Shiva Ki Fighting Bowie

JParanee

JParanee

Joined
Dec 23, 2006
Messages
15,019
Awhile back I got a Shiva Ki spirit blade from are beloved STeven and while I was getting ready to etch the blade as mentioned in a past post I called up Shiva and asked him about his dwell time and such. I wanted to kinda replicate the look of his blades. Well we got to talkin and he told me He had forged a 9 1/2 inch fighting bowie and we made a quick deal. He has only done 4 or 5 in this size. After just about a month it showed up on my door and here are my impressions. I think I have said many times my pention for user finished blades and this knife you will want to use it is very sharp and has a very alive and light feeling in the hand. I cut some thin cardboard tubes as soon as I unwrapped it and it was very easy to know where your edge was if ya understand what I mean I think the little finger kinda like a half sub hilt helps you know the angle you are cutting plus you can swing hard with out worrying about slippage. The knife is a big knife for 9 1/2 inches but as I mentioned very light and balanced. I like my spirit blade but this one I prefer hands down. I really dig the curly maple handle and I tell ya what even though Master Ki is no Paul Long the fit of the sheath is quite good and it seems to be built well and I kinda like the rustic finish. Paul will get it eventually but I leave for lake Erie Friday, world class smallmouth fishing and all this shit is getting expensive so I gotta take it easy it is fishing season and all and fuel prices and Van Staal reels are expensive. All and all I am very impressed with this knife and I am pleased. Shiva Ki was cool to deal with and I enjoyed it. Please let me know what you guys think as always good or bad it's all good. Come on STeven can I get a comment or two buddy?
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JParanee said:
Please let me know what you guys think as always good or bad it's all good. Come on STeven can I get a comment or two buddy?
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Not ready to come back......I like the way he did the thong attachment, the rest of it is not really my cuppa.....Joe. ;)

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
jp...that knife is awsome...i have always wanted to test out one of his blades......can't wait to see what mr long does to it....ryan
 
Thats a nasty looking clip on that blade, great hamon too. The shape of the knife flows really nice. Needs a skull lanyard on it. Looking forward to seeing it!
 
I like the blade and handle a lot, except for the finger groove and the silly looking suede/leather stuff coming out of the handle, this is a good looking knife, IMO.
 
Fantasic blade...reminds me a bit of those Strider custom SLCCs. Would prefer a different handle but I would be very happy with a blade like that. Wicked edge profile to.
 
I prefer the handle on the Spirit Blade, but that is pretty cool. Van Staal reels, eh? You have expensive tastes, my friend. Have you ever handled an old school asbestos drag Fin-Nor big trolling reels? My dad use to have a few of them, but he sold them a while back because he got bit by the stand up fighting bug and felt he didn't didn't need those big 12/0's anymore. I was not happy. The newest high end Shimanos (scarilege, I know....lol) are the only reels that I have tried that are even remotely close to the feel of those old ones. Most of the serious guys in the Keys and Cancun are using them now. The Penn Internationals and the cheaper Fin-Nor Ahabs, while decent, were poor substitutes. Fin-Nor supposedly also made a hell of a fly reel back in the day. Make sure you get some picks of those two headed Lake Erie lamprey/smallmouth hybrids. I'm going to be up in Port Clinton, OH next week.
 
jdm61 said:
I prefer the handle on the Spirit Blade, but that is pretty cool. Van Staal reels, eh? You have expensive tastes, my friend. Have you ever handled an old school asbestos drag Fin-Nor big trolling reels? My dad use to have a few of them, but he sold them a while back because he got bit by the stand up fighting bug and felt he didn't didn't need those big 12/0's anymore. I was not happy. The newest high end Shimanos (scarilege, I know....lol) are the only reels that I have tried that are even remotely close to the feel of those old ones. Most of the serious guys in the Keys and Cancun are using them now. The Penn Internationals and the cheaper Fin-Nor Ahabs, while decent, were poor substitutes. Fin-Nor supposedly also made a hell of a fly reel back in the day. Make sure you get some picks of those two headed Lake Erie lamprey/smallmouth hybrids. I'm going to be up in Port Clinton, OH next week.
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Hi Joe, Grew up with penn's and thought they where great till I learned what a proper drag was. Switched over to a spread of Shimano Tiagras for my tuna and marlin fishing and never looked back. Use the Van Stall spinning rods for striper and small tuna, albacore and the like. I use one of the smallest Van Staal's for my Tube jig rod for smallies wicked drag and those bruiser bronze backs of lake erie make a lovely sound taking drag. Have seen the old Fin-Nor's but never had the privelage to fish one. Have an ahab but they can't compare. Will post some pics of fish after weekend on this thread. Thanks for the comments. Here is a pic of an 8 1/4 pounder from a few years back truly one of the greatest fish of my life
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JParanee said:
Hi Joe, Grew up with penn's and thought they where great till I learned what a proper drag was. Switched over to a spread of Shimano Tiagras for my tuna and marlin fishing and never looked back. Use the Van Stall spinning rods for striper and small tuna, albacore and the like. I use one of the smallest Van Staal's for my Tube jig rod for smallies wicked drag and those bruiser bronze backs of lake erie make a lovely sound taking drag. Have seen the old Fin-Nor's but never had the privelage to fish one. Have an ahab but they can't compare. Will post some pics of fish after weekend on this thread. Thanks for the comments
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Trust me when I say that there was a reason that the real Fin-Nors cost three to four times as much as the Ahabs when they were still producing both lines in Miami.:eek: Those Van Stalls look super nice, but I HATE spinning reals with a passion. My worst experience was having the drag blow out on a big Penn spinner while I had a 90 pound sailfish on the line about 10 years ago in Key West. I used my thumb and brought the fish in,and when we got back to the dock the mate tested it and at full drag, it would only go up to like 1.5 pounds. . We have totally switched over to Shimano 20 pounders for sailfish, white marlin dolphin, blackfin tuna, etc. We use 50's for Yellowfins generally and wahoo in the Bahamas where you have to get them in fast to keep the sharks from eating them, and bent butt 80's for the big guys. Nice fish. Would you believe that we had a few like that in the rockpit lake behind my house in Miami back in the 80's? My neighbor caught a 10 pounder off of his dock once. Somebody stocked the lake with bass and perch after they started building houses on it in the 60's and they thrived.
 
Joe I hated spinning reels also and used casting reels primarily also. But for med to small I really like the Van staals just got one of there fly reels and it feels good.. Hey let's go fishing call me 610 657 9515 be driveing all morning fri. Not a big Penn fan
 
JParanee said:
Joe I hated spinning reels also and used casting reels primarily also. But for med to small I really like the Van staals just got one of there fly reels and it feels good.. Hey let's go fishing call me 610 657 9515 be driveing all morning fri. Not a big Penn fan
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Unfortuantely, we are all booked up this year, but you should drag your ass to Isla Mujeres next year. If you come in May or June, you can watch big sailfish, white marlin, 30-50 pounds dolphin and big blackfin tuna fight each other over pickled ballyhoo. Our best day while I was down there last June was 16 sails, and around 15 each keeper dolphin (we threw back anything under about 15 pounds) and blackfin. We had one white up in the pattern, but a blackfin took the bait from him. He had bill marks all along his side where that white slapped him..lol. I think the best day ever was in February two years ago. They had over 70 sails up in the baits and and brought in 47. The dolphin and tuna don't show up until late April. You also see some kingfish and wahoo and you can also go offshore for blues.
 
Joe grew up in the salt here is a pic of a nice blue we caught on my boat off Maryland last year
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JParanee said:
Joe grew up in the salt here is a pic of a nice blue we caught on my boat off Maryland last year
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Nice.....how big was that one? I have never caught a blue. Been around when a couple were brought in. My ultimate fantasy fish is actually a big mako. My dad caught one 25 years ago out on the Hump of of Islamorada in that was in the 500 lb range. That seamount is covered up with 75+ pound amberjack, so it attracts BIG predators. Some guy caught a 1,600+ lb great white down there back in the late 80's if I recall correctly. What kind of boat is that?
 
Joe did not kill so did not weight but I would guess 350ish. I have been fishing a 31 Contender for a few years and really like it. They say speed kills but 20 knots was killing me now I can break 50 with four guys and full tanks with 400 pounds of Ice and a shit load of tackle. Used to do alot of sharking lots of small mako but my biggest was a tiger at almost 400.On the rivers I fish a big block airboat with a heavy gauge bottum and 3/4 poly
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Hey Joe
I dig most Shiva Ki's knives they have an elemental nastiness about them
blade shape and edge geometry on this one is very cool
not sure about the sub hilt or how comfortable i would be if twisting in grip.
But a Cool Piece none the less!
but that Bass is one helluva fish
me and a buddy cast eels when time permits..been looking to put together a nice striper rig..have you checked out Zeebaas reels...pretty trick but beaucoup $$$$$
 
We currently have a Viking 52 Express. Our captain stayed at the completion facility in Palm Beach while they were rigging it, so it has a few tricky little features that Viking is now using. We had a 43 express before and our captain actually came up with the idea for the extra drink cooler under the step going up to the mezzanine/deckhouse that you now see on most Vikings. Prior to the 52, we had a 1990 65 Monterey that was pretty famous on the tournament circuit up in your part of the world back in the 90's. It used to be the Gina Lisa. It had hot rodded 1700 hp Bivens 16V92's and would top out at 43-44 knots, but it was a fuel pig and it was just requiring too much maintnence. The thing has pneumatic starters and salon door, so it had a compressor that could power a small air hammer...lol. And yeah, we miss it...lol.
 
Joe we get a good white Marlin run off Maryland and I usually fish The white Marlin Open either on my boat or one of my buddy's. Sounds like you should invite me down there the fishing is better. Here is a nice white on the back of my boat
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RAN said:
Hey Joe
I dig most Shiva Ki's knives they have an elemental nastiness about them
blade shape and edge geometry on this one is very cool
not sure about the sub hilt or how comfortable i would be if twisting in grip.
But a Cool Piece none the less!
but that Bass is one helluva fish
me and a buddy cast eels when time permits..been looking to put together a nice striper rig..have you checked out Zeebaas reels...pretty trick but beaucoup $$$$$
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Riad I did not know how I was going to like the handle on this knife usually like a full guard but I took a chance and I really like how it feels. As for twisting it kinda has a coffin shaped handle that feels real good I do not think twisting will be a problem. Thanks for the comments bud how are you.
 
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