A great production Bowie?

MicroAlign · Mar 9, 2007

I know there are quite a few custom Bowie knife makers out there, but it seems that most of them are backlogged well over a year or more. So, I was wondering if someone can recommend be a good production Bowie knife.

I'm more concerned about the performance of the steel rather than whether it is stainless or not. I've thought about CPM-3V, but I don't think that any major manufacturers use it. I'd like it to be around a 9" blade, but I want it to be more of the classic Bowie style which has a decent enough point to it to be used for thrusting in defensive use.

kamagong · Mar 9, 2007

The Bark River Rogue is a great production knife. It sports A2 steel, although it only has a 7" blade.

PhilL · Mar 9, 2007

The first knife that came to mind was the OVB/Fisk Bowie, and this looks like a very good price.
http://www.1sks.com/store/camillus-fisk-ovb-southwestern-bowie-fiddleback-maple.html

GibsonFan · Mar 9, 2007

Take a look at Cold Steel TrailMasters and Laredo's. I like my carbon-V Trailmaster very much; you'll have to find one used or NOS.

For sure take a look at a Fallkniven Thor if you want stainless... I don't own either but I think they're much nicer than the CS Laredo's.

http://www.bladematrix.tv/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=28741

FullerH · Mar 9, 2007

The various replicas of hiostoric Bowies by Paul Chen's Hanwei Works are very nice. I have one and like it a lot. So are the rather more massive Bowies by Generation 2 that Imperial Weapons sells. The current model, the Searles Bowie is quite a handsome and effective piece.

popedandy · Mar 9, 2007

The Marbles Trailmaker is another big one that performs well. 10" blade, 15 1/2" overall.

Way-O · Mar 10, 2007

Well, the Kentucky Bowie made by Linder was awarded in the outdoor category at IWA 2006.
440C @ 58HRc, so not quite the latest in steel fashion, but the knife definitely has style:

JGarth · Mar 10, 2007

Way,
That is one good lookin Bowie....!!!!
JGarth

S. Brown · Mar 10, 2007

I have a CS Laredo and its been goods to me. No problems at all. Its nice lookin and has a big huge blade. However, my next knife purchase is going to be a Fallkniven Thor. If I had to do it over again, I'd probably would've just gone with the Thor.

MicroAlign · Mar 10, 2007

Thanks for the advice so far everyone. I think I am going to go with a stain resistant blade. I'm willing to pay up to around $500, so I want the best I can get. So far, I am considering the Thor and CS's Trailmaster. So, which one is the best overall blade?

Way-O · Mar 10, 2007

I would not hesitate to choose Fallkniven over CS.

orthogonal1 · Mar 10, 2007

You might want to consider that the Thor has a thin, slicing edge. The Trailmaster edge is a bit thicker.

Quality goes to Fallkniven, though. As does the "feel in the hand" award.

S. Brown · Mar 11, 2007

The Thor is by no means thin, it is just thinner than the trailmaster, which is very thick. There is only a .03" difference in the blade thinkness. The thor also has the VG-10 core instead of the VG-1 or AUS 8, which ever one it is, that the trailmaster has. The thor is also slightly longer.