Puma bowie

tew3006

tew3006

Joined
Mar 12, 2012
Messages
146
I just picked up a Puma bowie. I have had the chance to try it out yet, but it seems like a quality knife. Does anyone have experience with Puma?
 
The handle was far too small for my taste. And for over $100 dollars per knife the fit and finish were awful. I can't say anything about edge retention, but it's made from 440c and I'm told the Rockwell hardness is at about 58, which would be quite good.
 
Used to be a quality knife in the 70's, prestige has slipped since then and these days way outclassed by cheaper, better American made knives.
 
My friend owns one of those.Handle is way too short and the steel is nothing special.....its some low grade of Krupp steel, would never buy it!
 
The fit and finish of this one is good and it fits my hand. My father has a folder that he uses for his hunting knife. That is a great knive, but he got it in the 70's. I guess I should've looked into the new Puma before the purchase. Oh weel live and learn. At least it's the one made in Germany.
 
You should know, that a PUMA knife (not quite sure if it was the bowie, but maybe), is what inspired Ethan Becker to make his knives. He says he still has it.
 
tew3006 said:
The fit and finish of this one is good and it fits my hand. I guess I should've looked into the new Puma before the purchase. Oh weel live and learn. At least it's the one made in Germany.
Click to expand...

I have one and have no problems with the fit and finish. It is a recent purchase and has not been in the field yet so I can't comment on that. As for as fitting your hand, that's a personal thing as all knives will fit each of us differently. It is a knife you can be proud to own. The sheath is as good as they come and far better than most. Enjoy your new knife.

jwh
 
tew 3006, Don't be too put off you've still bought yourself a quality, classy German made kinfe. My earlier thread probably sounded a bit harsh because in their day they were a Rolls Royce brand.
 
Have always wanted a Puma White Hunter since I was a kid, hopefully one day. My first quality lockback I ever purchased back in the early 80's was a Puma 470, I still have it. Only wish it had stag scales instead of black plastic.
 
This thread just needs a few pics :-)

The smaller Puma 6396 Bowie was made in 1980 is still new & unused, but it had an absolutely horrible factory edge so i reprofiled & polished it on my Wicked Edge.
(clearly visible in the pics)

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Specs:

Overall length: 10.8 inch (27,5 cm)
Blade length: 6.5 inch (16,5 cm)
Blade thickness: 5,0 mm
Steel: Genuine Pumaster Steel (forged & hardchromed carbon steel)
Hardness: 61 HRC
Handle material: Sambar Stag with aluminum guard
Weight: 216,0 grams

This larger Puma 6376 Bowie was made in 1978 is still new & unused.

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Specs:

Overall length: 12.8 inch (32,5 cm)
Blade length: 7.9 inch (20,0 cm)
Blade thickness: 6.6 mm
Steel: Genuine Pumaster Steel (forged & hardchromed carbon steel)
Hardness: 61 HRC
Handle material: Sambar Stag with aluminum guard
Weight: 413,0 grams
 
The vintage Puma knife with Pumaster Steel is much better than new knives made by Puma! If you like Pumas buy the vintage ones on E bay!!!
 
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My Puma bowie was made in 2006 and has recently become one of my favorite fixed blades. It sat with my collection for a long time but I finally started using it. I agree that for the price the fit and finish is a bit sloppy compared to other knives but the 440c blade has worked well for me. I think its done better than some of my other 440c knives. I've really enjoyed mine, hope you enjoy yours. I look forward to getting my hands on an older model for comparison. Seems like everyone shares the opinion that the older ones are better so when I have the cash i'd love to try one out. For now this knife has been a sweet purchase for me. Getting ready to do some serious camping and this knife is going along for the ride.
 
I have both new and vintage puma knives in my collection. I prefer the older puma master blade steel over the new stainless blades. All of them are top notch knives. The balance on the bowie knives is very good, and I really like the stag handles over the g10 and other man made handle materials used on other knives. My point being puma still makes a quality and classy knife.
 
festerfromnzed that white hunter look wicked! Just like a great knife should.
 
I have a Puma Bowie that is about five years old - fit and finish are good. Edge retention is good. Maybe they don't have the prestige of the vintage models or the quality of stag grips, but I am not convinced they deserve the negative evaluations they sometimes receive here. Factors such as 'feel' and grip size etc are subjective and not reflective of the quality of the knife.
 
The negative evaluations of the current ones are inescapable precisely because of the prestige of the vintage ones; a prestige that didn't just arise because people decided they wanted to randomly esteem something, but because of the attention to detail that USED to be put into them that no longer is. The current ones are perfectly serviceable tools. The old ones were among the most heirloom-quality production knives ever made. They're not putting out junk now by any means, but they're riding heavily on what they used to do, and no longer have the ability (or perhaps the inclination) to do; though they still feel comfortable pricing them as though they're highly special. The new White Hunter is more money than nice originals on eBay! Oh well, I have several old, glorious examples of Pumaster steel, whose only fault is a phonetic one: "Pooh-Master" Crazy Germans. :D
 
Several things differenciate the old puma from the new. Gutmann was the distributor up until the early 90's. Coast Cutlery took over next and the dropped the green plastic boxes and reduced some of the finish and markings on the blade. On or about 1999 or 2000, India banned the export of Sambar Stag. that was half the look of the old Puma's, the Sambar stag handles. Half of the asthetics are gone without the quality Sambar scales. The Puma Aristocrat series had gold in the etched part of the blade, long gone.
They continued to make process changes on the finish the blades and how they marked the blade. The early models were Imprinted for the lettering. Now it is surface lettering.
If the blades still pass a rockwell test, then the steel should be comparable. The Rockwell test is a scientific test that has not changed and will give a standardized result for steel hardness.

The Puma Bowie retailed for $108 in 1982. So, if you paid over $300, you should almost get the same quality. If you paid $125 or so, you have a good knife where the manufacturing costs were cut back to keep them affordable.

Enjoy your knife, it will just have a chevy caprice look instead of a caddy at a caprice price.
 
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