any feedback on fred Perrin bowie ???

J

joebe

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any comments/feedback on this model ? seems like a great carry knife
for defense/utility...also, how does it compare to the original.
 
I think if you search this forum you'll find a lot of feedback on the Perrin Bowie.

To sum it up, it's about perfect.

Excellent in the kitchen, on the trail, and I suspect for self defense.

It appears small but fits well in the hand and cuts like a much bigger knife.

The VG-10 blade is scary sharp and easy to keep that way. The flat grind and relatively thin blade allow for some wicked slicing. The point is sharp but has enough section to be strong.

The handle with its palm swell and insert make it extremely comfortable. The deep choil and ridges on the top of the blade allow you to choke up on the blade for delicate cuts. I could go on for hours.

Here in Texas the legal limit for carry is 5.5 inch blade. The 5 inch Perrin is my choice.

If I could change one thing I'd ask for the clip section of the blade to be sharpened. That of course would preclude sales in some locations so I understand why it was left as a true false edge (no pun intended).

The only complaint I've seen is mild critcism of the sheath. I find the sheath to be more than adequate. Some think it doesn't retain the knife well enough. Depends on your use I suspect.

You should be able to find the knife for less than $ 85 shipped so it's a real lot of knife for a reasonable price.

Sal, Fred Perrin, and the Spyderco crew deserve a large round of applause on this knife!:) :)
 
It is a sweet blade; however, I had a Skunkworks kydex sheath made for mine. The handle ergonomics are great, the VG-10 is hair popping sharp, light weight, it is a well thought out design that will do what ever you want. I have never handled an original, but Nemo (Bladeforums member) said that Mr. Perrin was carrying a Spyderco Perrin bowie (anybody please correct me if that is wrong).
 
It's amazing! I picked up one about a week or so ago and I'm truly amazed at how ergonomic and useful I find this knife. Most of my tactical chores are in the kitchen and around the house and the Perrin has performed superbly. The grip, though it looks a bit odd to me, fits my hand very well and securely in sabre grip while allowing it to also be repositioned a bit for delicate cutting tasks. This is my first VG-10 blade and I'm impressed with the steel and factory edge. I haven't tried to abuse the knife at all since I bought it as a general purpose, lightweight carry knife. Did I say lightweight? It's as light or more lightweight than most of the folders I carry and that means I'll carry it a lot more. It does not appear to sacrifice too much strength for it's light weight either, but that's my subjective opinion since I haven't tried to use it as a prybar. I did stab it repeatedly into an old wooden filing cabinet that was on it's way to the dump, just so I could test grip security. I was pleasantly surprised at the excellent grip security and depth of penetration. No damage to the blade of course since this was simply a straight line stab. The 5" blade is about perfect for me for any daily cutting chore I'd need around the house, out camping, hiking, or for last ditch self-defense work. When I'm out in the woods and need to clear a trail or something like that, I'm using a machete and an axe or hatchet anyway, not a knife. However, as previously mentioned, 99% of my knife chores are general purpose cutting and food prep which is where I find this knife is excellent As others have mentioned, the full flat grind gives this baby real good slicing ability. Did I mention I like this knife, a whole lot?!?! I have a Gerber Yari, and I had a BM Nimravus, and for me personally, the Perrin fills the roll of general utility fixed blade the best of those three. If I were to attempt much prying however, I'd probably want to go with the Yari or Nimravus, but I don't pry too much with a knife so there you have it. If someone would like to donate a Perrin for some really tough around-the-home destructive testing, I'll be happy to do it and report it back here, but I'm not killing the only Perrin I've got. :D

My only difficulty with this knife has been it's sheath. I can turn my sheath upside down, jerk downward and stop suddenly and the knife will come out, so I won't be wearing it inverted. It came with a small tek-lock which would be great, except for the fact that I wear a 1 3/4" wide belt because I have a CCW permit and the wider belt supports my pistol much better than a narrow one. A G-clip or something like that would be a nice option on the sheath. An S30V blade would also be a nice option. Here's a crazy kicker for you... in North Carolina, wear I live, I can have my CCW for a pistol, but it's illegal for me to carry a concealed fixed bladed knife of any size. Who writes these laws? I've taken the tek-lock off of my sheath and I just slip it into my back pocket. It's easy enough to reach when I'm working on something around the house. When I leave the house and I've forgotten it's in my pocket, it slides down diagonally in my pocket and is completely concealed so no one even notices the horrible, illegal mistake I've made. :rolleyes: With the deep choil on this knife, I think it would be relatively easy for a custom sheathmaker, like Normark for example, to make a kydex sheath that holds the knife very securely. All in all, the factory sheath really isn't that bad, it's mainly that I can fit it on any of the belts I routinely wear.

I wasn't real interested when I first saw this knife on the internet because I frankly thought it looked a bit odd and uncomfortable. However, I read some reviews and was working in the kitchen one day with several of my kitchen knives and started paying attention to the handle designs of the real ergonomic ones. Something clicked and I decided to give the Perrin a try and I'm so very happy that I did.

I am extremely impressed with the work that Mr. Perrin did on this design and on Spyderco's efforts to put it into production with fantastic materials and QA/QC. I congratulate you all. I'd love to have a few more of these knives around my house and car, and one for every member of my family, because they are simply that good, IMHO.
 
the grip on the Spydie seems much thicker then the original any idea why, also does the rubber insert print against your shirt or is it less tacky ?
 
I don't know about the original so I can't really compare. I don't find the handle to be very large at all. I've not noticed the kraton insert printing but that may depend on carry method and body type. I'm tall and big. I can conceal a frightening array of items amongst my clothing and no one would notice unless I stepped up on a scale. :eek:
 
the one i saw had a smaller, oval shaped maple handle, i think the blade length on these was only 3 1/2", i am 6'1/200 so it not hard to conceal well, i always found that the rubber pistol grips would hang up your clothing and cause printing, being an insert to the grip this may not be a problem...guess i just have to order one.
 
You could look for a used one if you want to wait. If you want to get a new one, I can heartily recommend Bayou Lafourche Knifeworks at www.knifeworks.com I've found them to have excellent service and good prices (84.39 for the Perrin). Others here my be able to recommend some alternatives.

Just curious, are you the same Joebe that was selling the Keating bowie video?
 
C'mon! Who else has bought one these peaches! I want to hear some more field reports on the Perrin.
 
Thanx for the post and the input, Nobody. Good info. Spyderco worked with Fred very closely on this model. I think it would be difficult to improve on the knife. Perhaps the sheath needs a look.

sal
 
I don't think it needs any improvement, it's great!. I was just interested to see if it was going to be offered in S30V at some point.
 
I just got back from a four day canoe trip in Killarney Provincial Park in Northern Ontario and the Perin FB was the knife I took along. Itperform all routine camping and food prep chores with excellence. It is by far the most user friendly knife I have ever used for my camping chores...I don't cut down trees with a knife. Despite some reservations about the ability of the sheath to hold well, the knife did not come lose or fall out but we did no bushwhacking only followed well marked and cleared portage trails and a couple of equally well maintained hiking trails. Well this knife will become my #1 camping knife for now.
 
i'm going to have to break down and order one, i think three or four more spydies might do it for now, giving up on some of the other makers.

i had the Keating video for sale, i had the bowie bug bad for awhile and now i have spydyitis...i still have the Bagwell book and some related mags leftover.

thanks for the feedback on this post.
 
The sheath on mine has a minor problem also. Outstanding multi-use knife, but, the sheath rattles like a pissed off Diamondback.:(
Aside from that minor detail, the Perrin has become my go to blade for FB EDC.
 
I've got a question for Sal or anyone else "in the know" on the Perrin's construction. Do the kraton inserts go through the handle/tang or are they just superficial inserts. I've got some crazy idea about getting another one of these for a customization project and replacing the kraton with some exotic wood and a mosaic pin. Maybe some filework on the spine, hmmm.... it could work!
 
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