Bowie knife comparison

G

GunzHot

Joined
Mar 20, 2002
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I was curious about how the Fallkniven Thor and the Cold Steel Laredo compare. I read the article written by Van Cook about the Laredo singing its praises on its balance and speed for a large blade. I was wondering if the same could be said about the Thor.

I have a Cold Steel Trailmaster, but want a more "live" (I guess) blade like a fighter's quality. I have a little PMA training but no formal bowie type training. I have considered the Ontario's Hell's Belle (a friend has the Fortress that I have played with), but I think I would be happier with a more robust blade that could be appropriate on hiking/camping trails.

I guess I want a good balance between quickness chopping ability. Something with a sharpened clip (for back cuts) and traditional looks would be BIG plusses. Comments and suggestions by those who have handled these knives would be appreciated!

Chris
 
Jeez, gotta give us more than 20 minutes :)
I have a Laredo Bowie, and I'll vouch that it's well balanced and has a good fit & finish. I don't have a Fallkniven so I can't really compare them. I like the Laredo well enough, but for a little more than the cost, you can get a nice custom Bowie from some of the makers on the forums.
 
If you like your trailmaster, why not have it modified? A maker can sharpen the clip and grind the blade to a thinner flat grind, or perhaps a slight convex grind. I have heard of trailmasters modified this way and their performance improved greatly. For the price you;d pay on another bowie, modifying the one you have may be just the ticket. Make a post in Shop Talk and see if anyone is up for the project.
 
Thank you for your replies! I had forgotten about the Camillus/Fisk bowies. I really like the southwestern.
 
Check the Bagwell Bowies from Ontario.
they were made exactly for what you are asking to get from a knife.
Oops, sorry, they really weren't make for chopping. but very, very light in the hands.
If you've already got a trailmaster, why do you want to comprise with a knife that excells at neither chopping or self-defense?
 
I have both Fallkniven F1 and A2. If the Thor is anything like these it would be hard to beat. Does the Thor have a laminated blade? I'll post a question for Cliff Stamp to see if we can get his opinion of laminated fallkniven blades. That could be a significant factor for you!
 
Originally posted by stripey357
Jeez, gotta give us more than 20 minutes :)
Click to expand...

Actually it was more like one day and 20 minutes. ;)

Gunzhot,
of the knives you mentioned, I've only fondled the Thor so far. I think it's a bit on the heavy side, not really what you're looking for.

I don't know if that's out of your price range, but you might want to take a look at Jerry Hossom's awesome fixed blades.
 
Originally posted by Quiet Storm
Actually it was more like one day and 20 minutes. ;).
Click to expand...
(ACTUALLY, it was more like 12 hours and 24 minutes, but who's counting?.:D.).

GunzHot,
The knife that you ARE looking for IS the Ontario Hell's Belle.:).
 
Chris,
For Big Boys, I have a Thor, A2, Stainless Trailmaster, BK9, Mineral Mountain 10" Combat (one off,) Mineral Mountain 10" White River, an RCM, and an Anaconda 9. Oh, and a Steel Heart (sorry Jerry.)

The Thor is similar to the Trailmaster. The TM is slightly shorter, yet heavier than the Thor with most of the weight towards the blade. The thor is .28" thick where the TM is 5/16". The Thor is surprisingly well balanced for its length. It gives the illusion of being a little more sketchy when being handled due to its slippery leather grip. This thing will end up in the next county if you're not careful. The blade touches up NICELY on a 204 or Lansky sticks. The VG10 laminate is superb and has tested to enormous side stress for a long and fairly slender thickness. The aluminum butt cap on the Thor has been known to come loose in some instances with hard use, and cannot take a licking whatsoever. The tip is seemingly very fragile and fine, but I haven't heard of any issues. Fallkniven sheaths are made in Spain and are of the highest quality and weigh almost as much as the knife in the case of the Thor!

The A2 is the sleeper though! Not too big, not too small. Heavy enough to be an effective chopper, yet light enough for fine work. I'll mention it again, the convex edge in VG10 laminate is capable of extreme sharpness and is also very durable. The tip on the A2 is beautifully designed as to not make you worry about altering it's shape in hard use. The hammer-end pommel is also a comforting feature.

Although it's a Swedish company, these knives are made in Japan and the sheaths in Spain. The fit and finish is superb and Fallkniven customer service is excellent.

out,
Cris

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Glockman,
Why do you say this?
I owned an Ontario Bagwell a while ago, and the tip broke off.
Gunzhot wants a user and a fighter in one.
Do you consider the Bagwell a user.
From what I've seen and heard it isn't
 
Yah, the (Ontario) Hell's Belle IS more a fighter than a "user", but as a fighter, it's pretty hard to beat (in its' price-range).

For a hard-use knife, I'd go with the CS Trailmaster...That 5/16ths inch-thick Carbon V is pretty tough....But it doesn't make a very good "fighter" as the balance is all wrong (too "blade-heavy"), and the handle sucks.
 
Walking Man: I never use the Trailmaster (its the sambar stag handled) and I wanted a knife that was a user and yet had somewhat of a balace for fighter. I guess nostalgia calls and I crave something that I feel the frontiersmen might have carried as an "all-around do everything knife" (modern materials not withstanding).

Quiet Storm: Mr. Hossom's knives are indeed beautiful, but the handle lines are not quite what I am looking for. I want something a tad more traditional I think, but keep the suggestions coming.

Cris: That review is exactly what I was looking for. I was excited to hear about the balance and the performance of the vg-10 (I love that stuff), but dissapointed to hear about the handle. I have a 5in. Blackjack knife with a leather stacked handle that I am fond of, but I guess the extra weight of the Thor would make it harder to hold onto.

once agian, thanks for the replies...I posted so quickly after my first post because it was getting burried so fast without any replies.
 
My Camillus OVB Fisk Southwest Bowie is clearly designed as a fighter, but I've had good luck using it as a general utility blade. I just don't have enough experience with other big blades to give any kind of relative assessment.

Has anyone with more big-blade experience used the Southwest for utility? I'd love to hear how it rates against others, particularly in chopping.

--Bob Q
 
Cold Steel's Laredo is the best of both worlds. 10.5" blade, Carbon V steel, wickedly sharp false edge, coffin handle. It's a little heavier than the Ontario Bagwells, but balanced well, so moves pretty darn good. I've got about all the knives mentioned here, know a little about Bowie techniques, and consider the Laredo the best all around usage Bowie you can get without going custom. For fighting alone it's hard to beat the Hell's Belle.
 
do the sheaths for the hell's belle and laredo loosen up or do they stay tight?

I tried them at a gunshow and it was rather hard to pull them out, I understand that you don't want the blades to fall out, but since they use the belt frog system of retaining the sheath, it would seem very likely to pull the sheath along with the knife given how tight the sheath is.
 
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