I ordered a Paul Chen Hanwei Bell Bowie today

F

FullerH

Joined
Nov 25, 1998
Messages
12,632
Well, I finally got around to ordering a Hanwei Bell Bowie today. I ordered it from 888knivesrus for $136.95 + shipping. I was told that they had a number of them in stock and that mine would ship on Woden's Day, Wednesday 6/8/05. It is being sent specially to my P.O. Box as I have had Fed Ex and UPS packages either walk off or be misdelivered just too many times. I am looking forward to it.
http://www.888knivesrus.com/category/bowie_knives/

We need a drooling icon. ;)
 
You gotta post again when it comes in...

What, production Bowie-wise do you have to compare it to in terms of heft, balance, etc...?

Sweet!!!
 
James, I have collected Bowies for years. I have a couple of the Western Bowies, a Kabar (which is a Bowie type, actually a USN Mk.2 Diver's Knife), a Randall 6" Sportsman's Bowie, a Randall 7" Model 1 Fighter (another modified Bowie form), a Dixie Gun Works repro of a J.D. Searles Bowie, an Ontario Bagwell Hells Belle, one of Atlanta Cutlery's Primitive Bowies (about which I have revised my previously negative opinion), and the Generation II/Imperial Weapons repro of the Musso Bowie. I also have a Lutel repro of a 13th Century French Dagger that bears an uncanny resemblance to the classic 19th Century Bowie.

Ot the ones that I have, the Hells Belle is a greyhound or a thoroughbred, all lean and mean, light and very fast. The Musso reproductiion is my image of what Jim Bowie carrried. If he didn't carry this one, as he may well have done, then he damned well should have done so. It is not so light and quick as the Bagwell, but it is still lighter and quicker than the Western or Atlanta Cutlery Bowies and it just looks damned nasty and mean. it is a slicer and chopper, not a stabber, like the Hells Belle is or the Bell Bowie appears to be, but a stab with it would be a most nasty wound.

If you are familiar with the J.D. Searles Bowie style, you will understand that they are very light and very quick, but lack the clipped point and the sharpened swedge of other Bowies, so a back cut would not be quite so effective. But it is an elegant design, nonetheless, that needs a proper scabbard for it.

The Atlanta Cutlery Primitive Bowie is a whacking great hand axe of a knife that you could easily see splitting a man's or a bear's skull. If you order one, pay to get them to sharpen it. It also needs an appropriate scabbard.

What can I say about the Randalls? "If a better blade was ever made, it was probably forged in Hell."* They are elegant in appearance as well as being very efficient in what they do, and are due all of the fame that they have.

R.F., in the past, Paul Chen has used old Chinese railroad track as raw material for his swords and most of his knives. I cannot say for certain what it is except that it is carbon steel and not stainless.

* From Guy Clark's "The Randall Knife"
 
I got to handle the belle bowie. Let me just say that the pictures are decieving; or at least they were to me. I saw this online and thought that it looked like a short sword. Turns out it just has a very thin handle.
Still a great knife though. Just sort of let me down by being average size.
-KC
 
Knifeclerk, if you look at such knives as the Bagwell Hells Belle and many of the 19th Century Bowies, you will find that they have rather narrow hilts on them. I would have to defer to the martial arts specialists to say why Bagwell continues that practice on his modern versions, but continue it he does. As for the Bell Bowie, it is a reproduction of an 1830s knife.
 
FullerH said:
Knifeclerk, if you look at such knives as the Bagwell Hells Belle and many of the 19th Century Bowies, you will find that they have rather narrow hilts on them. I would have to defer to the martial arts specialists to say why Bagwell continues that practice on his modern versions, but continue it he does. As for the Bell Bowie, it is a reproduction of an 1830s knife.
Click to expand...

Of which I am well aware of now. Although a picture of the knife in hand would have prevented my hopes from rising like they did. I don't even think a knife the size I imagined would have been practical. I just think it would have been really cool!
-KC
 
KC, if you want a huge knife, take a look at the Atlanta Cutlery Primitive Bowie, but do order it sharpened or they will ship it to you with a rebated edge for re-enacting. As I said, it is one huge knife and its hilt is a handful. But the scabbard is junk, you will need to make a new one.
 
I'm familiar with the Searless type. I tend to prefer my Bowies with a clip point personally... though there are exceptions.

You have quite a collection FullerH! I've always liked that Imperial Musso type. And I've always been interested in the Windlass/Atl Cutlery version too; I guess it's just too wide to be a thruster?

I've got one of the Windlass Mariner Bowies - with all that brass it is actually handle heavy - odd for a 10" blade bowie. I like it alot actually - it's not exactly practical but I don't care.

I would love to have a Randall but I don't have the $$ to invest in one. Currently I've got the above knife, an old Trail Master, an Ontario SP6 (8" blade), Swamp Rat Camp Tramp, a Bark River proto type bowie, a 12" blade Ontario Bowie/machete (plastic D-guard) and some assorted 6" blades like the CS SRK that may or may not qualify depending upon your definition of the term. Oh yea, and a 12" bladed Ontario blackwind bayonet copy that has a narrow clip point bowie blade.

I haven't recieved my Kabar heavy bowie yet so I didn't count it. This knife (Hanwei Bell Bowie) looks to be almost spear pointed. With a 12" reach, it is probably a very serviceable fighter.

Anyway, look forward to more on it when you get it,

Cheers,

James
 
I have posted about my Randalls before. I bought the 6" Sportsman's Bowie in the Fall of 1961 for all of $25. My parents were shocked that I would pay that much for a knife. But my father could appreciate a fine tool when he saw it and he sent me down with my sister to buy her one when she became a camp counselor down in North Carolina and the camp suggested that a knife would be good thing for her to have. She bought a Trout and Bird knife for, I think, $35. The Model 1 cost me about $175 or so in 1978. Since they both date from when "Bo" Randall was still running things, I am told that this increases their value to collectors, not that it makes any difference to me. i have no intention of selling either one.
 
My Bell Tennessee Bowie came today. It is a shame that I'll be away all weekend and won't have a chance to play with it. :grumpy: :)
 
FullerH,Didn't know about 888knivesrus.Thanks.Interesting knives.I think a lot of people are surprised by thinness of Helle's Bell's blade.Agree about sheath of Primitive Bowie.It would be more substantial looking if it were wrapped in duct tape.Still think it looks a heck of a lot like Bowie's (Jason Patric) in the new ALAMO movie before it starts growing the brass furniture as the movie progresses.
 
I really like the look of the Hanwei Bowies, but have not purchased one. They look like they offer good value. FullerH, be sure to fill us in after you have had time to get to know the knife.

On a side note, the other day my August Blade mag arrived in the mail and I saw an ad for some limited edition bowies being put out by Browning. I figured they looked pretty good so i went to the Browning website to find out more info. Every one of the Browning limited edition Living History series retails for $895.00. I can get some very nice customs for that kind of money. They also seem to be made from 420 steel. How disappointing.
 
I had a chance to play with the Bell Bowie a bit on Sunday. The blade is very well made with all of the grind angles appearing even and equal on both sides. The edge is not up to Spyderco standards, but what else is? :D I am certain that a bit of work witha Sharpmaster or some Washita stones would do wonders when I have the time. The scabbard, as others have noted, comes with a belt frog so that you may carry the knife in the normal fashion, should you so wish. The scabbard is very well made, with reasonably heavy brass fixtures, not flimsy little tinsel trim. The leather is quite heavy, but it is all leather, not leather over wood. The fit is tight, but others with the knife say that it breaks in easily with use. The hilt is horn scales with a brass pommel in a coffin shape. The fit and finish appears quite good, especially for the money. I paid $139.95 + shipping to 888KNIVESRUS, but I do recommend a call to them to check on availability before you order.

The blade is of carbon steel, but what that steel is, I am not certain. I do know that Chen uses old railroad track and, from what I have read, the railroads that were originally run through that area of China were laid in the mid 19th Century by the British and the steel is likely the same sort of scrap steel that would have been available to knife smiths in this country at that time. I do know that most of his products have been good quality for the money and I am confident that the steel and the heat treat in this knife will be up to his usual current standards.

More later.
 
I got to play with the knife a good bit this weekend. I was able to take the belt frog off of the scabbard and it is much the better for it. But the brass throat has a curiously shaped hole in it into which the blade fits. It has these right angle corners upon which the edge hangs up when returning the blade to the scabbard. I finally took a Dremel to the openning and removed the angled areas. The blade slides in rather more smoothly now.

There have been some comments upon the tightness of the leather in the scabbard. I have sprayed the interior of mine with 3-in-one oil so that it slides more easily and it lubricates the blade at the same time.

The knife is a dream to handle. It sharpens easily and takes a super keen edge. The balance is toward the blade, obviously, but nothing like the Musso Bowie. This knife, like the Bagwell Hells Belle, is a very light and quick fighter, but it is more of a thruster type than the Bagwell as the blade has less belly to it and there is no clip and no needle sharp point for the back cut. Curiously, there is a pronounced distal tapering to the blade until about 1/2 inch from the point. It then widens for a bit and then tapers to the point. My guess is that this reinforces the point.

All-in-all, a handsome and very reasonably priced piece.
 
The railroad track steel that Hanwei has used is a hodgepodge, but from what I can gather, it's of German origin and compositionally similar to 1095. For all I know, it is 1095 - because I've also heard that, as of the year 2000, the Hanwei factory has been running low on railroad tracks. So who knows what they use now.

In their higher-end stuff (swords, at least), they use a variety of Swedish powdered steel.
 
For the last few weeks on the wall at work in front of my desk has been a xerox of the CAS Iberia Bell Bowie. I love the look of this knife. I don't care if was made from old railroad track.
Yesterday I called 888knivesrus and ordered one. With the 4th of July this weekend I should have it by Wed the latest.
Now I have to start saving for the Northwoods Cowboy Bowie.
Good Collecting !
JOCKO
 
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