So some of you may recall my thread in the Cantina about taking finals. Well in the immediate aftermath of finals I decided to buy a Bowie from HI. I tried to go for a DOTD, but found out that the one I emailed for had been bought. However Auntie decided to sell me one for the exact same price as the DOTD that had already sold. It never ceases to amaze me how Auntie offers us such great service. So I ordered it and had it shipped to where I'd be a few days later, wouldn't do to have a triangle box sitting on my doorstep for a few weeks. When it arrived the following Monday I snapped it straight from the mailbox, I was fortunate enough to see the mailman's car drive in front, so it didn't wait there long.
When I got a look at it I was impressed, though not sure what to expect. I was expecting a good knife, and I knew what it looked like but that was it. It's quite sharp, with a good clean edge as well as revealed by testing it against printer paper. The edge has a bit of recurve to it, though nothing extreme, and the clip is fairly long and shallow. I checked its balance quickly, and it balances pretty close to the blade. I can balance it on my finger with the edge of my finger touching the blade's overhang. For a while I was thinking that the Bowie was pretty much a utility knife that could be pressed into service as a fighter the same way most knives could be pressed into service if necessary. However I did revise my opinion after that. The handle is big and rather slab-sided, but does its job well. The pins holding the scales on are very clean, no big protrusions, and no weird shapes from being hammered in haphazardly. There is a trace of patina on the strike plate and right where most people would rest their thumbs in a fencing grip, but nothing severe. About the only negative on this knife is that the sheath is rather tightly fit, and the knife tends to slice a little at the leather when drawing. I'll be making a kydex sheath for it when I get the chance.
Returning to it as a fighter, knife fighting is one of my interests so you will never hear me evaluate a knife (except maybe for kitchen knives) without giving my thoughts on it as a fighter. So as a fighter I initially thought it could be used as such, but wasn't much of a fighter. However the knife's balance is very neutral. While kukris tend to have special demands because of their balance, the Bowie will do what you ask and demands no special behaviors or strikes. I sent a picture to my instructor, and he looked at it and thought that the overhang wouldn't be enough to prevent your hand from sliding out onto the blade during a thrust, and I can see where anyone could get that impression from pictures, but the overhang is enough to make this knife safe in a thrust. And the blade is very broad, the spine wide (though not as wide as my kukris) and with a fairly shallow straight-clip point I imagine this thing will penetrate to the hilt in a thrust, and could even penetrate through bones if need be. So I'd say it makes a good fighter, though the lack of guard means you wouldn't want to pit it straight against a blade, but it's common practice in many arts to avoid going blade to blade, so that's not a major deficiency in my book.
So onto the story of the other HI Bowie. Last weekend I got an unexpected email from Philll. He'd received a gift from Yangdu in one of his orders and decided to pass it along to me. Once I recovered from my shock and verified that it was Philll I gave him my address. Today the second Bowie arrived in the mail. I opened it quickly, and found another beautiful HI blade. One of my first impressions was that it was easier to draw from its scabbard than the other. Then I noticed that it has a more prominent clip-point, its clip is about a quarter-inch longer than the other, giving it a sleek look as compared to the near-bulldog profile of my first. It's also noticeably lighter than the other, which surprised me because the first isn't exactly heavy. The grip is very similar to the first, yet somehow it is a little more comfortable to me. I think it is slightly slimmer and that's why it's more comfortable. It does have a minor flaw in the polishing about an inch from the bottom end of the handle, but it's a minor flaw, nothing to worry about. I did notice that both knives have at least one fuller ridge that meanders a bit, but that's not an issue coming from a handmade knife that comes so inexpensively for how very high quality it is.
As a fighter, I suspect the second Bowie would penetrate deeper in most cases, but probably couldn't power past harder obstacles quite as well due to the reduced amount of material at the tip caused by the longer clip. If I used either of these in a fight, I am quite certain they would perform at their best in stabs and thrusts. They're both well suited to it, as is the bowie knife shape in general. They can cut well, but they excel in penetration in a thrust.
So I have to say thank you to Yangdu for giving me such a good knife for such a great price, and Philll for giving me such a nice gift. Oh and my apologies for the way the first pic is rotated weird. I was using a family-member's phone and it rotated it weird. The bottom one is the one I bought from Yangdu, the top with the darker wood is from Philll. Both are of the same kind of wood by the way, just one is darker than the other. Not sure what kind of wood they are though.
edit: The first Bowie (lighter colored handle) weighs in at 9 1/8 ounces. The bowie from Phil comes in at 8 ounces flat.
When I got a look at it I was impressed, though not sure what to expect. I was expecting a good knife, and I knew what it looked like but that was it. It's quite sharp, with a good clean edge as well as revealed by testing it against printer paper. The edge has a bit of recurve to it, though nothing extreme, and the clip is fairly long and shallow. I checked its balance quickly, and it balances pretty close to the blade. I can balance it on my finger with the edge of my finger touching the blade's overhang. For a while I was thinking that the Bowie was pretty much a utility knife that could be pressed into service as a fighter the same way most knives could be pressed into service if necessary. However I did revise my opinion after that. The handle is big and rather slab-sided, but does its job well. The pins holding the scales on are very clean, no big protrusions, and no weird shapes from being hammered in haphazardly. There is a trace of patina on the strike plate and right where most people would rest their thumbs in a fencing grip, but nothing severe. About the only negative on this knife is that the sheath is rather tightly fit, and the knife tends to slice a little at the leather when drawing. I'll be making a kydex sheath for it when I get the chance.
Returning to it as a fighter, knife fighting is one of my interests so you will never hear me evaluate a knife (except maybe for kitchen knives) without giving my thoughts on it as a fighter. So as a fighter I initially thought it could be used as such, but wasn't much of a fighter. However the knife's balance is very neutral. While kukris tend to have special demands because of their balance, the Bowie will do what you ask and demands no special behaviors or strikes. I sent a picture to my instructor, and he looked at it and thought that the overhang wouldn't be enough to prevent your hand from sliding out onto the blade during a thrust, and I can see where anyone could get that impression from pictures, but the overhang is enough to make this knife safe in a thrust. And the blade is very broad, the spine wide (though not as wide as my kukris) and with a fairly shallow straight-clip point I imagine this thing will penetrate to the hilt in a thrust, and could even penetrate through bones if need be. So I'd say it makes a good fighter, though the lack of guard means you wouldn't want to pit it straight against a blade, but it's common practice in many arts to avoid going blade to blade, so that's not a major deficiency in my book.
So onto the story of the other HI Bowie. Last weekend I got an unexpected email from Philll. He'd received a gift from Yangdu in one of his orders and decided to pass it along to me. Once I recovered from my shock and verified that it was Philll I gave him my address. Today the second Bowie arrived in the mail. I opened it quickly, and found another beautiful HI blade. One of my first impressions was that it was easier to draw from its scabbard than the other. Then I noticed that it has a more prominent clip-point, its clip is about a quarter-inch longer than the other, giving it a sleek look as compared to the near-bulldog profile of my first. It's also noticeably lighter than the other, which surprised me because the first isn't exactly heavy. The grip is very similar to the first, yet somehow it is a little more comfortable to me. I think it is slightly slimmer and that's why it's more comfortable. It does have a minor flaw in the polishing about an inch from the bottom end of the handle, but it's a minor flaw, nothing to worry about. I did notice that both knives have at least one fuller ridge that meanders a bit, but that's not an issue coming from a handmade knife that comes so inexpensively for how very high quality it is.
As a fighter, I suspect the second Bowie would penetrate deeper in most cases, but probably couldn't power past harder obstacles quite as well due to the reduced amount of material at the tip caused by the longer clip. If I used either of these in a fight, I am quite certain they would perform at their best in stabs and thrusts. They're both well suited to it, as is the bowie knife shape in general. They can cut well, but they excel in penetration in a thrust.
So I have to say thank you to Yangdu for giving me such a good knife for such a great price, and Philll for giving me such a nice gift. Oh and my apologies for the way the first pic is rotated weird. I was using a family-member's phone and it rotated it weird. The bottom one is the one I bought from Yangdu, the top with the darker wood is from Philll. Both are of the same kind of wood by the way, just one is darker than the other. Not sure what kind of wood they are though.
edit: The first Bowie (lighter colored handle) weighs in at 9 1/8 ounces. The bowie from Phil comes in at 8 ounces flat.
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Must mean the micro since there have been no minis lately on DOTD? Sorry fellas! Carry on. Im just trying to keep confuzed confused but just cornfuzing myself?