The Cold Steel machetes that I've handled have all been well-made and reasonably priced, and this is true for the 12" Bowie Machete as well. The Bowie Machete is made in China as opposed to South Africa, and is being discontinued soon. In-store price is about $15, and that includes the sheath. The item number is 97BW12S. If you prefer, there's also an 18-inch blade version of the Bowie Machete. The 12" bowie weighs in at 15.4 ounces. A few people have bought the 12" Bowie to use as a large knife; I'll be reviewing it as a machete.
The Handle: The handles on the China-made Cold Steel machetes are all the same. The handle is made of black polypropylene (hard plastic). It's 5-5/8" long from the very end of the handle to the blade's start. The handle is 7/8" thick, and there's 4-1/4" of usable space between the guard and the little retention butt. This is enough for me, and my hands are pretty big. The texturing is checkered on the sides.
The front and back of the handle is textured with simple lines...
The lanyard hole is large enough for non-gutted 550 cord, which I recommend so you don't lose your tool if you lay it down in the woods.
The balance point is about 2" forward of the hilt. I'm not sure if this is a full-tang design, but it has held up quite well in my machete tasks. In-hand, it fits me very nicely.
The Blade: The Bowie's blade is made of 1055 carbon steel with a Rockwell hardness of about 54-56. It measures 12" long with an 11-1/2" edge. It's just a hair under 1/8" thick. The blade is covered with a baked-on anti-rust finish, which is black. This finish covers the edge as well, which came pretty dull. The machete had a usable edge for the woods, but would really benefit from a bastard file or a belt sander for a really nice edge. Edge retention was very respectable; I like to keep mine sharp enough to slice paper cleanly, but not sharp enough to shave with. I've found this to be the best angle and sharpness for me in the field.
The left side of the blade tang is stamped as follows:
And the right side...
The back of the Bowie also came ground and "sharpened" if you want to call it that (all Cold Steel machetes come like this) and the swedge is 5-1/2" long. I keep mine sharpened, but more dull than the primary edge. If you sharpen it all the way, the tip gets very fragile while not adding much to the thrusting capabilties of the blade (remember, this is a machete).
The Sheath: The Bowie Machete comes with a simple black nylon sheath. It's 17-1/2" long overall, and 18" long with the machete inserted. It's heavily-stitched and there are steel rivets along the sides, as well as a plastic safety toe at the bottom. The handle can be secured with the snap closure, but I've found it to be unnecessary when attached to a belt in the woods.
If you read my 12" Sax Machete review, you'll notice that the sheaths look almost identical: like somebody put the belt loop on the back of the Sax sheath and then slid a Bowie Machete into it. Well, almost. The design is very similar and I tried using my Sax sheath as a left-handed Bowie sheath and it didn't work. The Sax' sheath is just a tad bit tighter than the Bowie's, so it's not really going to work unless you use the Bowie sheath for the Sax.
The belt loop is sewn to the back, and will accomodate a belt up to 3-1/2" wide belt.
For me, this wide loop hasn't caused any migration problems. The button snap is held on with a single rivet, and can be rotated for a different placement of the snap. The sheath isn't designed for this, but it can be done, so don't do it too often or you'll wear the material down.
The Handle: The handles on the China-made Cold Steel machetes are all the same. The handle is made of black polypropylene (hard plastic). It's 5-5/8" long from the very end of the handle to the blade's start. The handle is 7/8" thick, and there's 4-1/4" of usable space between the guard and the little retention butt. This is enough for me, and my hands are pretty big. The texturing is checkered on the sides.
The front and back of the handle is textured with simple lines...
The lanyard hole is large enough for non-gutted 550 cord, which I recommend so you don't lose your tool if you lay it down in the woods.
The balance point is about 2" forward of the hilt. I'm not sure if this is a full-tang design, but it has held up quite well in my machete tasks. In-hand, it fits me very nicely.
The Blade: The Bowie's blade is made of 1055 carbon steel with a Rockwell hardness of about 54-56. It measures 12" long with an 11-1/2" edge. It's just a hair under 1/8" thick. The blade is covered with a baked-on anti-rust finish, which is black. This finish covers the edge as well, which came pretty dull. The machete had a usable edge for the woods, but would really benefit from a bastard file or a belt sander for a really nice edge. Edge retention was very respectable; I like to keep mine sharp enough to slice paper cleanly, but not sharp enough to shave with. I've found this to be the best angle and sharpness for me in the field.
The left side of the blade tang is stamped as follows:
And the right side...
The back of the Bowie also came ground and "sharpened" if you want to call it that (all Cold Steel machetes come like this) and the swedge is 5-1/2" long. I keep mine sharpened, but more dull than the primary edge. If you sharpen it all the way, the tip gets very fragile while not adding much to the thrusting capabilties of the blade (remember, this is a machete).
The Sheath: The Bowie Machete comes with a simple black nylon sheath. It's 17-1/2" long overall, and 18" long with the machete inserted. It's heavily-stitched and there are steel rivets along the sides, as well as a plastic safety toe at the bottom. The handle can be secured with the snap closure, but I've found it to be unnecessary when attached to a belt in the woods.
If you read my 12" Sax Machete review, you'll notice that the sheaths look almost identical: like somebody put the belt loop on the back of the Sax sheath and then slid a Bowie Machete into it. Well, almost. The design is very similar and I tried using my Sax sheath as a left-handed Bowie sheath and it didn't work. The Sax' sheath is just a tad bit tighter than the Bowie's, so it's not really going to work unless you use the Bowie sheath for the Sax.
The belt loop is sewn to the back, and will accomodate a belt up to 3-1/2" wide belt.
For me, this wide loop hasn't caused any migration problems. The button snap is held on with a single rivet, and can be rotated for a different placement of the snap. The sheath isn't designed for this, but it can be done, so don't do it too often or you'll wear the material down.
