What, exactly, constitutes a "Bowie" knife? (also, boo-ee or bow-ee)

[Charlie Mike]

What metal is that?

1084... 5 minutes at 1525F, parks50 quench, 1 hour flash temper at 300F, surface ground, cryo, double temper at 400F... Left some gorgeous color.

 

[Mecha]

1084... 5 minutes at 1525F, parks50 quench, 1 hour flash temper at 300F, surface ground, cryo, double temper at 400F... Left some gorgeous color.

Ya the color is very cool.

For a second I thought it was 38.

 

[3fifty7]

My take is the original (sandbar knife) was little more than a large kitchen knife.
Then the Arkansas Bowie No.1 was made.
Some time later a large guard, pronounced clip point and brass catcher on the spine were added in various combinations.
NowMANY fixed blades with a clip point are referred to as bowies.

The family name is pronounced rhyming with Louie.

 

[W. Anderson]

Finished knife from previous post...

View attachment 911555 View attachment 911557

Man, your work gets tighter with every piece.

 

[W. Anderson]

Bowie?

Pic courtesty of Charlie Mike, my camera is useless.

 

[Charlie Mike]

 

[Charlie Mike]

One of the advantages of the Bowie is the swedge that should be sharpened. I killed my instructor within 10 seconds during some full contact sparring with CS trainers using the Back Cut. If you can't comfortably grip the knife in an edge in saber grip, it should be partially D/E.

 

[DocJD]

One of the advantages of the Bowie is the swedge that should be sharpened. I killed my instructor within 10 seconds during some full contact sparring with CS trainers using the Back Cut. If you can't comfortably grip the knife in an edge in saber grip, it should be partially D/E.

Legal issues aside , I agree ! My big CS Bowies all came with not really sharp swedges . My understanding is that they are not considered to be DE unless you sharpen them further . They are certainly capable of doing some damage on the back cut , even from the factory . The CS Natchez is especially nasty , but a little too heavy for me to be very fast .

 

[DocJD]

I believe that most Bowies that ever actually got used weren't involved in epic battles against bad guys or bears , but for more mundane utility / chores . IIRC the more obtuse semi-sharp swedge could be used for cruder applications like scraping , splitting and generally smashing stuff that didn't require you to dull your sharper edge .

 

[Yonose]

One of the advantages of the Bowie is the swedge that should be sharpened. I killed my instructor within 10 seconds during some full contact sparring with CS trainers using the Back Cut. If you can't comfortably grip the knife in an edge in saber grip, it should be partially D/E.

I can’t help but wonder if the event with the instructor was meant to be read as parenthetical. If not, I am sorry for your troubles and for those of his family. The force involved, and displayed by Bagwell, is staggering. Whether or not this was Jim’s intent in the design of any incarnation of his eponymous knife is unknown to me, though certainly non-trivial with regard to the OP’s question.

 

[Charlie Mike]

I can’t help but wonder if the event with the instructor was meant to be read as parenthetical. If not, I am sorry for your troubles and for those of his family. The force involved, and displayed by Bagwell, is staggering. Whether or not this was Jim’s intent in the design of any incarnation of his eponymous knife is unknown to me, though certainly non-trivial with regard to the OP’s question.

We kill each other many times every week.

 

[kamagong]

But then again, since the Sandbar knife was only described as "a big butcher knife", we really don't know.

What did butcher knives look like at that point in time?

 

[tltt]

Jim Bowie wasn't the knife man in the family, Rezin was. To get an idea of what he had in mind, you can look at the designs he gave as gifts, here -

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If one is to believe they were based on a butcher pattern, the scalper type imported from England is a likely candidate -

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Joseph Elliot scalper.

 

[DSB_85]

We kill each other many times every week.

Hey CM!
I just joined but I've followed you on YouTube for years, it's incredible what you've achieved and who you've grown to be.

Congrats and thanks for inspiring me,
whether it was with training videos, knifemaking tours or collection showoffs!!

 

[Ebbtide]

Back then Bowie knives were personal weapons.
As well as man jewelry

Single shot muzzle loading musket, single shot muzzle loading pistol...
And then your knife.
The northern equivalent was the tomahawk.
Both essentially disappeared after repeating firearms became the norm.

Then there is the southern history of dueling. With pistols, with swords, with knives.

The reason the big knives were discarded by the troops isn't because they didn't work.
It was because they were issued a better back up weapon.
The bayonet attached to a rifle.
Who wouldn't want the extra reach?

 

[Douglas Wever]

A Bowie "must be long enough to use as a sword, sharp enough to use as a razor, wide enough to use as a paddle, and heavy enough to use as a hatchet.”

 

[FullMetalJackass]

A Bowie "must be long enough to use as a sword, sharp enough to use as a razor, wide enough to use as a paddle, and heavy enough to use as a hatchet.”

Hence, a Boowy is a dressed up smatchet!

 

[Phixt]

Boca Raton. When I moved to Boca Rah-tawn (fancy prononciation for us newcomers) and pronounced it as such, all the locals that grew up there would correct everyone, "It's Boca Rat-in"...rat...in...not so fancy lol. So, in this case I would trust in those born n raised. Come to find Sheldon Cooper on Big Bang Theory, arguably the greatest genius among current popular sitcom characters, pronounces it Baco Ra-Tone

Tonight, that euro dude with his river monster shows said, "The mah-lay" in reference to 'Melee', while I've been saying, "May-lay" all these years. Dis pronunciation game gettin rrruff.

 

[Ebbtide]

A Bowie "must be long enough to use as a sword, sharp enough to use as a razor, wide enough to use as a paddle, and heavy enough to use as a hatchet.”

...written by a yankee journalist back east....

 

[Douglas Wever]

. . . and maybe tongue in cheek . . .