To find a truly American knife design, look no further than the Bowie. Designed by Colonel Jim Bowie, who later died in the battle of the Alamo, the first Bowie knife took shape in the hands of James Black, a well known blacksmith working in the trailhead town of Washington, Arkansas. Bowie carved a wooden model and Black made two steel versions, one that matched Bowie’s pattern and a second with Black’s own improvements. Bowie chose Black’s knife.
Since 1830, the Bowie knife has become smaller and streamlined. The usual pattern today is the Sheffield, a version developed in England for marketing on the frontier in America. With a slimmer drop point blade and a false bevel on the forward third of the spine, the Sheffield knife resembles Black’s pattern but lacks the weight and cutlass quality strength of the original Bowie. The first Bowie, which Colonel Bowie presented to his brother Rezin, ended the lives of three men in the famous Sandbar Duel, proving the weapon to be more sword than belt knife. Some early Bowie knives were over thirty inches long.
Black’s knives became famous for their strength and flexibility — his secret method was rumored to be Damascus steel, though none of his original work resembles the Damascus steel of today. The process he worked alone behind his leather curtain is now lost. After a severe beating left Black blind and unable to work, he no longer remembered the methods he had used.
A Classic Bowie knife from one of the finest American companies, W.R. Case & Sons.
From Bear & Son in Alabama, the Damascus Bowie follows the pattern common on the frontier — Bowie blade and coffin handle.
From the premier cutler of Solingen, Germany, this Puma Stag Skinner Bowie shows the best of both European and American traditions.
The M6 isn't part of the Swamp Rat Knife Works current production but is sometimes available in new or used condition as a pre-owned knife. Made from SR101 high carbon steel, the M6 has the superior edge-holding ability of older carbon tool steels and makes up for lower corrosion ...
Bowies large enough to suit Crocodile Dundee were common on the American frontier but are much harder to find now. Today, if you're shopping for a Dundee knife, you might have to settle for a cheap movie replica or something practical but smaller. Fortunately Down Under Knives, a knife company ...
The Cold Steel Trail Master isn't just a knife with a Bowie-style blade. The Trail Master is a genuine Bowie knife in the old sense, but built with modern materials and to modern standards.
This SK-2 version of the Trail Master offers 9-1/2 inches of high carbon steel with an overall ...
This heavy, fixed-blade Bowie knife from Trademark holds much more than a sharp edge with two different compartments of gear and even an extra skinning knife.
The 14-inch-long survival knife fits in an injection-molded plastic sheath with slots for the skeletonized skinner and a portion of the survival kit's gear. ...
Trademark Global's Primitive Bowie clearly is too much knife for today's hunter or fisherman, but it will fit right in at frontier re-enactments. This 18-1/2-inch Bowie does closely resemble some of the fighting knives made in the days of James Black and features one classic detail missing from modern Bowie ...
Becker Knife & Tool once produced a wide variety of survival knives built to the specifications of founder Ethan Becker, who had a longstanding interest in big knives. Now produced under the guidance of Ka-Bar, the Becker BK-9 Combat Bowie is one of the best Beckers for the ...
More than a folding knife and not quite a fixed blade, the SOG Speciality Knives & Tools FX21-N Revolver SEAL shows some of the good features of both. Both knife and saw blades were ground from the same strong bar of 440A high carbon stainless steel.
The basics of the ...
First produced by Ka-Bar in 2005, the Desert Fighting Knife came about because many military personnel serving in the Gulf region wrote the company to request a desert version of the famous Ka-Bar fighting knife. Ka-Bar's Desert Fighting Knife incorporates handle material and sheath in desert tan.
A combo cutting ...
This Extreme Fighting Knife from Ka-Bar works some important improvements into the classic Ka-Bar Marine Corps fighting knife design. If you liked that one, you'll love this one too.
Components show more attention to appearance and are no longer just the most rugged parts possible. The finger guard isn't a ...
This Ontario Knife Company design issued to pilots during the Vietnam War and now offered by Rothco would make a dependable survival knife for anyone. Designed to aid pilots in escaping wreckage as well as surviving jungle and combat, the Army & Air Force Issue Survival Knife isn't fancy. ...
Although it's a massive hunting and survival knife, the Jungle Master from Trademark Global does have some weak points. In spite of that, it could be a real bargain if you don't require tactical quality.
This imported knife's Bowie-style blade offers 10-1/2 inches of plain hollow ground cutting edge plus a ...
Though it's better known for its many styles of fantasy and replica weapons, United Cutlery also designs knives in a tactical style. Imported from China, the practical offerings from United Cutlery include the M48 Kommando Fighter Knife. With the makers and most of the technical specifications somewhere on the other ...
SOG's FF-11 Salute -- which the company refers to as their first Fusion tactical folder -- puts all the technical expertise of that innovative manufacturer to good use. The result is a high-tech knife that isn't tough to understand, with a few unusually good features.
Full-length steel liners and machined ...
With the bulletproof features you need in a good survival knife, the SOG Creed is more than a sharp camp tool. Built of tactical quality materials and well designed for a wide variety of uses, this modified bowie knife also does well as a full-sized hunter and ...
This very nice Damascus Bowie Knife has a traditional rustic build combined with fine filework on the spine of the laminated Damascus steel blade. It shows the beauty and unique flaws of natural materials and simple methods along with very modern refinements. The brass finger guard and ...
If you need a knife heavy enough for chopping wood, the Ka-Bar 14-1/4-inch Bowie could be a match. The tactical black high carbon 1085 steel blade is flat ground and tempered to Rockwell 55 to 57 -- it's a strong edge that will even hold up to rocks without ...
The Coast Grandpa knife -- made by Coast Knives of Portland, Oregon, but designed by Zweibruder (Puma Knives) -- shows the classic American Bowie pattern as influenced by European weapon smiths. More a piercing weapon than a chopping blade, the upswept point and false dagger edge would be at ...
There are Bowie-style knives, and then there are real Bowie knives. The Coast 14-inch Bowie Knife is a real Bowie -- maybe a little small by frontier standards, but still big enough to perform the way the originals did. With nine inches of one-quarter-inch-thick 440C high carbon stainless ...
First produced by Ka-Bar in 2006, the U.S. Army version of the Vietnam Commemorative Knife is the real thing, with a little added decoration. The 7-inch bowie style blade and stacked leather handle match the well known Ka-Bar fighting knife pattern that has been standard issue for American military since ...
Smith & Wesson's updated version of the Ontario Knife Company M9 Bayonet, the SW3G Special Ops M-9 includes the essential features that survival knives in a technological age should have. Similar to the knives issued to military helicopter pilots in Vietnam, the M9's saw-toothed spine can cut through ...
The knives from Puma's Solingen, Germany, factory always look more like weapons than the average factory-made knife, and the Puma Stag Skinner knife holds true to that. The 5-inch blade of the Puma Skinner may be technically a Bowie style, but it has the flair of a European dagger. ...
United Cutlery says the Dragon X-10 from the Steel Apocalypse Collection took inspiration from the genre of science fiction and futuristic weaponry rather than any particular movie or gamer blade. Creative minds looking for their own inspiration need go no further in their search for a good story. This ornate ...
The frontier look of the Buck Special dates back to the days when Buck Knives was a two-man shop. This striking bowie pattern evolved from one of the most popular knives made by Hoyt and Al Buck when they built every knife themselves by hand. The blade is a ...
Natural stag handles which vary in shape and pattern from knife to knife give each Puma IP Scout Bowie the unique look of hand craftsmanship. Manufactured in Spain, the Puma IP line uses modern technology to produce knives in the tradition of the parent company's German craftsmen. Though fewer hand ...
I've always wondered about the story K-Bar tells of the trapper who killed a wounded bear with one of their Bowie knives. I've felt that it probably wasn't one they make now. If they made this knife, their company story would be a lot more believable -- but the Damascus ...
The Blackjack Trailguide, a full-sized skinner, offers collectability as well as practical value. The wide Bowie-style blade with false double edge is designed well for the piercing and slicing work necessary when butchering big game. A long nickel silver finger guard gives full protection for heavy levering and twisting. The overall length ...
This interesting display Bowie by Maxam Knives of Dallas, Texas, was created as a canvas for the hand painted wolf themed artwork on the blade. The knife itself still has a limited lifetime warranty, but wasn't intended as anything other than a piece of modern folk art. It's ...
Created by Gil Hibben for Sylvester Stallone's recurring role as John Rambo, this striking Bowie style fighting knife appeared in the movie Rambo III. A 13" full length tang knife with solid stainless steel bolsters and a surgical stainless steel 8" blade, the fanciful Bowie shows a unique slotted ...
Even though the high carbon stainless steel blade of this 11" traditionally styled Bowie knife is only 6" long, some who buy it think it's too much knife for ordinary campers or hunters. That sounds like a good knife to me. I've never been embarrassed to carry a ...
This Classic Bowie Knife really takes you back to the days when most men in a western town could be seen with a blade sheathed on their hip. It is a beautiful example of the blade design originally commissioned by famous frontiersman Jim Bowie. The Bowie knife was thought up ...
Pig Sticking is an ancient tradition of boar hunting, usually done with long cross guarded spears. I guess this is where the Pig Sticker Bowie Knife gets its name. This is a long knife - 15" overall length - but about standard length for a Bowie knife. ...
Finally a decent knife to honor the great Daniel Boone, the most legendary frontiersman in American history. You've been waiting for that one, right? It makes you want to go back to the days of the Old West and see some gun-slinging action, maybe throw back a pint at ...
This isn't just any ordinary bowie knife. It's a Case bowie knife. Take that back... it's a Case presentation bowie knife. Meaning: knives of this caliber are given to presidents, foreign dignitaries, athletes, and astronauts, just to give you an idea.
The 9.5-inch bowie blade is wide and thick, making it a ...
The bowie knife's origins date back to the early 1800s, smack dab in the middle of Texas with Colonel James "Jim" Bowie, the designer of the well known blade style.
After a renowned winning fight with the notorious Norris Wright, every townsman wanted a blade just like Bowie's. Bowie took his design to ...
This machete from Woodman's Pal is intended to be a multipurpose tool, replacing several tools you might be inclined to carry.
It's billed as a do-it-all machete, axe, pruning shears, saw, chainsaw and bowie knife. Though it's probably best to assume it will do a good job as a machete job ...
The Winder Sogwinder I from SOG Knives features a drop point Bowie blade that is exceptionally thick for a folding knife. This ensures that you don't have to worry about strength and durability. But if you're looking for the lightest folding knife on the market, this is not the ...
The Hen and Rooster brand has a bit of a tortured history. Founded in 1845 in Solingen, Germany by Carl Bertram, the name comes from Mr. Bertram's primary business at the time -- poultry! The Hen and Rooster logo was used to mark the knives and has since become an important ...
Another top-quality knife from the Ek Commando Knife Company. These knives are instant militaria collectibles.
Ek Knife has been hand-making these knives for decades and have long had a reputation for making some of the highest-quality US Military combat knives.
This Bowie knife features an extended clip for extra control. Use this choil to ...
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