AK Bowie To The Rescue

Big Bob

Big Bob

Joined
Oct 13, 1999
Messages
1,731
This past Sunday I had gone to meet up with some people for a daylong hike. Beforehand I looked up the directions to the rendevous spot on yahoo, feeling good because it would only be about a 30 minute drive. I ended up feeling not so good when one of the roads in the directions turned out be be mainly for 4 wheelers after about a mile or so, which my Chevy Calvalier wasn't. Recent rains had made the road wet and downright muddy in spots. Ended up getting stuck in one spot that was quite tore up already. Fortunately I had decided to bring my AK Bowie with me. After chopping up some branches to stick under my wheels (the AKB can really slice and chop when its sharp and powered my sufficient motivation) ;) I managed to get my car out and headed on, hoping the worst was over. When the road went into the nearby creek about a hundred yards later, I realized that I would have to turn around and drive over the same muddy spot that had caught me the first time. Out came my AKB again and after about 15 minutes I had enough logs to fill in one of the large ruts so that I could drive past. After taking another route to a spot where the group was hiking too, I managed to find them. A few pics for everyone.





The edge of the AKB held up well except for some dulling and a small spot where it was slightly bent out of line, probably by chopping and twisting in the hard wood logs. After washing the dirt off at home and some stropping/steeling the edge was sharp again.

Bob
 
Thats cool Big Bob. Those HI Bowies look really heavy duty and I was wondering how well they chopped. I wouldn't mind getting one someday myself. I've seen one or two on DOTD and been tempted, but I have to get my M43 first. Speaking of which I've already emailed Yangdu about wooden handled models in stock and plan on placing my order in the morning when I get my paycheck. Yeeehaww:thumbup: I was having second thoughts today about maybe waiting another pay period, but I had a dog dig under the fence awhile ago and knowing that just filling in the hole is not enough as they tend to just redig the same spot; I have a bunch of plum tree prunings about 1" in diameter laying nearby so I just went in the house picked up my 15" AK and a hammer and in about 10 mins a had a double handful of 1 to 2 foot long wooden stakes ready to hammer in the ground along my fenceline where they dug under to keep them from getting out again. The give up if it's too much work. No other knife, powertool, pruning implement I have could have done the work so fast and with so little effort......... except perhaps the M43 I hope to have in a few days.:D:cool:
 
Not my day today, I just got a reply from yangdu about a wooden handled M43 being in stock. And unless I misunderstood she is sold completely out of M43s, as she asked me to check back in a month. I'm not a happy camper at the moment.
 
wolfenhawk said:
Not my day today, I just got a reply from yangdu about a wooden handled M43 being in stock. And unless I misunderstood she is sold completely out of M43s, as she asked me to check back in a month. I'm not a happy camper at the moment.
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Probably out of the wooden ones... you could always get yourself a horned one and then redo the handles. That's what I intend to do. There's also two versions of the handles... short and long. I don't know if you asked her specifically so she may only have that one sold out.

She may be completely out... I know they've been selling well. She told me she is getting a shipment of knives next month (as in a couple weeks). That's not that long to wait for such a great piece of work.
 
John Shields said:
Probably out of the wooden ones... you could always get yourself a horned one and then redo the handles. That's what I intend to do. There's also two versions of the handles... short and long. I don't know if you asked her specifically so she may only have that one sold out.

She may be completely out... I know they've been selling well. She told me she is getting a shipment of knives next month (as in a couple weeks). That's not that long to wait for such a great piece of work.
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Hey John, thanks for the info. Thats a good idea. Yangdu didn't specify that she was only out of the full sized wooden handled, simply saying she was sold out of M43. I replied asking if she had any horn handled left, but I haven't heard back from her. Perhaps I will tomorrow. I got the feeling she's expecting her next shipment more towards the end of the month tho as she told me to check again in a month rather than a couple weeks. And you're absolutely right in that it's well worth the wait for such quality work.....I'm just not much good at waiting.
 
Big Bob said:
After washing the dirt off at home and some stropping/steeling the edge was sharp again.
Click to expand...

Bob,

Thanks for posting, its a real treat to see you posting here again. Many of the current posters would not be aware of your experience and knowledge of HI and its products as well as those who make up its community. :thumbup:

Regarding the AK Bowie, what weight is it and how would you compare using it regards technique and feel to your old Foxy Folly, which by the way, I have put to work with pleasing results.

Regards,

bruce
 
Bruce, sorry for not replying sooner. As for my AKB, it weighs in at a hair over 23oz. Compared to my old FF (yours now), I'd say that the AKB chops a bit better overall. My AKB can certainly slice well due to its thin edge. When using the AKB, I kind of snap it forward at the last instant in order to give it more of a khukuri-like chopping action.

Bob

PS: glad to hear you're enjoying your FF.
 
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