And...if the Sfreddo won the "BladeForums BEST BOWIE 2010" the rest of the knife world/community could point to this thread and exclaim (accurately) that BladeForumites are so stupid they cannot tell the difference between a fighter and a bowie.
I very much doubt that, STeven. And if you have an articulable and universally accepted definition of "fighter" and "bowie" I am all ears.
The point has been made - and it is certainly true - that this contest is not the same as judging at a knife show. For one - it is entirely transparent as to submissions - we all know what was entered. For another, it is vastly more transparent as to selection - we have a good sampling of who voted for what and why. Finally, it is not the decision of an individual - or two to three individuals - but the decision of the community that carries the day.
But the judgment calls are essentially the same. At a show, if a judge thinks a knife doesn't belong in a given category, he won't select it. But he's doing nothing more than applying his personal, individual (however experienced) perception as to what a "bowie" is. That's all that the individuals voting are doing here - and their collective view carries the day.
You're not suggesting, are you, that at major knife shows across the country, there aren't knives that have won "Best Bowie" that could just as easily be described as a "fighter", are you? Does the greater knife community laugh / ridicule / spit venom at those selections?
...Lots of knives considered "Bowies" by the noted cognoscenti of really old ones don't really fit any definition. Jim Bowie's probable knife looked a lot more like an Ol' Hickory butcher knife than anything.
Flayderman defines it:
" a weapon designed for a close encounter carried either as primary weapon, or in reserve for possibly ineffective small single shot firearms commonly carried in the first half of the 19th century".
The role defines the size-primary wepaons were bigger, reserve weapons were smaller. Like most things martial, they also became ornamental and downright useless.
The Bowie knife is all about intent
It can't really be defined. I have tried!
Excellent point - and post - Anthony.
But if a knife is nominated for "Best Bowie", who will be the ruthless arbiter and channeler of Jim Bowie's spirit to pass judgment on whether it passes muster? And actually says "Be gone from this thread you Persian son of a serpent knife...
Well, I'm still waiting for those who want the contest restricted to the purest of pure bowies to let me know just what that is. "I know it when I see it" aint gonna cut it as a workable rule of inclusion / exclusion. At knife shows, is there someone standing at the door to the judging room vetting submissions and excluding those that, in their view, don't belong?
Roger
, I am just a metal beater and leave that to the more knowledgeable folks to figure that out 
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