Original Bowie?

[T33Th]

What current company has made the bowie knife the longest?

 

[Old Hunter]

The definition of what is a Bowie knife is a moving target - real difficult to answer, and lots of opinion as to where to draw the line. I will be glad to see a definitive answer! OH

 

[Amos Iron Wolf]

Darn, I thought this was going to be about those German made "Original Bowie" knives from back in the 50s, plus or minus a little each side. While some just slapped the title on there, others were made in the Sheffield patterns, which I like. I have a stag scaled PIC brand I really like.

IIRC cutlers in Sheffield, England were big producers of so called Bowie knives back in the day.

There isn't really a specific "Bowie" or "Knife like Jim Bowie's" that can really be defined as the original beyond being a big knife. Most of the things we've come to identify as a Bowie knife are embellishments and modifications. Usually geared toward sales and marketing.

Some short and interesting history here from http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=2738

Can't help on the idea of who marketed and sold a "Bowie" knife the longest, but Sheffield produced a lot of knives to the North American market back in those days.

 

[Hammer67]

The definition of what is a Bowie knife is a moving target - real difficult to answer, and lots of opinion as to where to draw the line. I will be glad to see a definitive answer! OH

There isn't really a specific "Bowie" or "Knife like Jim Bowie's" that can really be defined as the original beyond being a big knife. Most of the things we've come to identify as a Bowie knife are embellishments and modifications. Usually geared toward sales and marketing.

Can't help on the idea of who marketed and sold a "Bowie" knife the longest, but Sheffield produced a lot of knives to the North American market back in those days.

That pretty much sums it up as I know it. Digging into examples of a "Bowie" knife will reveal quite a few different designs and variations, some of which bear little resemblance to each other. A "Musso" style Bowie is quite a bit different than a "Natchez" style, yet both are considered "Bowie" knives, for whatever the term "Bowie" is actually worth. So without there being a single, agreed-upon design, it's hard to say who has really produced it the longest, as far as I know.

 

[knarfeng]

Knives which are properly identified as "Bowie Knives" are creations of the 1800's. Various manufacturers have been making knives with large blades ever since. Run a search for the term "Bowie" in the Bernard Levine Forum.

There is no factual answer to this question.

 

[black mamba]

Two of the earliest known Bowie knves are the Searles and Constable knives commissioned by Rezin Bowie (Jim's brother) and the Perkins/Shively Bowie. Note these early examples have straight spines, not clip blades as are usually portrayed now.

 

[kn4wd]

I just finished a Searles style blade and guard the handle will be more of the shivley style. I made the guard in three pieces brass on outside and silver on the center. it is 12 1/2" long blade and I wouldn't want it any bigger. I know outback had a 17 1/2 oal and Gil Hibben has a 20 1/2" oal bowie.i do love the Searles and Perkins style on both knives,they were before the clip point. kind of a huge Spanish beldique which probally inspired the design.

 

[hawaiianhawk]

I've always been a fan of the Searles style bowies. They just look very clean and functional and... intentional, for lack of a better word. They look like they want to cut.