Help Me Pick a Blade Shape...Bowie .v. Spear Point

[stabman]

Bowies are only good for stabbing.

And cutting.
And getting splinters out of fingers.
And whittling...pretty good at whittling.
Used one around the lab a few years back for lots of stuff, from cutting fiberglass and thick rubber hose, to opening boxes, and whatever else needed doing.

Funny how I've carried a Bowie style whenever I felt like it over the years, had no one to stab, yet still found it worked just fine as a knife.
Weird!

(Edit to add: That was an Emerson Bowie blade...I only recently got a Hinderer with Bowie blade)

 

[afishhunter]

Of the two, the spear point is stronger at the tip, and is a more more versatile profile.

 

[bdmicarta]

This is interesting- I picked spear point because I like a keen point and my spear points have a sharper point than anything I have that looks like a Bowie. I have seen clip points that had a keen point, but I've also seen clip points that were still pretty blunt. I suppose there is enough latitude in both styles that either one can be made sharper than the other one. It seems that a lot of knives are made with tall blades and a lot of belly and even with clip points they are still pretty blunt, such as the big Beckers, but I don't recall a spear point that was blunt. My favorite spear point is a Benchmade 913.

 

[Carbon-]

Seems like the overwhelming consensus here is for the Bowie, which I find a bit surprising.

Are there any real advantages to a Bowie/clip point vs a drop point? I'm going to be picking up a Cold Steel Code 4 in the near future and I'm trying to decide between the two. Generally I lean towards drop points and they're a bit less intimidating looking than clip points...but I do like the clip point on my Mini Recon 1. Just can't seem to decide.

 

[Carbon-]

Seems like the overwhelming consensus here is for the Bowie, which I find a bit surprising.

Are there any real advantages to a Bowie/clip point vs a drop point? I'm going to be picking up a Cold Steel Code 4 in the near future and I'm trying to decide between the two. Generally I lean towards drop points and they're a bit less intimidating looking than clip points...but I do like the clip point on my Mini Recon 1. Just can't seem to decide.

 

[bdmicarta]

Are there any real advantages to a Bowie/clip point vs a drop point?

A simple knife design usually has a sweeping curve that leads up to the point, and if the blade is somewhat tall the point is fairly blunt. A clip point lowers the height of the blade at the point and makes a keener point.