Ontario/Bagwell question

[fishface5]

Just got an Ontario Bagwell Midnight Bowie from Burton/Notrub at an excellent price - t'anks, man! But I have a question - this is a full-on fighting knife yet the balance point is almost 1" forward of the guard, shouldn't it be just behind the guard, where the index finger sits? I don't know anything about fighting knives, but that point of balance "feels" the most easy to manipulate, to me. Anyone know the theory here? Are Bagwell's handmade bowies balanced like this, or at the index finger?

thanks for any info - FF5

 

[Mike Sastre]

Short answer is yes, the custom Bagwell's are balanced like that. Forward balance allows knife to do some of the work for you when utilizing techniques specific to the Bowie - Backcut Flow, etc.. Also adds a little power to the hit that you don't get with nuetral balance.

 

[fishface5]

Ah so, thanks, I figured there was reasoning behind it. I'll have to look into bowie techniques, I really like this knife!