A Really Nice Bowie

rdnzl

rdnzl

Joined
Aug 16, 2000
Messages
1,220
I was curious about this knife, so I ordered it. Got it today, and it's really nice. Appears to be very well made. Made in the USA by a company called Bear and Son. It's a beast of a knife. Full tang, and the wood is good looking. Came with a pretty decent leather sheath. It's Sandvik 12C27 steel. I don't know much that steel but I've heard its not bad.


RYxMQrG.jpg
 
12C27 is a Sandvik alloy, similar in performance to 440A, designed for cutting tools, knives, razors, etc. It's a clean steel, with few inclusions, and a fine grain structure, that's relatively easy to heat treat. You could do far worse.
That's a much nicer knife than the Cold Steel W-49 copy, in my opinion!
 
rdnzl said:
I was curious about this knife, so I ordered it. Got it today, and it's really nice. Appears to be very well made. Made in the USA by a company called Bear and Son. It's a beast of a knife. Full tang, and the wood is good looking. Came with a pretty decent leather sheath. It's Sandvik 12C27 steel. I don't know much that steel but I've heard its not bad.


RYxMQrG.jpg
Click to expand...

Good looking bowie right there, the steel is good and as you say the rest looks very nice as well. Enjoy your blade.


:cool: 👍
 
The Cocobola is nicely finished and the fitment to the tang is ever so slightly recessed and consistent. The grind of the blade is really well done.

I did some reading on the steel, and it sounds like a good economical steel with good properties that should be fairly easy to sharpen in the field with just a pocket stone for touchups.

Reviews I've seen were mostly very positive, with just a few people reporting some QC issues. I got it for $91 on that big online mega site named after a river in South America. I figured if I didn't like it or if there were an QC issues
I would just send it right back. But nope. No issues, and I like it a lot. I'm keeping it.
 
It looks amazing, but I have second thoughts about the makers. I have heard some very bad things about Bear and Sons, shoddy workmanship and materials, etc. I personally have never handled one of their knives, however. Anyone else have some experience with B&S?
 
All I can tell you is that this is a nice knife. Most of the negatives I've read on their knives are about their slipjoints.
 
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That’s a good looking knife. Anyone know of a similar design but on the higher end of the scale?
 
If you're just looking for a collector knife, you might check out the Case Bowie. Similar, not as tough.

EDIT: Don't get me wrong, it's a good knife for cutting stuff, but not a heavy-duty chopper. Might not take a tree down, but it would easily take an arm off. It's based on the Collins V-44,
which was designed for fighting in the Pacific Theater in WWII. It's light enough, and long enough, for brush-clearing work, and just heavy enough to be an effective weapon, if needed.
 
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Hashishiin said:
It looks amazing, but I have second thoughts about the makers. I have heard some very bad things about Bear and Sons, shoddy workmanship and materials, etc. I personally have never handled one of their knives, however. Anyone else have some experience with B&S?
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I only have a couple of slipjoints. The covers are not too bad, and the springs were fitted well enough. The carbon blade steel is incredibly soft, and the blade grinds are not great. A fairly low level of fit and finish.
 
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