If Allen Blade will do a flat ground, distal tapered, differentially tempered (zone tempered he says) Bowie in 5160 or 1095 for $175 or under, I think you hit the jackpot on a recommendation... as long as you know you are getting a carbon steel and not stainless piece.
The Cold Steel Trailmaster is in this price range, but the thing is a monstrosity at 5/16" thick...heavy heavy heavy.
Allen says he'll do 1/4" or 3/16" stock. Until you hold a nice distally tapered Bowie and see how light a big, tough knife can really be for any reasonable big knife task, don't go buy a big behemoth knife that is heavy to carry around UNLESS chopping is your very primary task. Look hard at the 3/16" stock distally tapered Allen Blade.
Close call on 5160 or 1095, think I'd go 1095 for a slight edge holding benefit, but 5160 is in theory a tougher material for bending and impacts on hard stuff (e.g. knots).
Maybe Cliff Stamp will post a link to some comments he can offer between the two.
One thing on Allen Blade's Combat Patrol Bowie handle... there is no flare at the butt, a straight handle. I would try to talk him into an alternative handle...some kind of flare or drop, as the straight handles aren't very fun to chop with. Too thin. They aren't very ergonomic, tend to want to slip away from your hand and go flying, not very secure. You can remedy the "flying" problem with a lanyard to some degree, but not the ergonomics issue.