Complete history of Bowie knife

You mean the phoney baloney clip point version was their rambo? Yes. The actual knofe bowie used was no different than most of he camp knives made today.
 
grailhunter78 said:
So basically the Bowie was like the rambo knife of the 1800s. I suppose every kid grew up hearing about Jim Bowie and the alamo looking at the local blacksmiths interpretation of the "Bowie Knife". Kind if like kids in the 80s looking through soldier of fortune and coveting the rambo inspired knives through out the book.
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Nailed it. Though the Bowies were real people, not fiction. Other than that...same thing.
 
Yeah thats what I meant. I mean Jim Bowie was obviously a real person who used real knives but the idea of a Bowie knife has kind of taken on a life of its own at this point.
 
grailhunter78 said:
Yeah thats what I meant. I mean Jim Bowie was obviously a real person who used real knives but the idea of a Bowie knife has kind of taken on a life of its own at this point.
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Exactly. Every Bowie wannabe wanted one. So they made tons of them in all shapes and sizes with little to no regard for historical accuracy towards the application or look.

Just think! Dudes were running around in their parents basements in 1850 waving their totally awesome Bowies around and going "wu-shaaaa"!

Then, about 1900, they started taking their totally tactiawesome Bowies camping, with no regard for functionality, when outdoor recreation became popular.

And, with the opening of this thread, the circle is complete.
 
I think the British were the ones that really went to town making clip point bowies. Some good looking ones to.
 
In terms of blade as self-defense tool, swords started to fall out of vogue with the advent of the musket and pistol. But I assume that people continued to carry daggers. Knives seemed to have been used mainly as tools and kitchen implements until a certain point. From all the information out there, it seems like the popularity of the Bowie designs really inaugurated the era of knife as weapon and self defense tool. There doesn't seem to be a whole lot of information out there though. From what I read, Mountain Men and trappers carried large bowie-style blades but they were used them primarily as tools.
 
For the group's reading pleasure...
http://notorc.blogspot.com/2006_09_01_archive.html

Maybe something from the NYTimes in 1864?
http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9D04E6DE1630E033A25756C2A9659C94659ED7CF

This topic comes and goes so often it becomes tiresome...
The broad brush covers:
Jim Bowie's knife...
JB"s knife at the sandbar duel?
JB's knife when he & his brother hunted 'wild' cattle? (And subsequently cut himself with leading to the revised version with a guard. Not a rabbit. The rabbit showed up in wikipedia a couple years ago. Someone must be laughing each time it is parroted along)
JB's knife after the sandbar duel?
JB's knife at the Alamo?
Jb's knife at any other time between the sandbar duel and the alamo?
Knives presented or gifted to JB?
Knives like JB's?
Knives like the ones mentioned in newspaper articles?
Knives called Bowies to cash in on the fad?

Get a copy of Flayderman's book.
The photos alone are worth the price.
The in depth and well researched writing is worth twice the price.

My theory is...
we don't know... and it is OK.
 
BubbaGump said:
In terms of blade as self-defense tool, swords started to fall out of vogue with the advent of the musket and pistol. But I assume that people continued to carry daggers. Knives seemed to have been used mainly as tools and kitchen implements until a certain point. From all the information out there, it seems like the popularity of the Bowie designs really inaugurated the era of knife as weapon and self defense tool. There doesn't seem to be a whole lot of information out there though. From what I read, Mountain Men and trappers carried large bowie-style blades but they were used them primarily as tools.
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I think most trappers carried something more akin to what Bowie used in the fight than the typical bowie knife. In fact those Hudson Bay frontier knives were a fairly common pattern. Some heavy choppers for dismembering animals.
 
Well it looks as the OP got what he wanted and generated an ongoing debate as to the factual vs mythical evolution of the Bowie Knife :) Books, articles, speculation, factual characters, mountain men, soldiers, drama, blacksmiths, The Alamo, and marketing. This is the history of the Bowie Knife. When I visited the Alamo in 2000 their own museum and gift shop had a variety of Bowie Knives on display and for sale.

Here is a Sasquatch Bowie designed by Doug Kenefick and made by Randall Made Knives.


DSCN3240.jpg
 
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I guess we should thank Bowie for all of the variety of large blades his story has given us.
 
Many,many thanks to all of you guys for all of your interesting additions here in this thread! I have gone through it and allready find out so many things I haven't got a clue before!!!! Story of Bowie knife is most certainly one of the most interesting and yet full of unclear circumstances that often can not be stated as facts....However we all can paint our own picture of where and how this astonishing knife design was born....
 
Please guys

Have anyone here seen who made this giant Bowie knife,where was this knife made and what are it's measurements? Anyone have an info on it?
Please click on following link :

[video]https://www.google.ie/imgres?imgurl=http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j234/gakk/concealed-knife.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/732845-Largest-quot-Bowie-styled-quot-knife-you-ve-ever-seen&h=596&w=377&tbnid=hZKuRzeo-VTkKM:&docid=-1EJwGEsy0JZ_M&ei=HWl8VrK1EoTwUu3Nj5AB&tbm=isch&client=ms-android-h3g-ie&ved=0ahUKEwjyt63XvfXJAhUEuBQKHe3mAxIQMwheKDswOw[/video]
 
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Seriousbladeno1 said:
Please guys

Have anyone here seen who made this giant Bowie knife,where was this knife made and what are it's measurements? Anyone have an info on its price?
Please click on following link :

[video]https://www.google.ie/imgres?imgurl=http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j234/gakk/concealed-knife.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/732845-Largest-quot-Bowie-styled-quot-knife-you-ve-ever-seen&h=596&w=377&tbnid=hZKuRzeo-VTkKM:&docid=-1EJwGEsy0JZ_M&ei=HWl8VrK1EoTwUu3Nj5AB&tbm=isch&client=ms-android-h3g-ie&ved=0ahUKEwjyt63XvfXJAhUEuBQKHe3mAxIQMwheKDswOw[/video]
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Glad you came back to the thread you made and enjoyed some of the content. You can't ask about price.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...MBERS-Please-read-this-WHAT-IS-MY-KNIFE-WORTH
 
Seriousbladeno1 said:
Please guys

Have anyone here seen who made this giant Bowie knife,where was this knife made and what are it's measurements? Anyone have an info on its price?
Please click on following link :

[video]https://www.google.ie/imgres?imgurl=http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j234/gakk/concealed-knife.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/732845-Largest-quot-Bowie-styled-quot-knife-you-ve-ever-seen&h=596&w=377&tbnid=hZKuRzeo-VTkKM:&docid=-1EJwGEsy0JZ_M&ei=HWl8VrK1EoTwUu3Nj5AB&tbm=isch&client=ms-android-h3g-ie&ved=0ahUKEwjyt63XvfXJAhUEuBQKHe3mAxIQMwheKDswOw[/video]
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So, You like big Stag Crown Bowie's?
Two 19th century Masters in this dicipline was Henry Huber and Frederick Hassam!

A modern version of this style:
1295802876-NL1-Sambar-Crown-040.jpg



Regards
Mikael
 
FWIW, here is the authentic Bowie knife. I say it is totally authentic because it came from the town of Bowie, TX. Shouldn't they know what a real Bowie knife is? :D
(my dad got this over 40 years ago)

photo470b.jpg
 
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