My third opportunity to obtain an OKC/Bagwell Hell's Belle Bowie, may be the charm...

PocketKnifeJimmy

PocketKnifeJimmy

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Aug 4, 2013
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My interest in this knife began over two decades ago, my having seen an ad for it in a print magazine.
I owned no Ontario Knife Company knives at that time, nor did I have any clue whatsoever about who the designer of the Hell's Belle Bowie was.
Anyhow, I don't remember the exact price it was going for at the time, but I remember it being more than I wanted to spend for a cool knife I would have added to my collection, (I'm guessing it was right around $200).

Well, quite a few years went by, (after the Ontario Bagwell knives had been discontinued), and then I ran across the OKC Hell's Belle again, this time while perusing Knifecenter's online website. By this time, I had read all about Bill Bagwell and his custom made knives. He and his knives were very well regarded, with his Hell's Belle design being about the Zenith of his creations. Of course his knives were very limited, as he hand forged/hand crafted each specimen by hand. There was a pretty long wait period for getting one, and his prices represented that.
Well, for my collecting purposes, I would be more than happy with obtaining an OKC made Hell's Belle, designed and approved by Mr. Bill Bagwell himself. It did not matter much to me that it was not an original custom Bagwell Hell's Belle, or that it was only made of a basic stainless steel, (rather than whatever his preferred carbon steel was). What did matter to me, is that I loved the lines of his design. It was also very cool that the OKC Hell's Belle was not only Mr. Bill Bagwell's design, but that it was approved by him for OKC's commercial production.
It seems that Knifecenter had acquired some "new old stock" inventory of these OKC/Bagwell Bowie knives, and here was another chance for me to obtain this knife, and this time, I wasn't going to pass up on that chance!. The price was now at about $300, but I realized that my having to pay more for it was my own fault, since I did snooze and lose on my first opportunity. So, placed the order I did!
A couple days later something happened that made me sad... Knifecenter contacted me to let me know that they were sorry, but that there was an error in accepting my order because they had run out of stock. They had none to offer me, and, there was obviously no way to restock on this discontinued OKC product.
I guess this was more of a missed opportunity, since it seems that I was simply not quick enough in discovering this limited inventory item 😔

Fast forward to early this week, while perusing the internet, I came across my third chance to get myself the Ontario Knife Company made, Bill Bagwell designed, Hell's Belle Bowie knife. An individual was selling a mint/unused condition OKC/Bagwell Hell's Belle, but as with my previous encounter on Knifecenter's website, it's price had again gone up.
Okay, but... did I still want it bad enough to pay the $420 + s&h/taxes to finally get one? I did hesitate, and almost decided that the answer to that question was, no.
Not no because I no longer desired to get the knife, but no because I didn't feel the knife was worth paying that dollar amount for.
Well, I pondered that decision for a little while, and then came up with another answer... that answer being, yes.
Yes, I wanted the knife enough to bite the bullet and accept it's now higher price tag. And, yes, I did place my order for it.

Now I'm just hoping that I will totally be pleased with it when it arrives 👍

Btw, after I had placed my order for it, I did a little researching to see what these knives are now fetching on the open secondary market. It seems my cost for it is actually on the lower end of what they have recently been selling for, so, that did help me feel even better about pulling the trigger on it 😊

I don't have the knife in hand yet, but, the following pics are what Knifecenter still has on their website for this long discontinued knife.





I've wondered if Queen Cutlery, (which was owned by the same owners of Ontario Knife Company during that period of time that these Bagwell designed bowies were being made), had any hand in the manufacturing of these knives? I'm not saying that they likely made them from head to toe, but it would seem Queen could have been useful in achieving this Ontario Knife Company/Bill Bagwell collaboration.
I guess that it's a question that I'll likely never actually get an answer to, but... But, one never knows 😊

Sadly, Mr. Bill Bagwell is no longer with us.
I will be proud in owning and displaying a knife that is based on his most famous design. And, again, it having been a collaboration between him and OKC, and it having been made in the USA, still makes it quite a neat representative piece, at least in my eyes 😊
 
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Very nice. I wish I had grabbed a HB as well when they were $199 or so.

I had a similar experience as you are having now with the Camillus/Fisk Southwest bowie.
 
kamagong said:
Very nice. I wish I had grabbed a HB as well when they were $199 or so.

I had a similar experience as you are having now with the Camillus/Fisk Southwest bowie.
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Yes, Sir, I can totally relate.
I've been lucky enough to revisit some of my past decisions where I passed up on some things I wanted, and made them right by acquiring them. Sometimes I have found a good deal by carefully searching and some dumb luck. Other times, I have wound up paying out the ying yang for my much delayed purchase.
I do find it rewarding when I finally acquire an item I wanted many years ago, but was unable to purchase when it was first offered and more readily available.

To be honest, I have never come across one of the Ontario Hells Belles in person, so receiving my incoming specimen is a bit exciting for me 🤞
 
I received my Ontario/Bagwell 'Hell's Belles' Bowie knife this morning.
The vendor's description couldn't have been any more accurate. The listing stated that it was "unused" and "as new in the box"... That, it most certainly is! 👍😊👍










The blade material is a stainless steel, one that many have guessed it to be 440A, while others have said it to be 440C with a lower hardness rating, (to purposely gave more toughness over edge retention).
Mr. Bagwell himself is said to have favored toughness over edge retention in knives such as this.
He was not a stainless steel fan, so with Ontario making these with stainless steel, they supposedly chose to do some modification in their heat treat to the stainless they used.
Whatever the steel grade actually is on these knives, polishing it supposedly caused, what is called in certain circles, an "orange peel" surface finish. That is what this one I acquired has... polished, but with that "orange peel" surface look to it. Someone not knowing this, would likely think that a finish like this is intentionally done, but it is not. I personally find it pleasing, but that, of course, is personal opinion/taste.



I believe the early Ontario Hells Belles Bowies were polished in this manner, with later specimens done in a fine wire wheel brushed finish, lessening the "orange peel" look.

Some Stats I found online:

Steel- Ontario's proprietary QS13 steel, 5/16" stock, heat treated to an Rc of 53-55.

OAL- 16 5/8".

Blade- 10 7/8" long, flat ground with a 3 3/4" profiled false edge or swag along the spine, the first 3/4" behind the tip sharpened. Round Spanish Notch at the ricasso. Notched rattail tang.

Weight- 15.7 oz.

Balance Point- 1" in front of the guard.

Double Guard- nickel plated brass.

Handle- Laminated birch, octagonal "coffin" shape, with prominent forward and rear pins, and an escutcheon plate on the R side.

I find it to be a real cool knife. I will continue preserving it, (while being properly displayed), for posterity.

👍😁👍
 
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"unused"....... don't know why, but that struck me as humorous.... I suppose it's difficult to find a good knife fight on a river sandbar, as they seem to have gone out of vogue.... 😁

seriously, though... that is a spectacular looking knife, and I'm very happy that you finally found one. I've passed on too many things, and ended up regretting it...
 
hornetguy said:
"unused"....... don't know why, but that struck me as humorous.... I suppose it's difficult to find a good knife fight on a river sandbar, as they seem to have gone out of vogue.... 😁

seriously, though... that is a spectacular looking knife, and I'm very happy that you finally found one. I've passed on too many things, and ended up regretting it...
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Thank you, Sir!

I think what sometimes happens with such knives, is that folks put them to use for mundane tasks. Some are played with, cutting up bottles and such, and that limited use gets them to look less than new.
Other's may buy them for collecting, but just don't know how to properly store them, maintain them, or simply have little mishaps with them, (dinging and scratching them all up), and so they no longer look new.

This one ACTUALLY looks totally NIB 👍😊👍
 
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PocketKnifeJimmy said:
Thank you, Sir!

I think what sometimes happens with such knives, is that folks put them to use for mundane tasks. Some are played with, cutting up bottles and such, and that limited use gets them to look less than new.
Other's may buy them for collecting, but just don't know how to properly store them, or simply have little mishaps, (dinging and scratching them up a bit), and so they no longer look new.

This one ACTUALLY looks totally NIB 👍😊👍
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Yes... I understand... my one "big" knife is a Western, and I used it to cut up kindling for our fireplace. It's too big for most "normal" knifey chores, but it makes an excellent small chopper.

edit: and, of course, it would be my "go to" knife if I ever get in a fight on a sandbar..... 🤪
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kamagong said:
Very cool. I distinctly remember the Ontario Bagwells advertised as having 440A blades.
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Much thanks, Sir! 😊

Yes, I too read it being 440A, but also read it being in 440C. Whichever one was used, it was said that the difference for them calling it a "QS13 proprietary steel", was because of their heat treat to purposely achieve a lower Rockwell hardness. That was in keeping inline with Bagwell's preference for toughness over edge retention. Bagwell was not a fan of stainless steel for this type of knife. So, for the Bagwell designed commercial production models to move forward with the stainless steel, OKC likely did the steel heat treatment change to meet Mr. Bagwell's philosophy on the matter.
 
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Does anyone here know when abouts the Ontario Knife Company discontinued the Bagwell series of knives?

Much thanks in advance.
👍😊👍
 
Some may say that the 'Hell's Belles' Bowie is nothing but a single purpose knife.
Well, to that I say... Not exactly!
I mean, for me, it's a collectable, a conversation piece, and an object to display as part of my domain's interior decor.
It's a benefit of my having been divorced many years ago and living as a single man... I get to decorate my dwelling in full blown man cave mode 👍😆👍



 
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With the beautiful displays you have, the higher price was just an inconvenience to be able to add the new OKC model. Congratulations!
 
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