hard use tradiotional bowie

P

pikey30

Joined
Sep 9, 2004
Messages
41
I am looking for a very nice traditional style bowie that will stand up to a lot of abuse, like a serious survival situation. It is a gift for my brother and I have a price range of 2 to 4 hundred dollars, I’m pretty open about the specs, blade about 6 to 8 inches and a bone handle material would preferable. There is a lot of stuff out there but I’m not sure how many of them would stand up to hard use. Any suggestions would be great.
 
Justin at Ranger Knives is offering a series of limited edition bowies made out of 5160 at the moment. Justin's 5160 blades are incredibly tough, and completely suitable for hard use. Part of the deal is that you get to pick the handle material and blade finish that you want. From memory, the 7.5" is about $225.
 
skip the bone as handle material. You'll want a good hardwood. For hard use, make sure the grip is one you are confident and comfortable with.
 
I have to agree with Daniel here that bone probably isn't the best choice for a hard use knife. Especially in a survival situation type knife. If you want to keep in tha natural materials then a good solid harwood would work fine, but for a real hardcore knife I would like some type of synthetic better. Any natural material will sucmb to the elements and use over time, but some of the synthetics such as G10 or micarta could probably last forever. This is especially true in a situation where the knife might be getting used in wet conditions, and you won't have a chance to dry and clean it off after each use. Of course the downside is that the look isn't really up there with a nice bone or wood.

I think you really need to decide if the knife will get used and abused, or if you just want a nice looking traditional bowie style knife. I am sure many makers make fine knives with a bone handle that could be used, just not abused.
 
djolney

Thanks for the plug.

Jeff Clark

The ones on my forum are a mix of the old and new. Just finished this one up that is more in the "old" style.

reid4.jpg
 
bark river knife and tool make some very good hard working knives. they are tested by trappers and hunters in Canada before they make it to the production line......tough A2 steel and many styles including bowie. make sure that any knife you buy has strong lateral strength.

serious survival situations call for more than one tool. myself, i would bring a strong 4-5 inch FB like bark river or swamp rat....a leatherman wave multi tool or SAK.......and a folding saw.....and ideally a GPS

But that's just me :)
 
Hard use bowie generally means a good forged blade. Randall is a good hard use forged blade knife. It will run you the full $400, but they have been proven over the last 60 years. Ruana makes a good forged bowie with about 50 years of history behind it.
 
cognitivefun said:
AK Bowie from HI is a great choice.
Click to expand...
AK Bowie from HI is a great choice.
*********************************
How is the hardness and the price? I am learning. In what area are you living? How did you learn about this? Did you have a mentor? Knives has always intrigued me and I do have more than my share! Never enough money and way too many knives!
Thanks,
iBear
 
RangerJD said:
djolney

Thanks for the plug.

Jeff Clark

The ones on my forum are a mix of the old and new. Just finished this one up that is more in the "old" style.

reid4.jpg
Click to expand...
I sure like this.... it is beautiful!
Thanks,
iBear
 
Hi,
Save yourself several hundred dollars and buy a Western W49. Blade is a little longer and the handle is laminated wood but they are tough and have a proven record.
Regards
Tack
 
I'm gonna suggest you have Greg Covington make you a bowie. He makes a really nice bowie out of forged L6(just about as tough as blade steel gets), with micarta handle.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top