a Roman gladius!

Fellow member Opaul has a current thread featuring some very nice bowies he has made. It is still on the first page here in the Lounge.
Big Bowie

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Not in jail.

The Forrest bowie was displayed at Blade Show West this year. I could not talk the owner into letting me handle it!

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Even older, even crankier....