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Posts Tagged ‘bowie knives’

Before you purchase that bowie knife, you might have a few questions that you want answered. One of the most frequently asked questions about these knives is whether or not you need a permit to own one. Do you have to have a permit if you keep your bowie knife at home? Do you need a permit if you will use it on a hunting trip? These questions are vital, but the answers might be far from enlightening.

In Your Home - Do you need a permit to own bowie knives and keep them in your home? The short answer to this is “no”. You are legally allowed to possess these knives within your home and you can keep them wherever you see fit. You can display them, put one beside your bed, or hide them away for future needs. However, when carrying such a weapon outside your home, things become stickier.

How do you know if you can carry bowie knives in public? The Internet is your most powerful tool in this case. Every US state has its own website, where you will find listed the laws governing firearms and bladed weapons. These laws will give you a broad overview of your rights and responsibilities where bowie knives, balisongs, dirks and daggers are concerned. However, your state’s laws are not the only consideration that you will have to make. In some states, the laws of counties or cities supersede those of the state in some instances.

The question of taking your bowie knife on a hunting, camping or fishing trip is quite different from “carrying it in public”. As these knives are designed for outdoors use, most states do not prohibit you from using them or carrying them without a permit if you will be engaged in an activity for which the knife was designed (a legal activity, of course).

As you can see, while you don’t have to have a permit to own bowie knives, you do have to take care to ensure that you remain on the right side of the law when carrying and using these tools. A little research can go a long way here.

Dave is the owner of an online bowie knives and glock grip extensions store.

Bowie knives are fantastically versatile, enabling you to accomplish numerous different tasks with a single knife. However, what exactly are all the features of the blade used for? This can be hard to understand, as you’ll find bowie knives with different features from another. Part of the confusion is simply due to the modern evolution of the knife, while other models try to remain historically accurate. Here are a few features that you might find and need to understand.

Clip Point - Your bowie knife has one defining feature; it has a clipped point. This is the end of the blade and it looks like someone cut a section out of the tip. This is an important feature and serves several purposes. First, it serves to narrow the point of the knife, giving you greater control during use. Second, it ensures that the bowie knife has better penetrative (stabbing) power. As you might imagine, these benefits come in quite handy.

Another element of bowie knife design is the clipped point. In fact, if a knife claims to be a bowie, but does not have this distinctive feature, it is not a bowie knife. The clipped point was one of the original innovations that helped to cement this knife’s reputation in the Western world. It allows immense control of the point during general use or during combat, and provides greater penetration when using the knife for stabbing. A sharpened false edge on the clipped point offers extra cutting power, as well.

Spanish Notch - The Spanish Notch is another sometime inclusion. You’ll find that this notch offers little in the way of enhanced usability, but it does provide you with a handy point to start sharpening the blade. The notch sits at the back edge of the blade, just before the ricasso. This might have originally been used to help skin branches, or have been used to work with nautical rigging or other rope forms, but today it has few uses and is rarely found except on historically accurate bowie knives.

Guard - The guard, or quillions, of the blade serve several purposes, as well. You’ll find that traditional blades have angled guards, with the upper guard angled forward toward the point and the lower guard angled back, toward the butt. These provide protection for the hand, as well as allowing the wielder to trap an opponent’s blade (the upper guard only). The guard also serves to keep your hand from running off the handle and onto the blade when stabbing with the knife.

Dave is the owner of an online bowie knives and glock grip extensions store.

One of the most important questions when considering the purchase of a bowie knife is what it can cut. What can you use that new bowie knife to cut? What are the limitations? Will it cut equally well through skin as through cooked meat or raw vegetables? What about wood and underbrush? What uses can you put that new bowie knife to?

Why is there such a great disparity where the bowie knife is concerned? Actually, it boils down to the several different types of bowie knife out there. For instance, you will find smaller versions, as well as very large versions and everything in between.

As you might surmise, very large knives aren’t the ideal item to use when cutting something delicate - it’s a bit like using a sledgehammer to crack an eggshell. Conversely, using a small bowie knife to cut heavy, thick things is equally unwise, something like using a razorblade to chop firewood comes to mind.

So, what can you cut with a bowie knife? It all depends on your particular knife. While you most certainly can use that gigantic blade to gut a fish, chances are quite good that the blade will be so large that you’ll muck up the job. It’s quite difficult to make a precision cut when the blade is twice as long as the fish! Now, you can take that in the opposite direction as well. You might not have much luck using a six-inch bowie knife to cut through thick brush or cut kindling for your fire.

How do you know what your bowie knife can cut? The trick is to buy a knife that is suited to your purpose. Knife blades that run in the middle ground can be used to cut a wider variety of materials, but you’ll find that, while they are good “jacks-of-all-trades,” they’re not good for very specific tasks where a long or short blade should be used. So, the first trick is to buy a bowie knife that fits your needs. This will require that you know what those needs are. Of course, buying more than one knife to fill those needs is always an option, as well.

Dave is the owner of an online bowie knife and glock grip extensions store.

An integral part of being a responsible knife owner, whether you use a Bowie knife or something different, is knowing how to keep a blade sharp. A dull knife is a useless tool, but also a considerable danger. Dull blades can cause serious injury, and can ruin whatever it is that you might be cutting. Of course, not everyone wants to use a bench stone to sharpen his or her knives. What other options are out there, though? What systems are worth trying?

Rod Systems Work Well: While rod systems certainly do use stones, they are very different from your traditional bench stone. What do rod systems offer? To sum it up in a single word - guidance. Rod systems use a rod connected to a whetstone, which runs through a hole in a metal guide. Your Bowie knife is attached to the metal framework. This ensures that your knife is stable throughout the entire process, and that you do not create uneven edges. Why does this matter?

Some of the sharpeners that work best for Bowie knives are made out of composite substances. These may include ceramics or silicates. Generally, they are pressed into a small stone that can easily be carried in a pocket or a pack. These stones are usually a bit harder on the blade than are natural stones, and will pull away more steel with each pass. Be sure to use gentle pressure when sharpening on these stones.

Guides for Bench Stones: If you prefer to use a bench stone, you can still alleviate much of the problem with getting the right angle for your blade. Guides attach to the spine of the blade, and you then run the knife across the whetstone. This can be an excellent way to sharpen a knife without having to worry that you will have uneven edges on your blade. Of course, like many other systems, there are drawbacks to using guides such as these.

Your Bowie knife can definitely be sharpened in the field using these devices, but a good sharpening is usually done on a bench stone. Simply because the stone is mounted to the bench, it’s easier to make sure that you’re getting the right angle and pressure on the blade. You should practice, however, sharpening large blades on small stones, as you may well have to do so at some point when you’re in the field.

Blake is a business consultant for an online bowie knives store featuring combat knives.

A Bowie knife is a tool that was designed to be versatile from the start. There are, however, inevitable limitations to the versatility of any tool. A six inch Bowie knife is great for cleaning game but a would-be pioneer will find it ill-suited for chopping small firewood. Likewise, a 12-inch knife can create plenty of kindling but is about as appropriate as a baseball bat for cleaning a fish. What one can cut depends on what is in one’s hand.

Smaller Bowie knives are the most practical for actual precision cutting tasks. Not only are these knives much more agile and precise, they’re usually made of better materials and are much easier to sharpen. Bowies of between 6 and 10 inches are excellent for most outdoor sports. They even make fine cooking knives, though they are a bit thick of blade for very precise, gourmet cooking. The clipped point adds an even more agile section to the blade which is great for dealing with fish and game.

A small Bowie knife is great for anything to do with hunting or fishing. Between a reduced blade size and the clipped point characteristic of these knives, they are incredibly agile for a multitude of tasks. They can fillet a fish as quickly as they can clean an elk. However, they need to be handled with more care than larger Bowies, particularly because the steel used in these knives tends to be higher precision and less durable. The steel has a huge impact on cutting ability.

Remember that using a knife outside of its strengths is an invitation to disaster. Bowie knives which are small should not be used for hacking, chopping or for dealing with bone when cleaning an animal. The blade will invariably be damaged and, given the extreme use, it may slip or break. Such accidents can cause very serious injury, especially if one has a very sharp, very high-end knife in their hands.

Likewise, using large Bowie knives for precision work presents its own hazards. Controlling the large blade while making very painstaking cuts may end up resulting in a wound due to slippage or other control issues. At the very least, ones fish or meat will mostly likely not end up filleted in any artful way using one of these knives. It’s best to exercise some common sense and, if one’s knife seems outmatched by the task at hand, to switch knives or tools.

Blake is a business consultant for an online bowie knifes store featuring Cold Steel bowie knives.

Many individuals who purchase a Bowie knife do so because of their reputation for being useful for a multitude of tasks. Those tasks, however, to not extend to those of a throwing knife. By comparing the differences between a Bowie and a proper throwing blade, one can easily see why these knives are suitable for many tasks, but why being airborne is not among them. Bowies can be dangerous when thrown, as well.

Throwing knives are typically small, light and spear-pointed. While individuals do enjoy throwing knives for sport, the usual romantic appeal is that one can develop the skills to be a deadly martial artist where knife-throwing is concerned. Bowie knives definitely have a martial history and design to them, but they are designed to be held in the hand and used either as very versatile and practical tools or as weapons whose lethality rivals that of a short sword. Today, of course, the former application is much more common!

The sheer weight of Bowie knives makes them remarkably bad for throwing. The weight of the knife itself can cause the blade to bend under its own weight when it becomes stuck in a target. The long length and heavy weight make them very hard to throw, as well. Throwing knives are generally very light and designed to fit easily in the hand. A Bowie is designed to be sturdy, able to take blows from other knives and weapons and to protect the user’s hand, where it is meant to stay.

Throwing knives require specific technique but also require specific balance. Bowie knives are balanced, but they are not balanced for throwing. They are balanced for hand-held use. If one were to pick up a throwing knife and try to use it like a Bowie, they would find it seriously lacking. The same holds true when one tries to use a Bowie as a thrower. Most often, the result is disappointment and, often, a ruined knife.

Those who own Bowie knives and who have an interest in pursuing the art of throwing blades would do well to purchase a purpose-built knife for the latter endeavor. Most Bowies are far too expensive to risk damaging by throwing them. They are also simply not made for this task. The danger to one’s body is very real as is the potential to have a very good knife destroyed. High-carbon steel blades, in particular, should never be used as thrown knives.

Dylan is a business consultant for an online bowie knife store featuring combat knives.

Bowie knives can be expensive purchases, when one opts for a high-quality blade. Knives require special care that means the difference between an item that can last a lifetime and a knife that will end up rusted and dull all too fast. Learning this care is an essential, and enjoyable, part of owing a quality blade. It is also a process. Some things, such as sharpening, take a lot of time to master.

Stainless steel, as the name says, is resistant to the types of corrosion that frequently ruin other knife blades. Even though this is the case, even stainless steel needs to be kept dry. Any fluid with which the knife comes into contact may damage the blade. Acidic liquids may pit and scar the blade, water may cause rust, and so forth. Always wipe down the blade before sheathing it.

For a very high-end knife, high-carbon steel or high-carbon stainless steel is usually used in the construction. The former was more common in the past but has been superseded in popularity by stainless steel knives. High-carbon steel is particularly vulnerable to rust and corrosion. All knives should always be kept dry, but this is particularly important in cases where the knife is made of a material with a low resistance to environmental damage. Stainless steel knives need the same attention given to them, but not nearly to the degree that non-stainless knives require.

A Bowie knife should be kept in its sheath most of the time. Most Bowies come with a leather sheath and, so long as the knife is taken out every so often, this should suffice. For long-term storage, however, and especially in humid environments, leather attracts moisture. This can corrode the blade over time, even if it happens to be a stainless steel model. Knives which are made of non-stainless, high-carbon steel will be especially susceptible to moisture-related corrosion while they’re kept in storage. A good case will provide adequate protection from the elements for long term storage needs.

Without maintenance, the investment one places in a Bowie knife is forfeit. These knives have endured so long because of their durability, in great part. The heavy blade, sharp edge and no-nonsense, practical design betray a great deal of thought having been put into making these knives last. A good Bowie can be sharpened and cleaned over and over again, and always be ready for the next adventure, no matter what that may bring.

Brian is a business consultant for an online bowie knifes store featuring survival knives.

Some knives are legendary. The daggers of Europe, the flint knives carried by Apache warriors and the knives carried into the battles of World War 2 all carry with them fearsome reputations, and justly so. Bowie knives are among those blades which have become the stuff of legend. Like a samurai’s sword or a Spartan’s spear tip, these Bowies have characteristics that make them easily identifiable and unfailingly deadly.

The end of a Bowie knife has what’s called a “clipped” tip. This means that the point of the knife lies below the spine of the blade. This characteristic has its origins in fighting. A blade of this style has excellent penetration qualities. It also lightens the blade and makes it more agile when used for skinning and cleaning animals.

A Bowie knife always has a hand guard. Traditionally, this guard had a forward-swept quillion on the top of the handle. Today, this hand guard may be modified somewhat, and the knife to which it is attached may still be called a Bowie. The famous Marine combat knife of World War 2 is clearly a Bowie-style knife, even though it has an essentially straight hand guard. The curved hand guard provides better protection in blade-to-blade combat and, thus, was favored by Bowie when he designed the original knives.

The clipped blade of a Bowie knife leaves little ambiguity as to the reasons behind its design. Positioning the tip of the blade lower than the spine lends agility to the point and makes it a more streamlined affair. In practical matters, this means that the tip is more agile when applied to everything from cutting meat to skinning animals. In martial matters, this means that the blade has lethal penetration characteristics and makes it an intimidating weapon. In both the literal and metaphorical senses, the Bowie has a balanced blade.

A real Bowie knife always has a wide blade. In fact, this is a defining characteristic of these knives. When these knives were designed, the frontier conditions meant that any tool had to be versatile and tough. The heavy, wide blade of a Bowie meant it could stand up to a great deal of punishment and that it could perform chopping tasks, in addition to cutting tasks. Before steel was of a modern quality, softer metals such as brass and copper were sometimes used to reinforce the blades via a strip along the spine.

Dave is the owner of an online bowie knives and glock grip extensions store.

categories: bowie knives,bowie knife,hunting knives,Hunting,Fishing,Camping,Outdoors,Survival,Recreation,Hobbies

Bowie knives are hunting knives, aren’t they? This is a common question. However, bowie knives aren’t technically hunting knives - they are multipurpose tools. Hunting knives are usually very specific in their intended use. For instance, a gut hook knife is intended for an obvious purpose. Likewise, a skinning knife is used for skinning and doesn’t perform very well for other uses. Bowie knives, on the other hand, can be used to skin, gut, chop, cut and numerous other things.

Therefore, you’ll find that bowie knives differ from hunting knives in several different ways. How do they differ? As mentioned, bowies are used for many different things. While they have long held a place in hunting, as well as camping, fishing and general use, they also serve a purpose in self-defense. Hunting knives, while they can be used for purposes other than those intended by the knife’s creator, usually don’t do an adequate job in these different areas.

The largest difference is that your bowie is a multiuse tool. It can be used for skinning or for gutting. Likewise, it can be used for chopping vegetables, wood or even slicing through meat or fruit. Bowie knives are far more versatile than general hunting knives. You will also find that most bowie knives are far larger than hunting knives. The average hunting knife is only five inches long, or less. A bowie, on the other hand, is usually no shorter than six inches in length, though they can surpass twelve inches in many cases. So size is certainly one of the differentiating factors.

However, bowie knives have a uniquely shaped blade that allows them to function just as well whether you’re using them to skin, gut, clean or cut fruit. So, bowie knives, while a well-known factor in the hunting world, are not used solely for any one particular purpose. This means that the purchase of such a knife will ensure that you have numerous benefits.

Therefore, bowie knives differ from hunting knives in size, design and intended usage. While a hunting knife is usually only a single-use tool, you’ll find far more benefits with a bowie. This is because a single knife can be used for multiple needs, ensuring that you don’t need to carry several different blades with you all the time.

Dylan Sabot is the owner of an online bowie knifes store featuring every bowie knife for sale as well as lighters for camping.

Bowie knives are available in a bewildering array of sizes. You will find slimmer versions that total out at about six inches in length, but you will also find monstrosities that come close to two feet in length and all the sizes in between. How do you choose which bowie knives are right for your particular needs? Is a longer blade a better choice? Why would you want a short knife blade?

There is no secret formula to determining what size bowie knife is right for you. You will have to take a long, hard look at how you intend to use the knife. For instance, do you just want something impressive that you can hang on a wall or mount under glass? If so, then the larger, the better! However, if you actually intend to put that knife to use, you’ll find that enormous size is not always better.

Do you plan to skin game with your knife? Bowie knives are well known for their ability to help hunters skin their kills with ease. However, if this is your intended use, you don’t want a large blade. In fact, six inches is likely all you will need to get the job done correctly. Actually, if you chose to go with a longer blade, you might find that it was harder to control. Control is vital when working with animal skins, as one wrong move with the knife can ruin that pelt. Bowie knives can puncture holes in the hide very easily if you are not careful, so exercise care when choosing your new knife.

Bowie knives can be purchased in a variety of styles, as well. You will find that longer blades are often a bit more modern, while shorter blades, say six to ten inches, frequently mirror the original design. The original Bowie knife had a shorter clipped point than many of the modern versions do, which is ideal for precise cutting and control. Of course, you will also need to determine whether or not you will wear the knife in public. Checking your local city, county and state laws is vital here, but supposing these allow you to carry any size, what’s best?

Very large bowie knives can be quite uncomfortable to carry and unwieldy, to boot. These are best left in your vehicle or in your pack, unless you are actively using them. Shorter blades, though, are ideal for wearing and will not hinder your movements unduly. They are also less attention grabbing than their larger brethren.

Dave is the owner of an online bowie knives and glock grip extensions store.

categories: bowie knives,bowie knife,hunting knives,Hunting,Fishing,Camping,Outdoors,Survival,Recreation,Hobbies