Smith and Wesson S&W Stainless

S

Surecatch

Joined
Feb 15, 2009
Messages
2
Hi folks,

I'm brand new to this board and I would like to draw from the collective expertise to get a little advice. I'm planning to purchase a large Bowie knife very soon but I'm sort of unsure what to get....I have very little knowledge at this point.

I had pretty much settled on the Kabar Large Heavy Bowie, which is a carbon blade. I like the look and feel and the reviews I've seen are generally very positive. They can be had several places on the net for $40-$45. Just today, however, I was in a knife store and saw a Smith and Wesson Search and Rescue Bowie with a Stainless steel blade. I also like the look and feel of that, as it is very similar, and the price is right....$29.99.

My question is very basic, which would you get out of the two, and is a stainless blade as good as the carbon. The guy at the store said there is no real difference in strength but the carbon could rust. If that's the case, I'd just as soon get the S&W....it's a very nice knife.

TIA for the advice.
 
To be perfectly honest, I'm not real crazy about either one of them. But I guess you get what you pay for. Other than that, they're really fairly similar, and if you live in a place where rust is an issue, then yeah, the stainless knife probably makes more sense.
 
I would go with the Ka-Bar knife. I've always found the S&W knives to be cheaply made.

If you check out the last few pages in this forum, you will find a couple threads about large fixed blades that may show you better quality knifes than both the Ka-bar and S&W.
 
Surecatch said:
Hi folks,

I'm brand new to this board and I would like to draw from the collective expertise to get a little advice. I'm planning to purchase a large Bowie knife very soon but I'm sort of unsure what to get....I have very little knowledge at this point.

I had pretty much settled on the Kabar Large Heavy Bowie, which is a carbon blade. I like the look and feel and the reviews I've seen are generally very positive. They can be had several places on the net for $40-$45. Just today, however, I was in a knife store and saw a Smith and Wesson Search and Rescue Bowie with a Stainless steel blade. I also like the look and feel of that, as it is very similar, and the price is right....$29.99.

My question is very basic, which would you get out of the two, and is a stainless blade as good as the carbon. The guy at the store said there is no real difference in strength but the carbon could rust. If that's the case, I'd just as soon get the S&W....it's a very nice knife.

TIA for the advice.
Click to expand...

Welcome to BladeForums.

If you want stainless, Ka-Bar also makes a series in 440A.

The web price of that Smith & Wesson model is $24. While there are knives I would buy for $24, a large bowie isn't one of them. caveat emptor. All goods worth price charged.
 
Welcome to the forums.

I've seen & held the S&W knife you're talking about, and if I had a choice, I'd go with the Kabar. Taylor Cutlery makes some pretty nice knives under the Smith & Wesson name, but they also make a lot of mediocre (to put it kindly) knives under that name as well. The Kabar's a better product, I think.

You can go to the For sale by individuals forum here, and look at what's for sale for a few days. You'll probably find something nice for about the same price. Also, maybe pay for a Gold membership, and you can search here for any knife for sale you're interested in, and see what members here think of it.

thx - cpr
 
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