Here's a "Bowie." It is huge and bears the clip point and discrete quillion of what is supposed to be Jim Bowie's fighter, although some would argue the true Bowie had a symmetrical quillion.
This one has an 8.5-inch blade and weighs a hair under 1.5 pounds. It has served well for decades, particularly as a knife plus hatchet-substitute on long wilderness canoe trips where trimming weight was crucial. I never met the craftsman who fashioned it from a truck spring and a fine piece of burled walnut, and that is my loss.
Unfortunately for neat taxonomy, this Bowie varies in every important aspect from a number of other designs which claim -- with equal historical evidence -- to be the one true Bowie as made for Colonel Jim by blacksmith Jesse Clifft. (TBC)
2 comments:
The knife-that-can-chop is a handy tool to have.
My friend John Shirley prefers khukuris, so much so that he keeps extra ones on hand for giving away. (Plus, the ones from Himalayan Imports help a good cause. Google up HI's backstory sometime, if you want to read something touching.)
I've been using a Puffin Magnum from McCann Industries for about eight years now, although it hasn't seen any serious use since I drifted north to Hoosieropolis.
I've always believed that a big knife can do little knife jobs in a pinch, but a little knife can't do big knife chores.
That Puffin looks +competent.+
"...big knife can do little knife jobs in a pinch, but a little knife can't do big knife chores."
You bet, though I tend to over-knife myself in the woods. Even on easy day trips a cut-down WW2 Navy PAL rides the belt, a Buck 501 is in pocket, and a Leatherman and/or some version of the Boy Scout knife lives somewhere in the rig.
Probably a result of unresolved personal insecurities.
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