Bladeforums Best Bowie 2008 - Here are your finalists!

Please select a single knife as your choice for Best Bowie 2008

  • Russ Andrews Stag Subhilt

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Harvey Dean El Diablo

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Jerry Fisk Bandolero

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Don Hanson III Crazy Hamon

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Rodrigo Sfreddo Spearpoint

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    0
I voted Hanson. That is one of my favorite knives of all time from him. Kevins Fisk is totally kick-a** though and this was a tough one for me.

I wish I could vote for his as well. :/
 
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Keep those votes coming in guys. I'll leave the poll open through most of the day tomorrow and declare a winner in the evening.

Roger
 
Beautiful Knives..all worthy of the Title but
Hanson Gets my Vote...His work challenges traditional designs, there is a measure of simplicity serenity and flat out nastiness
I love his $hit!
 
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I went for Jerry Fisk's Bandolero. The basic shape of the blade is what does it for me. The balance of the curves, the length of the blade, the length of the false edge, the blade width, and the relation to the grip shape are what make it my pick. The engraving, the contour work on the grip "band", and even the damascus of the blade are secondary. The "framework" is just right.

Dino in Reno
 
These are all tremendous bowies and equally hard to pick just 1. I choose the El Diablo because I like the darker stag handle and the rippled water effect in the damascus also the lines are fuctional and traditional. Happy New Year and good luck to all. This is a great contest and enjoyed participating in it.
 
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These are all spectacular knives by makers who should be on any serious collectors top-10 list.

In my best kumbaya voice, they are all winners!

(I voted for the Fisk..)

I think its one of Jerry's best pieces EVER, while I have seen better pieces in the past from all the other makers represented, IMO.
 
Is Rodrigo Sfreddo's a Spearpoint or a drop point, or both? The image says drop point, the description says spearpoint.
 
I voted for the Fisk because (1) the knife is beautiful, (2) is difficult to build, (3) perfect weight, and (4) great looking damascus:thumbup::D:thumbup: way to go Jerry Fisk !
 
They are all top class workmanship. So for me it come downs to the stylistic points which for me is the Fisk and the extremely unique damascus pattern.

The sheath by Harvey Dean is amazing.
 
All are spectacular and very deserving, but the DH3 has the most appeal to me, thus earned my vote.
 
Slatts said:
They are all top class workmanship. So for me it come downs to the stylistic points which for me is the Fisk and the extremely unique damascus pattern.

The sheath by Harvey Dean is amazing.
Click to expand...

Hi Slatts.
The sheath depicted with the Dean was actually made by Paul Long.
 
as far as difficulty i would have to say either the fisk or the sfreddo. for different reasons the fisk for the fitting and the sfreddo for the makeing of the steel.
 
I have to say that I was very hard pressed to decide between my top three. In fact, if I waited a few hours, I'd probably change my mind and round and round I'd go. But...

The Hanson bowie is crazy nice. Unlike a lot of hamon, that one would look like that on the knife in person. A lot of knives with beautiful hamon need tricky lighting to photograph, so you usually see two shots - one of the overall knife and one of the blade only. To see a beautiful shot of the whole knife with the hamon that contrasty is super cool. A very similar bowie by Don was on my short list for the new ABS web site home page. Love the lines!

The Andrews bowie is also terribly cool. I know how Russ builds those things and I can tell you, no one goes to as much trouble as he does for things that no one ever sees. I got to be a judge this year in Atlanta for the Mastersmith judging, and that knife was my vote for the best knife in the room of the 35 knives there.

My vote is for the Sfreddo bowie. Damascus is mucho difficult, but it's not difficult in the same way as a powder-in-a-can steel is difficult (not to diminish that at all). That blade is "hot-work" difficult. It's not like you can sit down and carefully lay out all those twists. You have to have a way to twist that hot steel at a certain rate and in a certain way on all those bars to get that pattern to come out like that. Then, on top of the difficulty, it's executed in a very clean and balanced knife. Whether it's fair or not, Rodrigo gets the slight edge because even though the knife is outstanding, the man himself seems to be able to make things that no one else has ever seen. His talents seem to be limitless.

Makes me sick! ;)
 
Thanks again to all who voted, and in particular, those who took the time to share their thoughts with us on why a particular knife appealed to them the most.

The result hasn't been in doubt for a little while, so this seems to be an appropriate time to bring voting to a close.

A hearty congratulations to Don Hanson III - maker of the 2008 Bladeforums Best Bowie!

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And congrats again to all the niminees and finalists. 2008 was clearly a phenomenal "year of the bowie". Here's hoping that 2009 will be even better!

Roger
 
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Congratulations Don!
And congratulations to everyone else whose knives ended up on this thread. In the big world, this honor might not mean much or have a hugely beneficial consequence, but I have a feeling that it means a lot to Don, since he spends so much time in here and really seems to care about this community.

The honor of receiving the most kudos is well earned:thumbup:.

Way to go!
 
Congrats Don you deserve it. some very exceptional work and you are truly an artist
 
A worthy recipient, indeed. :thumbup:

I'm impressed but not surprised!

Coop
 
Thanks Folks! I was just happy to get in the top five, didn't really expect to get top honors. The others were just as well deserving!

Roger and Marcel, thanks for all the work in this, was fun and interesting. All the comments on these knives were a treat to read, gives us makers ideas of what you guys like.:)

Thanks again!!!
 
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