Question about a Bowie Knife

[dwight55]

Part of the "basic" description of a Bowie knife is that the front portion of the blade is cut up on the top, . . . making a much more defined, and determined "point" on the knife.

Most I have seen are not in fact sharpened on that portion of the top of the knife blade.

Some are just as sharp on that front piece as they are on the whole bottom of the blade.

Is there a "rule" as to when it is done and when it is not? 

Thanks, . . . just trying to figure this whole "knife" thing out.

May God bless,
Dwight

[bowiemaker]

I make a lot of Bowie knives. Some customers want an unsharpened "false edge" clip on top and others want them sharp. The theory of the clip point is for penetration rather than a double edge but the Bowie knife was designed as a fighting knife and some think the clip was sharpened so that the knife could be used for a backslash with a backward swing.

The original Bowie knives, as designed and commissioned by Rezin Bowie, did not have a clip point at all. There is a lot of speculation whether Bowie later changed the design or if the clip point was created by the Sheffield cutlery companies who were shipping a LOT of Bowie knives to the U.S. after the knife became famous in the sandbar fight.

[Shotgun Franklin]

The Bowie knife was a fighting knife. It was properly held with the sharpened blade facing upward. The clip was used to block and slash, if you managed to stab your opponent then you pulled up with the blade opening the body cavity. The thick heavy back off the blade was for blocking your opponent's blade.

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[The Elderly Kid]

In the 19th century virtually any large, single-edged knife that was useful for multiple tasks and could be used as a weapon was popularly referred to as a "bowie." The broad, clip-point blade that we all think of when we hear that word was just one of many designs. Sharpened clips were actually quite rare and are only found on American-made knives. Sheffield bowies with clip points always had an unsharpened clip. Large hunting knives had always been demand in America, and the Sheffield cutlers had been exporting them long before the Sandbar fight. When the Bowie craze began, they simply marketed their wares as "Bowies." Spear-point Bowies were nearly as popular as clip points and some very strange designs indeed were called Bowies. About the only qualification was the single-edge. Double-edged fighters were called daggers and the term "dirk" was sometimes used for both kinds for legal purposes.

[dwight55]

Thanks, guys, . . . came home from church, . . . got my history 101 lesson.

May sound silly, . . . but I enjoy that kind of learning.  Would never have passed any tests in 9th grade with it, . . . but it is the kind that sticks with you.

May God bless,
Dwight

[Sir Charles deMouton-Black]

One of the strong traditions leading to the "bowie knife" was the Mediterranean Belduque, which is not usually found with a clip point. At least one historical bowie can be found with a belduque blade but with a guard added.

The Searles bowie and its modern copies;

http://www.cascity.com/forumhall/index.php/topic,30761.0.html