- Joined
- Sep 11, 2002
- Messages
- 3,548
I've been under the weather this weekend- got a summer cold- but I wasn't going to let that keep me from playing with my new Ang Khola Bowie. This is the one Pendentive refurnished. If I recall correctly, it was rusted up and smelled like rotten fish guts when he got it. It was forged by Bura, and you do not give up on a work of art like that. So he fixed it up good. It is a totally different animal now.
Pen put a good convex edge on it but did not reprofile the entire blade, leaving the original fuller in. Comparing it to the Bowie on the store site, it only has one fuller. He profiled the handle slabs and coated them with spray-on polyurethane.
When I first received the knife, I commented that it has the sharpest edge in my collection, whether factory or custom. The edge was not heavily thinned out. There is plenty of steel behind it, but it is hair-popping sharp.
Duplicating Pen's test, I held up ten sheets of printer paper and sliced through them cleanly in one swipe.
Today I took it outside. I found a shady spot and chopped at some logs. As expected from an HI product, it swung clear through 1" branches and was sharp enough for brush-clearing work. I found a sapling that was being weighed down by two 4" thick dead branches from a large maple, and set to freeing it.
The Bowie cleaved into the hard dead wood as readily as my other khukuris and better than my other large non-HI knives.
In a few short minutes the 4" branches were gone. The edge still shaved hair and showed no signs of rolling.
After that I tried out the point by doing full stabs, drops and spear-throws into logs. As expected, it sank in deeply and there was no deformation to the point.
The grip isn't as great as on the khukuris. My hand kept slipping down, making my pinky rub against the pommel. I ran a lanyard through the hole and used it, but I don't think the knife would have slipped out of my hand at any point. I may have to sand the grips or tape them, but it isn't dangerous, just a little uncomfortable.
Overall the AK Bowie is a great knife. The wide blade has a built-in guard of sorts, the recurve blade is excellent for chopping and slicing, and the point is good for detail work. The convex edge is perfectly suited to this thick fullered blade, because it still has enough steel behind it to guard against chipping.
Pen put a good convex edge on it but did not reprofile the entire blade, leaving the original fuller in. Comparing it to the Bowie on the store site, it only has one fuller. He profiled the handle slabs and coated them with spray-on polyurethane.
When I first received the knife, I commented that it has the sharpest edge in my collection, whether factory or custom. The edge was not heavily thinned out. There is plenty of steel behind it, but it is hair-popping sharp.
Duplicating Pen's test, I held up ten sheets of printer paper and sliced through them cleanly in one swipe.
Today I took it outside. I found a shady spot and chopped at some logs. As expected from an HI product, it swung clear through 1" branches and was sharp enough for brush-clearing work. I found a sapling that was being weighed down by two 4" thick dead branches from a large maple, and set to freeing it.
The Bowie cleaved into the hard dead wood as readily as my other khukuris and better than my other large non-HI knives.
In a few short minutes the 4" branches were gone. The edge still shaved hair and showed no signs of rolling.
After that I tried out the point by doing full stabs, drops and spear-throws into logs. As expected, it sank in deeply and there was no deformation to the point.
The grip isn't as great as on the khukuris. My hand kept slipping down, making my pinky rub against the pommel. I ran a lanyard through the hole and used it, but I don't think the knife would have slipped out of my hand at any point. I may have to sand the grips or tape them, but it isn't dangerous, just a little uncomfortable.
Overall the AK Bowie is a great knife. The wide blade has a built-in guard of sorts, the recurve blade is excellent for chopping and slicing, and the point is good for detail work. The convex edge is perfectly suited to this thick fullered blade, because it still has enough steel behind it to guard against chipping.
