Bowie knives play an important role in American history. They are associate with some of the most epic moments, from the Alamo to the Civil War. Let’s separate fact from fiction and discover the history of the Damascus Bowie Knife.
What is a bowie knife?
It is believe that the Bowie knife was originally a series of designs develop by Jim Bowie over several years. The “normal” historical Bowie knife has the following characteristics:
- Blade length: 6-12 inches
- Blade width: 1.5-2 inches
- so, Blade thickness: 1/4 inch
- False edge along the back of the blade
- Large guard or guard
Jim Bowie
James Bowie was a pioneer and soldier and is known as one of the soldiers who die defending the Alamo. It is dispute who made the first Bowie knife and who designee it, and there seems to be no definitive answer. It is likely that Jim Bowie was involve in the design, and it is fairly certain that Jim Bowie was the one who made it famous.
Bowie knife
What is certain is that Jim Bowie’s knife design became popular after the Sand Bar Duel of 1827. Jim Bowie was supporting one of the duelists when he was attacks by the other side. Although he was shot and stabbed, Jim Bowie kill his main attacker with his knife. After this incident, Jim Bowie became known as one of the best knife fighters in the world, and others began to request copies of his knife.
Modern times
The term Bowie knife can be use to describe any large sheath knife. However, true Bowie knives are still being made. Damascus that makes several modern Bowie knives.
Popularity of bowie knife
Many variations of the bowie knife. Some use this name to describe any large sheathed knife. In the Civil War, Confederate soldiers made huge knives call Bowie D-Guard knives.
Even though they thought they look more like short swords. Bowie knives are still very popular with collectors and there are many spin offs such as the Ka-Bar. This is a knife base on the Bowie design. Ernest Emerson use Bowie as the logo on his folding bowie knife.
Perfect 5 – inch Bowie knife
There are several things you need to think about before you buy a 5-inch Bowie knife.
1.5-Inch Bowie Knives are becoming more and more popular every day. A 5-inch blade is large enough to give you MASSIVE cutting power, but still small enough to be easily hidden.
Bowie knives can be either hollow ground or flat ground. In a hollow ground bowie knife, the blade is thick at the back at first and then “tapers” to a much thinner edge.
- A flat ground bowie knife will not be quite as thin. If you plan to use your knife for slicing, chopping, or other hard work, you should choose a flat ground blade. For thinner and more precise cuts, I recommend a bowie knife with a hollow grind.
- If your 5-inch bowie knife is to be use for display purposes only, then the handle probably just needs to look nice.
- Bowie knives with micarta and stag horn handles make nice display pieces. The downside to these handle materials is that they can be a bit slippery.
- Rubber or plastic handles may not look as nice, but they do a much better job of protecting your hands and fingers from slipping.
- 5-inch Bowie knives with high carbon steel stay sharp for a very long time. These same blades rust very quickly if you don’t take care of them.
- High carbon bowie knives are also somewhat difficult to sharpen because of their hardness.
- Stainless steel bowie knives are much less prone to rust, but also lose their sharpness much faster. They are also softer than high carbon blades and much easier to sharpen.
What makes this knife so good?
Three layers of laminated steel. Most bowie knives are made from a single piece of steel. High carbon steel stays sharp for a long time, but can be brittle and prone to breakage.
A piece of softer, more flexible 400 series stainless steel is then fold on either side of the VG-1 for the ultimate compromise between sharpness and flexibility.
- 9.5-Inch Blade, The blade is flat ground, which means it is the same thickness from the spine to the edge.
- The flat ground blade is ideal for chopping or cutting as it is much less likely to break or crack under pressure.
- Continuous tang construction. Cold Steel makes its Trail Master Bowie with a full tang construction. This means that the blade steel goes all the way through to the end of the handle. You’ll be glad your Bowie is made with a full tang because it adds so much more strength to the knife.
- Super thick blade, Many bowie knives you see these days have blades that are only 3/16″ thick. Cold Steel takes it up a notch with their Trail Master and gives it a 5/16″ thick blade.
- This in turn helps reinforce the fact that the Cold Steel Trail Master is among the best bowie knives in the world.
Uses of bowie hunting knife
The classic hunting knife is the bowie knife. This large knife was designee in 1830 and is known for helping its owner Jim Bowie defend the Alamo. Over time, there have been several modifications. Often the Bowie knife is confuse with a heavier dagger, the “Arkansas toothpick”.
Read: Tips to choose the right hunting knives
Knives are use as a survival
Among the features of the Damascus Bowie Knife is a notch at the base of the blade near the handle call the “Spanish Notch”. Historians still argue about the exact purpose of this notch. Another interesting feature is the fact that the point is lower than the spine. This unique design is call the “clip point”.
Knives are use primarily for survival. A knife of particular importance is the hunting knife.
- These fixe blade weapons were mainly use for cutting and not for stabbing like a dagger. The length of the blade varies depending on the intended use. Most hunting knives have a curve blade that makes it easier to cut through objects.
- The more curve the blade, the easier it is for a hunter to skin animal carcasses.
- As humans, we could make knives out of anything that was accessible to us. Bones, stones, and teeth are some of the available objects from which excellent cutting tools could be made.
- Attaching a sharpened piece of stone to a stick and securing it with a piece of string made from animal skin or gut was an ingenious invention that led to the spear, axe, hatchet, arrow and knife.
- Centuries of trial and error led to vast improvements in design. As people entered the Bronze and Iron Ages, they refined knife making into a true science.
- Hunting knives are single-edged. Some are serrated and have hollow handles that allow for the storage of items that may be useful in the field. These types of knives are call survival knives, which were issue to aircrews as standard equipment during World War II.
Bowie knife a historic knife
A number of features contribute to the fact that this type of knife is perhaps the most famous in the history of the United States, at least in terms of knives. It usually has a blade that is at least six inches long and can grow to a foot or more in length.
At this size, it more closely resembles a short sword than a knife. The length of the knife corresponds to the width of the blade, which is usually between one and a half and two inches wide.
Wide blade of Bowie knife
The wide blade makes it a small hatchet or machete for the hunter who needs to chop wood to start a fire or to make a place for a tent or other shelter for the night.
- For hunters, the curve tip of a bowie knife is ideal for the finer work of skinning while the guard protects hands.
- Anglers use the curve tip to clean fish and prepare fillets for a quick dinner around the campfire.
- Hikers and backpackers appreciate the fact that the bowie knife is versatile, eliminating the need for additional tools and reducing the weight of the backpack or hiking pack.
- At the same time, the fact that the knife is not double-side ensures greater safety when carrying and using the knife.
- These knives typically use a high carbon steel that both does not require repeat sharpening to maintain the edge and is flexible enough that it will not break under the stress of daily use.
Conclusion
While the properties of the steel have been vital to the reputation of Bowie knives throughout their history, this is one area where modern science has yet to catch up with the secrets of the original makers.
Black, the blacksmith credit with making the original knife Bowie carried and which made him famous during his lifetime, die before revealing his secrets for blade strength, and his process could not be duplicate even by modern means.
Final Words
Today’s Bowie knives tend to have more elaborate handles and decorative elements, but the balance and clean lines have not change much since the originals.
High carbon stainless steel blades are combine with composite steel handles, sometimes bone, wood or metal, to create a beautiful yet useful product. The handles are even embellish with decorative elements of brass, silver or gold.
