Question: Has the large Bowie fallen out of fashion?

jfk1110 said:
You have quite the distinct blades in your collection....... EXCELLENT.👌.......Thanx for sharing them👍
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JFK,
Most of the blades I have shared via the posts have been from designs by other bladesmiths, but when I had them made, I tweaked them to my specs to include the training of the various edged weapons systems that I have been involved with for a while.. The basic foundation in the training comes from the southeast asian arts as well as influences from the Bob Kasper Kni-com program along with the american bowie concepts program from James A Keating.. These blades have been rotated through my edc when I was working in my post retirement careers with the exception of the blade with the devil's horn guard which comes from the Keating Crossada knife program...
 
junglefighter said:
JFK,
Most of the blades I have shared via the posts have been from designs by other bladesmiths, but when I had them made, I tweaked them to my specs to include the training of the various edged weapons systems that I have been involved with for a while.. The basic foundation in the training comes from the southeast asian arts as well as influences from the Bob Kasper Kni-com program along with the american bowie concepts program from James A Keating.. These blades have been rotated through my edc when I was working in my post retirement careers with the exception of the blade with the devil's horn guard which comes from the Keating Crossada knife program...
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Very cool.... Thanks for the extra details.👍👍👍......Great looking steel you have👌
 
Saex, Butcher, Bowie, Hunting, Rambo, Camp, Bushcraft, …a rose by any other name.

Large fixed knives have always been popular. We have used them for fighting, hunting, trail clearing, camping, warcraft and survival. But, as populations grow and endless urban sprawl continues, fewer of us have the opportunity to enjoy those activities. Also, as the decades go by few today remember films like the Iron Mistress or John Wayne’s The Alamo and the renewed ferver they created over Bowie knives and American heritage. From 1950s -80s a whole generation was captivated in trying to rediscover and reproduce the actual knives used by James Bowie. We were treated with an endless stream of articles, books and scholarship on the subject and way too many ludicrous claims from those who argued that they had found the original artifact. However, by the time we got to the internet and the 90s most of us began to resign ourselves to the fact that most of the claimed artifacts were unsustainable, that many were hoaxed, and that much of the proported history were simply long told stories. I think most of us have now concluded that the original knives are simply lost to history.

None of this has altered our love for these large knives. The heroes and villains of our fantasies in popular culture are still portrayed carrying them. We still enjoy having them, and most people in the general population are drawn to looking at them, as they are often beautiful works of art and the modern descendants of the knight’s sword.

N2s
 
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Here's my perspective... It's about the market. A custom monosteel bowie by a name1d maker can be 1-2k. Throw in damascus, etc and a fancy bowie can be 5K on up. That whole price segment of the market is soft right now, IMO. The small knives are "popular" right now because they're sub $1K, often half or 1/3 that.

I've allocated my time to smaller stuff, because I still have a couple of major pieces from last year in inventory. Maybe it's just me, but I think it's not.
 
Jason Fry said:
Here's my perspective... It's about the market. A custom monosteel bowie by a name1d maker can be 1-2k. Throw in damascus, etc and a fancy bowie can be 5K on up. That whole price segment of the market is soft right now, IMO. The small knives are "popular" right now because they're sub $1K, often half or 1/3 that.

I've allocated my time to smaller stuff, because I still have a couple of major pieces from last year in inventory. Maybe it's just me, but I think it's not.
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Smalls are definitely the rage for bit now........Only smart to jump in....👍
 
For collection\display purposes, I lean towards the bigger bowies. For something that I need to carry around and actually use practically, the smaller blades win out every time. That said, whenever someone wants to take a look at any of mine, they almost always want to handle one of the big bowies over the smaller ones.
 

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SammyD said:
For collection\display purposes, I lean towards the bigger bowies. For something that I need to carry around and actually use practically, the smaller blades win out every time. That said, whenever someone wants to take a look at any of mine, they almost always want to handle one of the big bowies over the smaller ones.
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Is that some of D. Kuster's work I see🤔??????
Last on right and 3 rd to last look like his😁.........
Great bunch of steel.👍👍👍
 
I’ll have a go at this

Yes regretfully the classic bowie of yesteryear has fallen out of favor

For years I watched sadly as the ABS section of shows slowly garnered less interest

The big collectors of Bowies have gotten older and have passed on like many of the great Bowie makers

The trend for more tactical style pieces , folders and auto’s have grown and sadly Bowie momentum has stalled

An example is this incredible piece from my friend Bill Bagwell

A good man brought it my way at Blade last year and now a great piece from a missed friend is with me and my new truck knife



There was not much interest in it and it saddened me that such a magnificent piece was not more coveted

To me it is because i know something like this is a formidable tool and can do things other knives can not

But even I have stopped buying them. My Bowie collection is large to say the least and the Bagwell above called to me that is why it came home with me. It bothered me to see such a piece that 10 years ago or longer would have been a dream piece to many not having a home

Like Lorien said above instagram etc is the new fix for blades and pieces like this from Gavin Hawk deservedly reign supreme



Times and tastes change
 
It's still a great canvas for knife making expression. I expect to make at least one per year for the foreseeable future.
 
Here is a pretty cool article written up in the knife magazine back in 2018 - https://blademag.com/knife-collecting/knife-collecting-allure-bowie-knives - doubt they are going to ever truly fall out of favor, they have too much history, they've been in story books and made legendary, mountain men have carried and relied on them for century's, soldiers have carried them into battle, they have made their marks in trade routes amongst the native americans and pioneers and frontiersmen, carried by famous people and noted - and made and collected by many - you'll always find them in catalogs at knife shows and library shelves - pretty sure there are more than a few collector clubs too - anyways my take on the bowie - in elementary school we took trips to the library - think I was most likely, the only fourth grader interested in books on knives - they had books on bowies and hunting knives with drawings and stories about them - not magazine, old books - hardcover - wonder if they still do - they were probably published in the 50's and 60's and 70's -
 
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jfk1110 said:
Is that some of D. Kuster's work I see🤔??????
Last on right and 3 rd to last look like his😁.........
Great bunch of steel.👍👍👍
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Yep, those are both his work. With the exception of the Randalls, all these are works by guys down in South America. One of these days I'll get better photos.
 
Aging fan base ✅
High cost ✅
Collection overload ✅
Other internet venues ✅

The only constant is change.
But it was fun while it lasted!

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evergreensSequoiaseucalyptusandOaks said:
Here is a pretty cool article written up in the knife magazine back in 2018 - https://blademag.com/knife-collecting/knife-collecting-allure-bowie-knives - doubt they are going to ever truly fall out of favor, they have too much history, they've been in story books and made legendary, mountain men have carried and relied on them for century's, soldiers have carried them into battle, they have made their marks in trade routes amongst the native americans and pioneers and frontiersmen, carried by famous people and noted - and made and collected by many - you'll always find them in catalogs at knife shows and library shelves - pretty sure there are more than a few collector clubs too - anyways my take on the bowie - in elementary school we took trips to the library - think I was most likely, the only fourth grader interested in books on knives - they had books on bowies and hunting knives with drawings and stories about them - not magazine, old books - hardcover - wonder if they still do - they were probably published in the 50's and 60's and 70's -
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The magazine photos in your link are really impressive. Custom cabinetry too. Great display. I thought it was Rock Island Arms until I read some.
 
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