Top ten large fighting Bowies under $400

Will Batayte

Will Batayte

Joined
Jan 8, 2007
Messages
640
What are some of your favorite large "fighting" bowies? Meaning 10" or above blade size. Balanced to be reasonably fast. Incredible cutting & thrusting ability. I'm not talking about big heavy camp choppers like the beckers, busses, fehrmans. Think big mean fighting Bowies like cold steels Natchez.
 
coldblooded357 said:
What are some of your favorite large "fighting" bowies? Meaning 10" or above blade size. Balanced to be reasonably fast. Incredible cutting & thrusting ability. I'm not talking about big heavy camp choppers like the beckers, busses, fehrmans. Think big mean fighting Bowies like cold steels Natchez.
Click to expand...

Production wise, I always loved the Ontario Bagwell Hell's Belle
 
Hard to say. Personal pref.

DSC02353.jpg


DSC00042.jpg


Bty8HYgmkKGrHqQOKjoEvO0ucsKfBL9cBSy.jpg


Bty8GYQB2kKGrHqIOKigEvMuFC6bfBL9b8V.jpg


DSC05356.jpg


DSC05349.jpg


As hard as Favorite boot knife.
DSC09116.jpg
 
The Bagwells are really nice. :thumbup: The Natchez is one of my favorites too, if you can find one under $400.

From what I have right now, my fav fighting bowie is my personalized CS Laredo....

008-2.jpg

006-2.jpg

009-1.jpg


...I'm still waiting for the more affordable SK-5 Natchez to become available so I can mod that one too. :D
 
The bagwell's are really nice. I absolutely love the look of the coffin handles, guards and even the little slot in the blade. I'm gonna have to add one to my collection. Hard to find though.

That customized larado Bowie is beautiful! Really adds a lot to the knife.

I own the same marbles Bowie only it's a Damascus version with some file work. Picked it up at a pawn shop for $40. :D

Keep em coming fellas!
 
coldblooded357 said:
What are some of your favorite large "fighting" bowies? Meaning 10" or above blade size. Balanced to be reasonably fast. Incredible cutting & thrusting ability. I'm not talking about big heavy camp choppers like the beckers, busses, fehrmans. Think big mean fighting Bowies like cold steels Natchez.
Click to expand...

Natchez Bowie
Weight: 19.9 oz.

BK9
Weight: 16.8 oz.

BK9 isn't exactly an unwieldy pig. It's well balanced and quite nimble. That said, the CS one is a bit longer. Anyway - cool thread, very interesting!

---

Beckerhead #42
 
True the natchez is a heavy knife but due to the blade shape, (long thin tip) the weight is closer to the handle giving the blade a "livelier" feel. That's more what I mean then actual weight. My fehrman isn't exactly unwieldy either but it definitely won't move and change directions as fast as that hells belle or any other fighting design.
 
I have a CS Laredo (one of the old Carbon V pieces). Only thing I'd improve would be the handle.

My favorite though as far as fighting bowies goes is my G.L. Drew less than ugly bowie I had him make me a number of years ago.

If you have a $400 budget to work from several makers here can make you one for that price or below. Most of which will beat the performance of most comercial made pieces.
 
Ontario Bagwell Bowie rocks, especially with a Mike Saster Southern Comfort sheath! But yes, both are getting very hard to find these days.

But at the price range you mentioned, there's a plethora of talented makers out there who will fit your preferences!
 
Yeah the black bear classic is a cool knife, I actually own the OSS which is the plastic handled version. Really nice, light, fast, fighting knife. Don't know if I'd really consider it a Bowie though. More of a clip point dagger. It definitely handles more like a dagger then a Bowie. As far as the 10" minimum blade. I'm a really big guy. I'm in the gym 3 hours a day and weigh in at 286 lbs 12% bodyfat, at 6' tall. I like my knives to match(huge but with no unnesisary weight lol) Plus might as well get the biggest knife I can handle and carry comfortablely.
 
Last edited:
I absolutely loved my old CS Trailmaster Carbon V. Unfortunately I lost it while fishin last summer. If I knew who found it, id try to buy it back!
 
coldblooded357 said:
Yeah the black bear classic is a cool knife, I actually own the OSS which is the plastic handled version. Really nice, light, fast, fighting knife. Don't know if I'd really consider it a Bowie though. More of a clip point dagger. It definitely handles more like a dagger then a Bowie.
Click to expand...

Welll... AFAIK the really old Bowies had a much less pronounced clip like this one
6a._ROYCE_.jpg



As far as the 10" minimum blade. I'm a really big guy. I'm in the gym 3 hours a day and weigh in at 286 lbs 12% bodyfat, at 6' tall. I like my knives to match(huge but with no unnesisary weight lol) Plus might as well get the biggest knife I can handle and carry comfortablely.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I guess if you *had to* get in a knife fight you'd want the longest blade you can wield with some quickness.
 
IDK Random....that one looks to be worn down quite a bit from sharpening. It very well could have had a more pronounced clip, though I understand what you are saying and have seen them like that.
 
I will toss in the Case Bowie here. I do not know of the steel quality nor the HT, but it fits the criteria only short by a 1/2" and $270 shy of the top dollar ammount. It also has a guard with true Bowie styling.
 
I guess it's more a matter of personal preference on how pronounced the clip is. I tend to lean towards the more hooked or at least strait clip. When fully sharpened a hooked clip is like a harpy on the reverse swing. When cutting targets with an old western 49 Bowie I have the back cut is extremely effective.

Don't get me wrong I'm not intending to carry this thing around constantly or anything but when I collect knives I collect functional knives only. A non functional knife is not a knife to me. I once heard them described as "wall hanging knife like objects" or maybe it was sword like objects. Either way if I'm going to collect Bowles they have to be functional, high quality, well designed knives. Not so much because I plan on wandering the world with a hand axe strapped to my leg begging for a knife fight. But because when I hold it in my hand it and look at it it's design and purpose must be evident. And if it ever came to use it must be capable of performing.

I'm not sure what it is but lately I've just been bit hard by the "Bowie bug". Once I fill my closets with enough steel to quench the thirst I'm sure it'll be the dagger bug or the Italian stiletto bug, or maybe the katana bug
:D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top