Recommendation? The Case Bowie Knife?

Steely_Gunz said:
I have found they are gorgeous wall hangers. I don't mean that they are frail, but they are a big ol' chunk of softish-stainless steel. I like how the steel performs for pocket knives, but it wouldn't be my choice for a Bowie.

So they are lovely, but for the price, they aren't as useful as knives at half the cost. As decorative knives, they certainly look the part of a Bowie and will no doubt cut just fine. They'll also stay looking immaculate forever due to their stainless construction.
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agreed, if you want a real quality bowie, find an older cold steel maurauder, I love mine.

https://www.knifecenter.com/item/CS39LSWB/Cold-Steel-39LSWB-Marauder
 
As already said you can't go wrong with CS Laredo, the only downside of it is the cheap plastic sheath. When you are also open to european knives than I can recommand the Linder 440C Bowies or, as a secret hint : Cudeman Bowies! They are cheap (around 80€) but really amazing quality for the price! Yesterday I fell a small tree with mine and it did the job with ease!
 
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SanLuisObispo said:
Like many I have long coveted a quality Bowie knife. Mostly as a wall-hanger -- I have other knives for actual work. Other than maybe slicing a birthday cake or some tri-tip at a party, it would largely be for presentation. I've thought about the Case Bowie, but I rarely read anything written about it. For this application, it's nice that it's US-made, by a longstanding company.

I'd appreciate any intel on the Case Bowie. Is it any good? What's the best pricing? Thanks.



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That ain't a knife!
 
Triton said:
Again I would recommend doing a few searches over in the Bernard Levine's forum. He talks about Flaydermans book also. How and why it came to be, what you might find there etc. It's very enlightening and might save you the price of a book.... Or not....
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Bernard doesn't approve of anything he didn't personally write. If you want an interesting read fine the Museum of the Fur Trade quarterly from a couple of issues back. They discuss frontier knives made from files and why Bernard is wrong on that particular subject.
 
Sidehill Gouger said:
Bernard doesn't approve of anything he didn't personally write. If you want an interesting read fine the Museum of the Fur Trade quarterly from a couple of issues back. They discuss frontier knives made from files and why Bernard is wrong on that particular subject.
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He's got his share of ego certainly but that doesn't mean he's wrong. That Case thing isn't a Bowie by anything but the most Saturday cartoonish definition and Flayderman apparently had very good reasons for choosing the knives he did to put in his book but those reasons seemingly had little to do with authenticity. As for the file thing I would love to read the article. At first blush it doesn't pass the smell to me. Files were as valuable as knives so why would you turn one into the other? Especially when metal wasn't that hard to come by? That said I'm certainly willing to listen to reason.
 
Triton said:
He's got his share of ego certainly but that doesn't mean he's wrong. That Case thing isn't a Bowie by anything but the most Saturday cartoonish definition and Flayderman apparently had very good reasons for choosing the knives he did to put in his book but those reasons seemingly had little to do with authenticity. As for the file thing I would love to read the article. At first blush it doesn't pass the smell to me. Files were as valuable as knives so why would you turn one into the other? Especially when metal wasn't that hard to come by? That said I'm certainly willing to listen to reason.
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It has been mentioned before, but the Case started out as a WW-II Aircrew survival knife that could also serve as a machete. Colins, Case, Kinfolks and Western all made them for the military. It was also copied in Australia for their own use. Like most compromises it probably isn't really that good for either but no one was trying to say it was an accurate copy of a "Bowie knife" then.
As for the file thing, you are quoting Bernard's reasons. Reading the Museum of the Fur Trade article might change your mind.
 
Ebbtide said:
Do files wear out?
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Of course, but again metal wasn't that hard to come by at that point (this wasn't medieval times or earlier) and I would think having to go through the process of softening the file working it and then retempering it would be more of a pain then it was worth... Today people don't make knives out of files for economic reasons but for aesthetic reasons. If that wasn't the driving force I would question why anyone would do it. As noted I've been wrong before and will certainly try to find the articles mentioned to see what they have to say. (I wonder how you would get your hands on back issues.)
 
Sidehill Gouger said:
It has been mentioned before, but the Case started out as a WW-II Aircrew survival knife that could also serve as a machete. Colins, Case, Kinfolks and Western all made them for the military. It was also copied in Australia for their own use. Like most compromises it probably isn't really that good for either but no one was trying to say it was an accurate copy of a "Bowie knife" then.
As for the file thing, you are quoting Bernard's reasons. Reading the Museum of the Fur Trade article might change your mind.
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Absolutely, I'll try to find the article.
 
Izeplin,
Winner winner chicken dinner!
That, my friend, is stagalicious :)

I think that back in those days recycling was a thing before it had a name. Nothing went to waste. I read that the colonists, when moving west, would burn down their cabins to salvage the nails.

Worn out files and rasps, in a time when most work was hand work, would've been relatively easy to come by and probably be cheaper than new steel since they couldn't perform their intended job anymore.

If you think forging, instead of stock removal, the file is almost a knife as it is. Same general shape with a tang in place.

Also, location plays a big part in what would be used. Cities, big towns would have a larger availability of goods including steel. The further one got from them the more repurposing you would see.

This bowie was forged from what the smith called "scrapyard damascus"
Largeknives-4_zps8ac0dfa2.jpg

There's some 5160, a ballpeen hammer head, a box wrench, a barn door hinge and some more in there.
Nothing goes to waste. Back before pattern welded was popular they would've polished it instead of etching.
 
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John A, I like the W49 better as well. Both of those knives were icons from our childhood. You just had to go 'visit' them on every trip to Montgomery Ward or whoever had those big displays.
 
I own a WWII Case bowie that looks almost identical. It's a good knife, I think the cramped handle is intended to make up for the slickness on the smooth plastic handle and keep your hand from sliding around.
 
About 40 years ago, I purchased a WWII Case bowie knife & sheath, along with what looks like a homemade knife (possibly from some island) from a co-worker.
They belonged to her father who was in WWII... she asked me if I wanted to buy them, because she was afraid someone would break into her apartment and kill her with them.
She wanted $20 for the both of them, so of course I bought them.

Her father died in a car accident a number of years before she got them from her mother.
He had coated the Case XX knife with some sort of black tar, probably to protect the knife from rusting... I removed it once I got it home.

Here's some photos of both knives... was always curious about the homemade one with its wood sheath...
possibly made from an island native somewhere... if anyone has any ideas about it, I would love to know !

I don't use them, just part of my modest collection.
Case-XX-Bowie-Knife-1.jpg

Case-XX-Bowie-Knife-4.jpg

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Case-XX-Bowie-Knife-2.jpg

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The homade looking one is almost 100% from the Philippines. They made a ton of knives and machetes for US servicemenduring and after the war. Hope this helps. That bowie looks minty!
 
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