The problem with that blade style is that it's a single-purpose blade - usable for one thing, and pretty much one technique - and the points frequently break.
That was a problem with the WWII British 'Commando' knife and the 'fix' for that would eventually be the Gerber Mark II, with the stiffer, stronger blade and heavier point that proved so popular in Vietnam.
(You still couldn't open cans with it or cut saplings for whatever purpose - but at least it didn't leave pieces in folks, and if you were in a combat outfit, you saw a lot of them being carried.)
But that's fine, so long as you have something along that's better-suited towards doing chores and such, and that's where the 'Bowie' style of blade earned its pay, since it could do all of the camp chores, plus - it was a helluva deadly weapon.
These 'big' knives - the Arkansas Toothpicks and the Bowies - all date from the pre-Civil War era of the single-shot pistol, where a little extra 'help' might be necessary after the one shot was fired.
The Civil War, with it's resultant arms production and procurement, would soon equip anyone who so desired with a reliable and powerful revolver - thus lessening the need for a large side knife.
After that happened, the knives became far smaller in size - thus more usable.
Excellent references abound today, and they've been cited on this forum before, but here are a couple:
'The Bowie Knife - Unsheathing an American Legend' - by noted arms historian - Norm Flayderman.
'The Antique Bowie Knife Book' - by Bill Adams. (Out-of-Print - difficult to find - worth the effort)
'Confederate Edged Weapons' - by William A. Albaugh, CSA arms historian.
They're not only informative, but they're interesting as well, and I recommend either buying them or getting them from your Public Library through an Inter-Library Loan.
Vaya,
Scouts Out!
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