THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE: 2017 Best Bowie Final Vote

Which Bowie Wins Your Vote For Best of 2017?

  • Franco

    Votes: 56 37.8%

  • Lurquin/Sobral

    Votes: 22 14.9%

  • Seward

    Votes: 26 17.6%

  • Sobral

    Votes: 17 11.5%

  • Quesenberry

    Votes: 27 18.2%
  • Total voters
    148
  • Poll closed .
Lorien

Lorien

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The poll closes in 36 hours.

Franco
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Lurquin/Sobral
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Seward
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Sobral
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Quesenberry
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I went with the Franko bowie. The cohesive package just gripped me. The Cas/Lurquin collab was quite close, but I’m just mesmerized by the Franco piece.

The Quesenberry is exceptional as well, and in spite of not liking dogbones in general, I really like that knife. The Cas and Seward pieces rounding out the field are inspiring too. I’ve voted for both makers in past years. Any of these knives would be winners in their own right. The top submissions this year are just that good that winning takes greatness plus! rather than just greatness.

My goal for next year is to make a piece that doesn’t just qualify to be presented, but one that would be worthy of a nomination or two. That requires stepping up my game in the small details, and actually developing a game in photography.
 
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Fantastic knives this year

Truly difficult

While all excellent I went with the CAS/Lurquin as an overall package

For me the sheath is a very big deal and if the Franco D Guard would of had a metal or at least a metal tipped sheath my vote might of gone that way

I love that I was torn between such a classic piece and such a contemporary piece but in the end the total magnificence of the Best In Show Piece got my vote
 
I'm so torn. I don't know who to vote for.

The Franco and the Quesenberry are just drop dead gorgeous and perfection. I was fortunate enough to handle the dog bone at Blade and it was exquisite.

The Seward and the CAS just scream 'use me'. The CAS reads more of a bowie to me but I handled the Seward at Blade is there's a reason why it won best handle.

The CAS/Lurquin collab is so over the top, it's almost too much.

I have to keep thinking on this...
 
I had to go with the Franco. That bordered style damascus pattern just won’t let go of my eyes. It almost takes on a 3D look if you stare at it long enough. Combine that with the subtle gold accents, the clam shell, and the same border pattern continuing through the D-guard, it’s a winner to me. It has just the right amount of standout accents without being distracting.
 
I’ve never seen a better handle than that Seward.

This was ridiculously hard to choose. I had to go with what I would buy just to make a choice.

Unbelievable craftsmanship on display here. Well done all!
 
The collaboration of extremes for a Big Badass rapprochement ... Sam Lurquin/CAS
 
Tough vote this year but in the end the Lurquin,Sobral collab got my vote based on the fact that there is so much going on with it that the eyes never stop finding cool little details about it!!
 
Getting to three was easy... to two took some time. I make time for this thread, so I look at all the knives over and over and over. I'd already seen Franco and Quesenberry a lot. Take a coin, assign one to one side, the other to the other. Flip it. If what I really want comes, it's done. If not, I'll want to do two out of three, and what I really want becomes clear. I like looking at Dionatam Franco's knife an awful lot.

M.Krall
 
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Soooooo hard to choose.

Lurquin/Sobral - I really wanted to vote for Sam's piece. It is so well done and rich with detail. It steps outside the box and a maker who does that with this much skill should be rewarded. However, this knife ultimately felt a bit more like a fantasy piece.

Seward - I admire Ben's work immensely. He has a great eye for line and his knives are always well built. But in this company it has to come down to details.

Sobral - Same remarks as Ben. I love the CAS stuff. Beautiful and mean like that girl who wouldn't give you the time of day in high school. But the best this year?

Quesenberry - Now that is what I'm talkin' about. Just top tier work. Personally though, I'm not as big a fan of Dogbones as some other folks. But the knife is outstanding.

Franco - Ultimately I had to go with the Franco Bowie. Truly high level work. But it is more than just well shaped and assembled. The knife has presence. There is a great flow to the knife and an abundance of refined details. The shape, proportion, profile and tonality of every piece of the knife alone and as it relates to the whole was considered. Extravagance and simplicity in harmonious balance.
 
All of these are amazing knives and the creators should be rightly proud. In the end, it came down to the Quesenberry dogbone and the Franco D-guard. And I almost couldn't believe that I went with . . .

The Franco D-guard. From a guy who has never owned or wanted a D-guard before!

There is nothing about that knife which I would change. So rare!

In the end, two things swayed me.

1) The AMAZING control in that Damascus pattern. Maybe the best I have ever seen, bar none.

2) A Bowie is a fighting knife. Judging only from the pictures, if someone placed all of those knives on a table and said we were going to have a knife fight, I am definitely reaching for that one. I can imagine it hacking away at the other knives . . . weird, huh? LOL! But that is the way my mind sees it, anyway.

Looking forward to seeing which one wins. They are all worthy.
 
Props to all the finalists - I'd be thrilled to own any one of these knives.

Back when I first saw Coop's pic of the Lurquin / CAS Best of Show, I said to myself "Self, I'd like to see the knife that would pull your vote away from this one for Best Bowie."

Then in post 18 of the nomination thread, John Doyle said "Hold my beer." and posted up the stunning Franco D Guard.

Well, he very NEARLY pulled my vote away with what may be the best D Guard I have ever seen, but not quite.

Ultimately, I went with the Lurquin / CAS because:

  • Innovative and striking design - this is not the same old anything - in a genre that is saturated with excellence, turning out something original and compelling is NOT an easy task;
  • Love the two finger subhilt for both the aesthetics and the incredible blade retention that brings to the table (see Paranee's vid where the knife is suspended from a fully open hand);
  • That ivory should win some kind of contest all by itself;
  • The sheer ferocity of the piece;
  • The sheer drama of the piece;
  • The sheer envy that this knife inspires
  • The combination of complexity and cohesiveness that is particularly impressive in the context of a collaboration.
For me, this is bowie of the year and knife of the year.
 
it was an easy choice for me this year, as I feel that Mike Quesenberry made something happen with that dogbone. It's hard to explain what that something is, so I won't bother trying. Probably has a lot to do with proportions and whatnot.
 
First year I could vote for any of the five and not blink. But, have to pick a favorite, and the D-guard just draws me in the most. Great contest, once again!

- Joe
 
Congrats to everyone in the finals. They are all deserving and 'Best Of' something in their own right. Each one has details that I REALLY like.

But for me, it came down to two.....the Franco D-Guard and the Quesenberry Dogbone. Both are EXTREMELY well executed and both appeal to me immensely.

I chose the Franco D-Guard. This piece is massive and imposing, darkly sinister and so very elegant at the same time. I'm super impressed with the cleanliness and flow of all the parts into one seamless piece.

Mike's knife is SO INCREDIBLY well made with surgical precision and so appealing with that blade shape aligned perfectly with the handle shape. As lame as it might be for a reason, Mike won this contest with a similar piece (last year??) and he has become SO good at making these complicated knives look so easy, that I went with someone new with a different knife.
 
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