Does anybody carry a traditional bowie in the field?

misanthropist

misanthropist

Joined
Jan 28, 2007
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One knife I have a slight fascination for is the bowie. I don't own any (unless you count a Scrapyard Guard which is vaguely bowie-shaped) as I am not much of a 'big-knife' guy but they do have a nostalgic appeal for me.

As is probably well known by now I also like m14s, 1911s and muscle cars and old trucks, so the bowie knife probably has that same outdated americana charm that seems to interest me.

But since I don't own any, I wondered if anyone who does actually likes them as a user knife? I definitely never see them on WSS which is sort of the place I actually take seriously as most people here do use their knives at least more than the average collector! Should I take this to mean that they aren't really that useful in the field? Or are they just out of style at the moment?

I was thinking something along the lines of a Marbles Trailmaker...although I would probably make it instead of buying it.

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To be honest I don't think I really need one as a field knife anyway, but I love the look (I guess that's a bit gay.)

Any thoughts?

Any thoughts on bowie knives generally? I know that the knife above is not as wide as some of the originals...what do you all think about that? Am I failing to understand the true nature of the traditional bowie knife in the first place? Can knives like the Busse Battle Mistress be considered bowie knives? What makes a bowie knife a bowie knife to you?

And does anyone prefer an old bowie as a user tool?
 
i think they are just out of style right now frankly...

as i understand it, the bowie was originally intended as a general use camp knife for skinning/butchering and light brush clearing, and just happened to end up in a fight one day.

i would not mind using a bowie in the field if i needed one, but i don't really need one so don't use one. i would certainly use that marbles though, it looks like a very no-nonsense knife. i don't know if i would call that a bowie though, more of a camp knife style with a clip point. bowies generally have larger gaurds, often double, and have longer clips, at least as far as i can tell.
 
If you are a "Bowie" nut like many of us then I highly recommend you get a copy of my friend Bill Bagwell's book entitled Bowies, Big Blades and Battle Blades.

In this book he covers the many aspects and attributes of both Bowies and other knives...including his take on wilderness knives. He is an old time "Primative" wild guy and prolific hunter so he practices what he builds. His book is a collection of his articles from when he was the blade editor at SOF magazine.
 
I have a heavy bowie, carbon steel (truck leaf spring), 15" tip to pommel, 3" edge to spine, 1/4" thick that have been with me on many a hike or camp trip. great chopper, steak cutter/tenderizer, kindlign chopper etc. This is the ONLY knife i will ever baton with.

2nd from left

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I have, and regularly use, the KaBar Heavy Bowie, but I don't have a more 'traditional' bowie. I've always really liked the looks of the one you've got pictured there, though.

I think when the blade it constructed properly, they're a great camp/woods tool. Mine is a great chopper, but can still maintain an edge more than sharp enough for carving, food prep, etc. It's also easy to collect or clear brush or branches.

But that's more of an argument for 'big blades' than for bowies...
 
A Ka-Bar USMC Knife is considered a bowie, is it not. This is probably one of the most used knives around IMHO.
 
siguy said:
i think they are just out of style right now frankly...

as i understand it, the bowie was originally intended as a general use camp knife for skinning/butchering and light brush clearing, and just happened to end up in a fight one day.

i would not mind using a bowie in the field if i needed one, but i don't really need one so don't use one. i would certainly use that marbles though, it looks like a very no-nonsense knife. i don't know if i would call that a bowie though, more of a camp knife style with a clip point. bowies generally have larger gaurds, often double, and have longer clips, at least as far as i can tell.
Click to expand...

I think , this is not based on any real information but seems a resonable assumption, that maybe the gaurd and the longer clip were changes made to adapt the bowie to be a better fighting knife when that is what it started to become. I am not saying siguy is wrong or anything, this was just a thought.
 
misanthropist said:
One knife I have a slight fascination for is
Any thoughts on bowie knives generally? I know that the knife above is not as wide as some of the originals...what do you all think about that? Am I failing to understand the true nature of the traditional bowie knife in the first place? Can knives like the Busse Battle Mistress be considered bowie knives? What makes a bowie knife a bowie knife to you?

And does anyone prefer an old bowie as a user tool?
Click to expand...

Look at the web page for the American Bladesmithing Society for a good history of the Bowie. The word Bowie knife embraces alot of styles, but ABS defines small bowies starting at 8 inches, with the large ones around 11... Shape can be spear point, clip, or traditional....

We do not know the shape of the "original Bowie knife". It was carried by Mr. Bowie and used at the infamous "sandbar fight" in Arkansas. From what we do know, it was developed by a backsmith who tested his blades alot. The paper described it as a "butcher knife" and it had a hilt.

I think it is reasonabe to assume that Mr. Bowie's knife was designed for fighting. The designs we are most familure with stem from the Civil War. Remember blackpowder was used for everthing and not always that reliable.

I think a bowie could be used for camp work. I don't think a Busse could qualify due to lack of a hilt.
 
I own an old Edge Brand Solingen-made forged Bowie with an 8" blade that I re-profiled a little. It is an excellent camp knife and takes and holds an incredibly sharp edge. I find it very useful for heavy field work. I also own an older Cold Steel Trailmaster Bowie with a stag handle. it's also an excellent chopping knife.

I find them quite useful, and I am a traditionalist, also! Can't go wrong with a big Bowie!

Ron
 
I own a big esparcia bowie but it's too heavy for carrying around and it won;t do any fine work at all. The CS trailmaster and recon scout are very popular and they are essentially just bowies with modern materials.
 
I think the Buck 119 approaches a Bowie - and I know quite a few people carry those. I think that the Marbles Bowie just seems unwieldy to me - BUT - I have never tried one.

TF
 
I like the extra-wide style Bowies. If you look at a Bowie, you'll see, they generally have a fairly fine tip. The extra-wide ones allow you to easily grab the blade itself to choke up close to the tip for fine work.

Closest thing I have to a traditional Bpwie is the HI Cherokee Rose:
3-31-08%20008.jpg
 
To my mind, despite the great variations, the common theme that binds them is that they are all principally sidearms. As such most of them are worthless to me.

It's a tricky line for me to try to identify, but I think that those which still retain properties from their predecessors [camp / kitchen / butcher knives], that can cut and are fast in the hand are good. A contemporary example being the BRKT Rouge Bowie. Similarly, Horn Dog recently posted in a whippy bitchy looking thing that looked like it could have good utility cutting ability yet still be a formidable defensive tool. I don't think useful ones are that common though outside the realm of the custom maker. Most of them seem cobbled together for other purposes too .eg chopping, and become great big lumpen slow things that wouldn't be my first choice for a sidearm, which was the whole point of the Bowie. Among these we might consider the survival Bowie such as the Case V-44 or even many of the larger patterns today flying under the banner of “Combat”.

That said, they do kinda intrigue me too. I have been temped to snag a CS to see what I could make from it. I figured if thinned it out and dumped the guard, put a nice handle on it and stained it up I might end up with something that had Bowie[ness] but could also do useful work round camp. Before I saw a different example of Adams work [screw that] I was minded to do the same to one of these -

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'Cos under all the crap of that $300 odd USD [seriously] lay the blank below I can get for £40 odd

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Despite the fact they would be bested by dedicated kitchen knives in my camp, I kinda liked the idea of doing something that would have a decent go at that yet also be light enough and quick enough that if it entered a Bowie arena it wouldn't be left for dead like a bulldozer at a Ferrari race.

As for the smaller Bowies, I have no time for them at all. I don't think they excel at anything. For example I'm thinking of utility patterns such as the Camillus MK1 that borrows strongly from the Bowie nostalgia, or indeed the 7” [ish] British MOD knife [although it does look a tad less like a Bowie now the grind has changed from the 1960s prototype, and the clip and stag handles have gone]. If I wanted a small sidearm knife I wouldn't be thinking Bowie. And if I wanted a small utility knife I wouldn't be thinking Bowie either. At that size I think they are a bit of a mashup. This is what I envisage when I think of generic small Bowie -

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and although some appear to be designed a bit better -

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I still have them pegged along side Chute knives. They can look awesome, but they wouldn't be what I reached for, for anything.
 
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I think that the Fallkniven Thor would fit that role you are looking for. Expensive (at least here in Spain) but well worth the money. You can have the best of both worlds: romantic looks and space age steel (Lam. VG10).

Mikel
 
I used a few "bowie" for the last couple of years. I find that they are ok for general camp duty. i can chop a 6-8" diametre tree down in about 10 mins. Work ok for clearing brush, limping trees, and cutting up food (reads watermelon) etc. However, i think that they are jack-of-all-trades. If you don't have one, you definitely should give one a fair trial for a year or two then make up your mind.

I'll be packing an axe and small fixed blade for Canada day camping trip.
 
I love a large knife like that paired with a folder... I'm a firm believer in "jack of all trades tools" I't hard to find a quality affordable model in a traditional styling..I'm thinking hevily about commissioning one or perhaps even trying to make one of my own...
 
I have a good collection of bowies and bowie types. My avatar is one that Matt Roberts made for me

Here: http://www.robertsknives.com/images/101-0136_IMG2.JPG

Here are some of his others: http://www.robertsknives.com/Bowies.html

I have used it to delimb, cut meat, camp chores, chop etc and it does well. It is very light in the hand but chops with authority. I would def say give them a try and see if you like them. For camp duty in general i prefer a knife with no gaurd or single gaurd, but the double gaurd on this just looks good.
 
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