Simple No-frills Bowie?

H

hgoat

Joined
Jul 15, 2014
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Hi guys, I'm in the market for a simple clip point bowie but its hard to find a quality blade without the bells and whistles, I don't want blood grooves, serrations or polymers. I love the lines of the Australian Dewey knives http://www.deweyknives.com.au/bowies.html , but I don't want to deal with D2 steel, I'd rather something that's easier to give a razor edge. Where can I find a classic working class bowie?
 
Condor Tool and Knife, or the Svord Von Tempsky bowie. The latter costs a little more, but it is definitely no frills.
 
There are plenty of production options out there, but if you're willing to spend $350 on one of those, why not have one custom made? There are quite a few knifemakers on this forum that would be happy to make you a bowie to your exact specs in whatever steel you like, and quite possibly for less money than that. It would probably take a few weeks to get it in hand, but it might be worth checking into. Head over to the knifemaker's section of the exchange to check them out.
 
Define "bowie." The BK9 is for all intents and purposes a bowie. Cheap and no frills.
 
If you want to stick with production knives, a couple options for bowies with classic lines are Cold Steel's Laredo, Trail Master, or Natchez bowies. The handles are synthetic, but they're simple carbon steels with classic bowie profiles (though the Natchez is a bit exaggerated). They're very high quality, though they are made in Taiwan if that bothers you. I don't like Cold Steel's marketing or most of their folder designs, but their fixed blades are great (if a little expensive when compared to KaBar or ESEE).
 
The Svord Bowies are VERY cool, and definitely built to be used. The factory edge isn't the best, but it can be easily fixed (some vendors do it for you for a small fee). The Von Tempsky also has some interesting history behind it.

If you want something more affordable you could always get a BK-7 and modify it to better suit your taste (get rid of the coating, replace the plastic handles, etc.). I've done it to a couple of Ka-Bar knives (can't remember the models, big recurve blade that came with a rubber handle) and they look much better.

Cold Steel also offers some bowies, like the Laredo and Trail Master (you'd have to change the handles, though, since they're synthetic) or the new Frontier Bowie (wood handle, but coated blade).

I'd go with the Von Tempsky. It's well made out of decent materials, and has an interesting history tied to its country of manufacture.
 
I guess I mean "traditional" something that looks like it could have been made 100years ago. I linked the Dewey knives as aesthetically that is what I'm after, steel and wood/antler. Remy mention svord so I checked them out, personally I'd call their bowie an ugly machete but was fond of their "Ranger" model, at 6.5" is probably an inch short of what I was looking for, but I still feel a want for it.
 
Hunt for a beat up Western W49 Bowie and do the "Bagwell Modifications" on it.
I got this one for $65 here and with some sweat and elbow grease it has become one of my favorites.
 
[video=youtube_share;5r4E2n83dmk]http://youtu.be/5r4E2n83dmk[/video]
I don't think it gets more "no show all go" than this knife
 
I'm not even remotely in the maker for this type of knife but that Svord... Damn it's tempting.
 
I agree with the others who have suggested the Becker BK9. It's hard to get much simpler and no-frills than that. The Ontario SP10 is also good, but the edge needs to be reprofiled a little to maximize it's effectiveness.
 
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