Bowie!

[Texas Star]

built as a replica of jim bowie's famous butcher it is made by bark river knife and tool. i paid 180 on the secondary market, cant recall the retail price. razor sharp, i can shave with this knife.
http://s1094.photobucket.com/user/kamloops67/media/IMGP0399.jpg.html]

[/URL]
7" blade with enough weight to chop with.

This knife is very like one seen in a painting of a powerful Indian chief of the 1830's. The knife is painted in great detail from life and is in the man's sash.

I wish I owned one of these, but I don't think it's safe for general carry and use, given the lack of a guard.

 

[THE PILGRIM]

Here's the NL-2. I have never seen one, looks like a neat knife.
The only Cold Steel that I own is a folder. As I have reported before,
it has really hard steel, almost too hard.
Jim Bowie's knife? Really?
The rule is always the same. The more outrageous the claim,
The more proof is required.

 

[5BeansintheWheel]

Texas Star, It was me who mentioned the cable tang. I thought I had read about several breaking, but could only find one. That dude beat on the handle, so I will stand corrected on the handle breakage. When you have a few minutes to read the links you will see pictures of the tang construction. It has in fact been around a long time.

Cold Steel themselves recommend the Trailmaster for heavy use over the Natchez and Laredo.


Natchez Bowie It is broken.

Another proud Laredo owner


Recommendation? Laredo?

Earlier today Matt Lamey sent me a picture of this 11" W2 with kingwood. Matt gets some great hamon lines on his blades.

Could not resist! I will more then likely send it out to Paul Long for leather.

 

[Texas Star]

Texas Star, It was me who mentioned the cable tang. I thought I had read about several breaking, but could only find one. That dude beat on the handle, so I will stand corrected on the handle breakage. When you have a few minutes to read the links you will see pictures of the tang construction. It has in fact been around a long time.

Cold Steel themselves recommend the Trailmaster for heavy use over the Natchez and Laredo.


Natchez Bowie It is broken.

Another proud Laredo owner


Recommendation? Laredo?

Earlier today Matt Lamey sent me a picture of this 11" W2 with kingwood. Matt gets some great hamon lines on his blades.

Could not resist! I will more then likely send it out to Paul Long for leather.

Okay, that first link shows this weird construction well enough. The tang is only about one-third length. THat construction s something that I'd better not discuss on a family board. No way is Cold Steel selling me a knife like that!

Between Cold Steel's flamboyant Lynn Thompson and the less dramatic but more expert and pragmatic (my opinion) Peter Hjortberger at Fallkniven, I know whose knives I'd buy!

Hjortberger has fished and hunted for decades in rugged Nordic terrain as does his famliy, for generations. Fallkniven knives pass rigid tests by both the US and Swedish governments and by the Technical University of Lulea (Sweden) and are issued by the Royal Swedish Air Force and approved for purchase by US air units. Two of them even have NSN numbers.

As far as I know, Cold Steel's tests are all or mostly in-house or by persons who may or may not have connections with them. I simoly don't know.

I think that should be enough information for those who really need a rugged knife to make a decision. In fairness, I have owned two Cold Steel Trailmasters and they worked fine in my limited chopping, if a lttle less refined around the ricasso than are the Fallkniven items.

 

[Texas Star]

Here's the NL-2. I have never seen one, looks like a neat knife.
The only Cold Steel that I own is a folder. As I have reported before,
it has really hard steel, almost too hard.
Jim Bowie's knife? Really?
The rule is always the same. The more outrageous the claim,
The more proof is required.

Yes, that's an NL-2, but the photo angle makes the handle look shorter than it is.

Thanks for your effort.

 

[DR505]

Well, I'm not very knowledgeable about knives, though I use them routinely. I've had a Cold Steel Carbon-V Trailmaster Bowie since the late 1970's and it has always performed for me. I bought it brand new back then.

 

[Texas Star]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaO53_KQZKI

Here's a Muela Bowie with wooden handle and brass guard and pommel.

Muela makes good stuff and the prices are probably quite reasonable. I have one of their Tornado tactical knives that resembles the SOG SEAL 2000 and it's a nice knife, but not a Bowie.

Muela is a Spanish company, and has a solid reputation, from what I can learn. They have quite a section in a premium book on knives by a Dutch author. (No, not our Theur. I think his name is A.E. Hartinge, without looking.)

The Muela Bowies are worth a look.

 

[THE PILGRIM]

I have learned one thing from this thread. And as I get older, I don't like most things that I learn. I don't like the idea of having a cable in a knife handle. I'm not sure if it really makes any difference, but I just don't like it.
Tangs on knives have for a long time been a point of discussion. A lot of blades like my Randall No. 1 have a pretty small tang with a nut on the end. The full tang knives have a bigger piece of steel and big steel is stronger than small steel. The GI aircrew sawback Jet Pilot knife has the reputation of being brittle and breakable. I still have the one I was issued in SEA. I never actually saw a broke one or heard anybody say they broke theirs. These knives were carried a lot more than they were used. But the stories persist.
I have very little interest in Bowie's except in a historical way. I prefer smaller blades. If you need to chop you need a ax-hatchet or at least a machete - bolo.
Bottom line is I don't like a cable in the handle of my knife. I can live with a small tang, but actually prefer a full tang.

 

[peyton]

I have the wetern W47 bowie knife and very happy with it.

 

[beach elvis]

If you're looking for a beastly WORKIN' knife, you might wanna check out the BK-9 Combat Bowie from Becker Knife and Tool. Ka-Bar is currently their maker. Mine (Bk9 [9" blade] and its little brother, the BK10 [5" blade, all else the same.] are a couple of the older Camillus-made ones but I'm sure the Ka-Bar iterations are great. Serious bang for your buck.

 

[J. Galt]

If you're looking for a beastly WORKIN' knife, you might wanna check out the BK-9 Combat Bowie from Becker Knife and Tool. Ka-Bar is currently their maker. Mine (Bk9 [9" blade] and its little brother, the BK10 [5" blade, all else the same.] are a couple of the older Camillus-made ones but I'm sure the Ka-Bar iterations are great. Serious bang for your buck.

The Beckers are STOUT and reasonably priced. They are great working knives. The Cold Steel Trailmaster or Recon Scout are also excellent for your price range.

 

[Texas Star]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoyB7jJ0Fg0

Not a Bowie, but the Muela Tornado that I mentioned earlier. I like the music, too. What's the name of that song and group? I've liked it for years, but the name escapes me now.

I haven't used mine a lot, but it seems very well made and designed, being perhaps inspired by the original version of the SOG SEAL 2000 knife. Note the saw teeth near the handle, very useful for cutting rope. I think they'd also cut right through vines or kelp, if used by a diver. Note the excellent satin poilsh on the blade, which is 440 stainless steel. They don't say which subtype of 440.

The handle is a nice, long one, in contrast to many. It's drilled for a wrist thong.
The lettering on the handsome box (says Cuchillo Deportivo) means Sports Knife, I think.

The very sharp video seems to have been made by a Russian, if I've guessed the titles writing right. But the knife is made in Spain, probably in Albacete, their equivalent to the German Solingen.

 

[RonJ]

Thanks guys! I ended up ordering the knife I linked to above.
The box says it is an exact replica of the knife used by Richard Widmark (Jim Bowie) in the movie The Alamo.
It has the screw in the rear of the handle, so I guess it either has a rat tail tang or the cable tang mentioned above.
It looks very nice and the 11 1/2 inch blade is scary looking. The blade is semi sharp but I'm gonna leave it that way. Don't need it super sharp for use as a prop.
The handle is polished wood and would probably be too slippery to use in combat.
I've managed to polish out the tacky looking ALAMO stamped on the blade.

 

[Malpasowildlifer]

Save for one of the Randall bowies

 

[BigBill]

I have a large Spanish made type of bowie knife. I purchased it in the mid 70's. It was cheap back then.

I have a heavy Rambo type knife too.

 

[the ringo kid]

I am interested in buying a good quality Bowie. I know that the top makers charge astronomical prices that I can't afford.
May I get some recommendations for a decent knife for under $200.00? Thanks in advance.......

Hey Ron--found a Bowie Knife for ya--$19.99 at Academy. Looks decently built-comes with a scabbard and has the look I think you wanted? These are for sale at Academy--if you have one near you? I also saw something I wanted--was a Bayonet made by Shrade for I think $69.00??