Tactical Knife

Chapter 4

The Bowie Knife

The Bowie knife occupies a unique, even legendary place in the universe of American knives, and it meets our definition of tactical. The Bowie burst into the awareness of the general public around 1830, and its reputation as a fearsome weapon with unique qualities spread far beyond America. Soon it took on almost magical qualities and became a weapon of legend and something to conjure with like King Arthur’s Excalibur.

In fits of hysteria, some municipalities and states outlawed the possession of the newly popular Bowie knife, as if the knife could without human agency leap from its sheath or the drawer where it was stored and attack an innocent person. Other laws clearly stated that the Bowie was being outlawed because it offered an unfair advantage to its wielder—this in a time when duels were common and men brought swords to a knife fight.

J.W. Randall Ranger Bowie © Tammy T. Randall.

A Bowie knife even appeared in Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula, written in 1897, wherein a Texan uses his Bowie to deal a mortal blow to the notorious fictional vampire who possessed supernatural powers. Was the Bowie knife’s reputation deserved? Did it become famous because of the fighting prowess of its developer, James Bowie, or for its intrinsic qualities? It’s difficult to separate the man and the legend. How is it that what on the surface seems to be a simple, steel knife is even today regarded with something approaching awe by many? Both the man and the knife played a part in creating the notoriety of the Bowie knife. No doubt James Bowie was an aggressive and highly skilled fighter. But research reveals that the Bowie knife did, and in some contemporary versions does, possess certain characteristics that make it an exceptional weapon, while at the same time retaining its value as an all-around utility knife. More plainly, the Bowie knife deserves its reputation.

J.W. Randall Ranger Bowie with guard © Terrill Hoffman.

Some accounts refer to James Bowie’s knife, at least his first knife—there was a progression—as a butcher knife. But whatever the original was, the final knife in the line of development was, by all accounts, a good deal more than a simple butcher knife. In the early nineteenth century in many parts of the United States, knife fights were frequent events and had been since colonial times. Repeating firearms were not yet available, and the muzzleloading firearms of the era were slow to reload. Therefore edged weapons played an important role in armed encounters. Often knives came into play because they were in everyday use and convenient, whereas the sword was a special-purpose weapon and inconvenient to carry.

In this atmosphere, James Bowie fought in a number of duels and armed encounters. In the encounter that brought the knife that bears his name to fame, three armed men intent on killing Bowie attacked him. According to contemporary accounts, he dispatched all three with massive wounds, cleaving one assailant’s skull and nearly decapitating another, each with a single blow. These wounds were reported as horrendous, extraordinary, unprecedented, and partly what sparked the notoriety of the Bowie knife. The encounter was widely reported, along with the nature of the wounds sustained by Bowie’s attackers. Soon everyone wanted a knife like Bowie’s. The business of James Black, the Arkansas blacksmith who made Bowie’s knife, exploded, and shortly thereafter every knifemaker and cutlery factory in the United States and England was producing Bowie knives.

Daniel Winkler Southwest Bowie with a 5160 blade of 11⅝ inches, overall length of 16½ inches, and an elk antler handle © PointSeven Studios.

Given that fights and duels with edged weapons were common, many people had seen the results of knife fights. Doctors well understood how to treat knife wounds. Yet there are no accounts of the kind of wounds inflicted by Bowie in other knife fights. The effectiveness of knives used in combat by American rangers, including the famous Rogers’ Rangers, are well-documented. But nowhere, except in accounts of Bowie’s encounters when he fought with his famous knife, do we read of extraordinary wounds from any knife. What was the difference between a long knife and a Bowie?

By all accounts, Bowie’s blade was nine to ten inches in length. No ordinary nine- to ten-inch butcher knife, regardless of the ability of its wielder, would have had the features required to inflict the wounds reported in Bowie’s notorious and deadly encounters. Therefore, the preponderance of evidence indicates that there were unique features to the Bowie knife that made it a formidable weapon. James Bowie may well have been the most extraordinary swordsman or knife fighter since King Arthur. But he could not have caused the wounds described in the histories with an ordinary butcher knife.

Russ Andrews Bison, named for its hump, multipurpose knife for camp and hunting chores. The blade is hand-forged W2, mounts are four bar twist Damascus, and handle is sambar stag © Hans Holzach.

What, then, were the characteristics of this extraordinary knife? James Bowie fought with more than one knife and was constantly in the process of developing the best knife. According to legend, Bowie carved the final version from wood and gave the model to Arkansas blacksmith James Black, who produced the knife Bowie ordered along with a version with a sharpened clip, which was the final version chosen by Bowie. Most experts acknowledge that this knife had a blade nine-and-a-half to ten inches in length with a clip point. It was this knife that Bowie used in the fight described above. Unfortunately, many of the finer details of the design remain a mystery and are a subject of some dispute among scholars. Black kept his methods secret and went so far as to work behind a leather curtain when he was forging and tempering his Bowie knives. There were many rumors, including one that Black used ore from a meteorite to create his seemingly magical knives. Was it his secret method of forging that gave the Bowie its extraordinary abilities, the secret in the design, or a combination of all aspects of make?

Russ Andrews Bowie with a random pattern nine-inch Damascus blade made of 1084 and 15N20 steels, two bar twist Damascus guard and ferrule, Missouri black walnut handle, and a sheath by the maker, which was hand stitched with a snake skin insert and Damascus frog button © SharpbyCoop.com.

Russ Andrews Bowie with a ten-inch blade of W2 steel, 416 SS mounts, fossilized walrus ivory handle, and a sheath by the maker with a shark skin insert © SharpbyCoop.com.

Wayne Goddard Scagel-style Bowie with an eleven-inch forged blade of 5160, mustard finish, bronze guard, desert ironwood, and deer antler handle © Wayne Goddard.

According to some statements attempting to describe the qualities of a Bowie knife, it was said that a Bowie had to chop like ax, pierce like dagger, and cut like a razor. But accounts differ when it comes to actual specifications beyond the basics of blade length and style.

Cold Steel Laredo Bowie.

The advent of affordable, reliable, repeating firearms, in particular Colt revolvers, signaled the beginning of end for the edged weapon’s importance. Although many continued to carry Bowie knives as backup weapons, and the Bowie and other large knives continued to be important as tools, over the next few decades the Bowie faded from common usage. The once famous and fearsome Bowie even became an object of some derision due to lurid dime novels and drugstore cowboys who carried Bowies and pretended prowess and experience they did not possess.

A beautifully executed Mace Vitale Coffin-handle Bowie.

Mace Vitale Coffin-handle Bowie. The blade is eleven-and-a-half inches and the spine is one-fourth of an inch at the guard for a total length that is a bit more than seventeen inches. The blade steel is 1095 heat treated with clay, fittings are wrought iron with a curly maple handle, and a nickel-silver pin.

In recent times, the Bowie has enjoyed a resurgence partially due to the efforts of Bill Bagwell, a controversial bladesmith who wrote prolifically about the Bowie and advocated its use as the ultimate fighting knife, while also promoting its primacy as a utility tool. Bagwell also claimed to have defined the characteristics that made the Bowie an exceptional weapon. Although Bagwell did not claim to have determined what steel Black used or details of his heat treat and forging, he did state that he had determined certain characteristics that made for an exceptional knife. In addition to the general specifications, they are: a pronounced distal taper, which provided balance, speed, and power; a convex profile and edge, which gave the Bowie its cutting ability; a differential temper with a soft back and hard edge, which also contributed to cutting ability but, more importantly, made for a tough blade able to withstand shock and flex; and a sharpened clip, which allowed the back cut, a decisive move taken from saber fencing.

Is Bagwell correct? Did the original Bowie as forged by James Black have these features? I have no idea. What I do know from using Bagwell’s Bowies is that the Bowies crafted by Bagwell outperform, in certain critical ways, any other knife in its size range that I have used.

Ontario Knife Co. Bagwell Bowie, called “The Gambler”.

Some years ago, in addition to Bagwell Bowies I owned Bowies from seven ABS Mastersmiths and a dozen or so from stock removal makers. All were made according to similar specifications as above, although each differed considerably in actual execution and the individual craftsman’s interpretation. I, and others, used them for all the usual outdoor functions, as well as trying them out in the kitchen and cutting carpet, softwood, hardwood, and rope. All were excellent knives and exceptionally efficient wilderness tools. Some of them surpassed eighteen-inch machetes and small hatchets in woodcutting. Most were agile and useful for precise tasks—altogether a surprising collection of abilities from a relatively short blade. If I had to choose one knife, and only one knife, for wilderness use, it might well be a hand-forged Bowie from an ABS Mastersmith.

I also evaluated all of these Bowies as weapons. In addition to my personal evaluation, I brought them to a well-regarded Eskrima master for his review and to others in martial arts with combat experience. Our evaluations included cutting tests in appropriate materials, training exercises, and mano a mano matches with the edges taped. On one occasion, I hosted a small group of knife users at my home and conducted a blind testing of all my Bowies. The maker’s marks were taped over so they couldn’t be identified. A consensus emerged from all this testing and evaluation. The overall balance and sensibility that Bagwell gets in his knives reflect an exceptional understanding of the uses of edged weapons. For daily tasks, Bagwell’s Bowies were in the top four in every instance, but they were not superior to others from the ABS Mastersmiths in general cutting tasks. However, we agreed that none of us had ever used a better version of the Bowie as a weapon than those from Bagwell’s forge. They were agile and light. That speed, along with their other features, combined to create a weapon that was devastating in the right hands. James Black may well have possessed a secret forge and steel that added to the reputation of his knives—a secret that remains undiscovered. But possibly Bill Bagwell discovered some of his other secrets.

Today you can obtain excellent Bowies from any ABS member. Whether Journeyman or Master, any ABS knifesmith can run you up a hand-forged, differential tempered, distal tapered, convex edged Bowie that will surprise you with its performance. Many Knifemakers’ Guild members also custom craft excellent Bowies, some of them to similar specifications.

Daniel Winkler Cowboy Bowie, forged with a nine-inch 5160 blade, overall length of fourteen inches, and elk antler handle © PointSeven Studios.

Wayne Goddard, an ABS Mastersmith, has told me that he can create a stock removal Bowie or any other blade, that will equal the performance of a forged blade. Over the years I have learned to never doubt Wayne on knives. There are almost certainly other makers out there who can do the same. Many stock removal makers also get excellent results and provide Bowies of exceptional quality. Many manufacturers today provide excellent factory versions of the classic Bowie, notably Cold Steel. Unfortunately, the Ontario Knife Company has discontinued production of its excellent interpretations of Bagwell Bowies.

The basic design persists and has become the basis for hundreds of derivative designs in sizes ranging from a relatively short six inches up to twelve inches. It can be argued that almost any clip point today has derived from the Bowie. The KA-BAR of World War II fame was based on the Bowie, as were the methods of fighting with it, which were based on saber technique and are still used today. The famous Randall Model One and Model 14 and 115 are also Bowie patterns.

The romance also persists. The Bowie has appeared in countless novels, including The Difference Engine by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling and in The Jaguar’s Heart, a novel by the author. There was even a movie, The Iron Mistress, based on a novel about James Bowie’s life.

There are many who say you can get by with a little knife, and that’s true. But you can’t go wrong with a good Bowie, which is perhaps the finest tactical fixed blade ever designed.

Hawthorne PC Blade with a 1084 & 15N20 ladder pattern, Amboyna burl handle supplied by client Steven Garsson, 416 SS mounts, and a sheath by Paul Long © Buddy Thomason.