Bowie Knives

T

TedderX

Joined
Feb 8, 2017
Messages
186
I see a lot of Bowie knives with a gold/brass piece along the spine of the blade.

What is the point of this piece?
 
Brass is softer therefore it's suppose to be used to catch blade while knife fighting it if that makes sense.
 
TedderX said:
Yea that doesn't make sense to me either.

Why catch a knife while fighting?
Click to expand...

Because in a theoretical knife fight its better, that you suddenly end up being the only one armed and your opponent not.

The brass is supposedly meant to trap the opponents knife and you would then in theory yank the opponents knife from his hand.
 
They mean the edge will catch by biting into the brass causing it to get stuck. Personally I doubt the edge would bite in deep enough to yank the blade out of someone's hand.
 
Is this something historically accurate that David Bowie invented or was it added later on in more modern times?
 
No older proven Bowies have it. Some think that it came about as a misinterpretation of someone hearing that the Searles Bowie had an inlaid spine. That inlay is a small gold initial plate.

People that are fans of it come up with fanciful tales about them being used as a blade catcher and defector, etc..... Most that you see are modern knives from the eras after the film "The Iron Mistress" came out. That film ushered in a period of large, heavy "blinged" out Bowies that is still a popular design with collectors today.
 
Well that post referred to a bowie from the Battle of the Alamo that had a brass spine. Dunno how that would be historically inaccurate, but I don't know a lick about bowies really so hopefully someone can sort that out?
 
kniferbro said:
Well that post referred to a bowie from the Battle of the Alamo that had a brass spine. Dunno how that would be historically inaccurate, but I don't know a lick about bowies really so hopefully someone can sort that out?
Click to expand...

It would be inaccurate because the claim is inaccurate.

None of the documented claimants to the Bowies Alamo knife (the Bart Moore knife, the W&S Butcher knife) have a brass spine.

The likely sandbar knives also dont have one.

Do "Bowies" have that brass spine? Yes. Did Bowie have a knife with a brass spine? No.

Did The Iron Mistress knife created for the 1952 movie have one? Yep.
 
Sometimes, you see it referred to as a "parry strip.' It is discussed in much the same manner as the Spanish notch, which means that we have no firm answer as to its function, if any.
 
tltt said:
No older proven Bowies have it. Some think that it came about as a misinterpretation of someone hearing that the Searles Bowie had an inlaid spine. That inlay is a small gold initial plate.

People that are fans of it come up with fanciful tales about them being used as a blade catcher and defector, etc..... Most that you see are modern knives from the eras after the film "The Iron Mistress" came out. That film ushered in a period of large, heavy "blinged" out Bowies that is still a popular design with collectors today.
Click to expand...

Don't forget the random nonsense concocted by Raymond Thorp. His "vision" of what Bowie's knife looked like (big clip point with a brass spine and double guard) was what inspired the movie.

Nothing to do at all with Bowie era knives.
 
What about the guards, honest question. I've seen some bowies with guards shaped like that you'd find on a main gauche, lemmesee.. bagwell maybe does them? I wonder historically how accurate they are and how effective they actually could be.
 
spykez said:
What about the guards, honest question. I've seen some bowies with guards shaped like that you'd find on a main gauche, lemmesee.. bagwell maybe does them? I wonder historically how accurate they are and how effective they actually could be.
Click to expand...

The big guards are not historically accurate.

This, the Forrest knife,

edwin_forrest_zpsoje7vint.jpg


is the original Bowie...the sandbar knife.

Though some argue one of these is

perkins_zpsyddvptil.jpg

Rb-knife_zpsnphq5a6f.jpg


What is historically accurate is that the original Bowie was a beefed up kitchen knife or punal (gaucho knife).

None of this clip point, brass spine nonsense.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top