The Bowie's fame (like the Fairbairn) is also attached to a man's name, James and also his brother Rezin Bowie. The peak of its social status came in the mid to late 1800s and, unlike the Fairbairn, it was considered an accoutrement suitable for a gentleman to wear in public. Duels and quarrels were settled by flashing steel on the streets, in alleys, and wilderness alike. The extreme violence eventually led to banning the wearing of the Bowie in many states. Carrying a double-edged blade, like a Fairbairn, has been illegal in most states for many years. I have ranted about this before so I won't go into the idiocy of such laws again.
With all of my talk about Bowies, you might be thinking I have gone over to the dark side. Its two different worlds and two different tactical approaches. The techniques are likewise totally different. I have trained with both, and I appreciate the strengths and shortcomings of each. Each one has a certain aura attached to it rising from different periods of history. The F-S is undoubtedly the iconic knife of WW-II, only paralleled perhaps by the KaBar. The Bowie's fame (like the Fairbairn) is also attached to a man's name, James and also his brother Rezin Bowie. The peak of its social status came in the mid to late 1800s and, unlike the Fairbairn, it was considered an accoutrement suitable for a gentleman to wear in public. Duels and quarrels were settled by flashing steel on the streets, in alleys, and wilderness alike. The extreme violence eventually led to banning the wearing of the Bowie in many states. Carrying a double-edged blade, like a Fairbairn, has been illegal in most states for many years. I have ranted about this before so I won't go into the idiocy of such laws again. I think this photo clearly shows the attributes of the two knife styles and illustrates the major differences in potential. Despite its broader tip, the Bowie's ability to penetrate equals that of the F-S. The wound channel created by a Bowie is massive, in comparison to the F-S. As a matter of semantics, I would classify the F-S as a killing knife, and the Bowie as more of a fighting knife. In a one on one combat which would I prefer to have? Without a doubt, the Bowie.
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Hello, I mentioned previously that I carry a large knife on my bug-out bag. That knife happens to be a Kabar/Becker BK9. I bought this knife a long time ago and loved the blade profile and heft of it. But, I have never used it because the handle scales are terrible! Perhaps one of the most important aspects of a knife design is the interface between the human hand and the handle/grip. Here the BK9 fails miserably. When you have the wherewithal to design and produce a knife from scratch the grip ought to be done right. When it is a simple phenolic casting of some sort, then it could as easily be curvaceous and hand fitting instead of slabby. The term handle slabs, or scales, describes this to a tee. Sure, the edges are a little rounded off, but the bulk of the hand feels the "squareness" of it and the palm is left floating above the grip. Inset checkering does nothing to improve the grip because it is smooth and below the surface. To me the grip is a complete failure of the understanding of ergonomics. While cruising on YouTube I discovered there were numerous people who had modified or customized their BK9 knives. One of the easiest and most common changes was handle scales. So I found a set on Ebay that I liked and ordered them. They cost $45, which is 30% of what the knife cost me when new. A knife designed and produced by such notable names as Ethan Becker and KaBar should have come standard with some grips similar to this. I decided I ought to give you the address of the person whom I got the scales from. On ebay, do a search for: Carroll’s custom knife scales It took me only 10 minutes to change the scales. You can clearly see the contouring and the texturing on them. I'm not sure what material was used. They are attractive, but they are not real wood, which might shrink and split with time and use. The fit was perfect and the alignment of the screw holes was spot on. This simple change made a good knife into a great knife.
The sheath is another issue, being a floppy nylon mess with a plastic liner. But right now I don't feel like spending another $75-100 to replace it with a kydex sheath. If nothing else, the manufacturers ought to make these options available at the time of purchase at a reasonable cost. That way they could make some extra money and deliver a knife to the customer that was ready to please from day one. Those of you who have followed my blog for a long time may remember when I approached KaBar about producing a fighting knife which I designed. I met with the design dept. and they loved the knife! But they said their grinding equipment, at the time, could not produce the blade without some major changes to the blade. The subtlety of the blade required hand grinding by someone with great skill. That man was Mike Sturman a friend who made several exceptional fighting knives for me. Mike understood the ergonomics of a handle and the proper overall balance of a fighting knife. Here is that knife, the D-S #4, with a seven inch blade. The blade is double edged. The handle is mesquite wood with the grain raised by whiskering, and then it is sealed. It has a proper palm swell and a steel butt cap to improve the balance. WOW! I never imagined how hard it would be to get registered and post listings on Amazon. I've been working on this on and off for a couple weeks. So far I have one book listed as an exercise in frustration. It is my text book on gas compressors, from when I was teaching at college. I hope to get my gas engine text book listed next. Hopefully the sales of them will offset the cost of being a seller. The F-S books are my real love. Anyway I am learning and struggling with the ins and outs of it all. There must be hundreds of pages and links yet to explore. No fun! Keep the faith, once I get this all figured out i hope to get more Clandestine Knives books printed and we are still forging ahead with the next volume on X-daggers and shanghai daggers. This book is going to make the heads of the "experts" explode! I just love it and so will you. Ron, if you're reading this you might want to buy a roll of duct tape. Thanks to all of you who have visited us here and shared your photos, and knowledge. Thanks also to all of you who have purchased our knives or books. This beautiful knife was a gift to Thomas Mason from William Fairbairn himself. It is one of the very early Metford-Fairbairns. These knives make the Wilkinson First Patterns seem anemic.
I know the argument will arise concerning the previous post, therefore this second post. What good is a tool or weapon if you aren’t carrying it when it is needed? This is a very valid argument. One that I have made myself before. What I carry, and what I don’t, is too often subject to the whims of unelected government rascals. I am licensed to legally carry concealed the Pythons on the previous post. Or, any number of handguns that I own. Despite a freedom guaranteed by the constitution, and the natural right of self-defense, some bureaucrats have designed “laws” to regulate what and where we can carry weapons of any kind. This means that for some reason my concealed carry permit does not include the right to carry a knife concealed (of indeterminate size or format) subject to a hundred differing (and often contradictory) regulations and statutes that the average person has no knowledge of. As an example of this lunacy, I can carry a .44 Magnum hidden under my coat but not everywhere. Am I less trustworthy in a library or a village hall than I am anywhere else? They have done a background check. At one time I held a Top Secret federal clearance. But, I cannot carry certain folding knives that are assisted opening. If visible, the clip on a pocket knife in NYC may actually get you charged with “Brandishing a weapon.” Does this make any sense? No of course not! I was licensed, after several years of closely monitored activity, to race sports cars internationally at places like Watkins Glen and Daytona, but I can’t drive over 65 mph on four lane highways. At age 19 I was issued a fully automatic M-16 in Vietnam, but I am not allowed to own a semi-automatic AR-15 in NYS anymore. Like a local Sheriff said; “It doesn’t make sense, but it’s the law!” So, I don’t carry a big knife unless I am camping, hunting or out in the woods. Over the years to account for this confusion in what is legal, or not, I have trained with every sharp thing from tiny kerambits and folders to, katana, Bowies, and Rapiers with 40 inch blades. So, there are times that common sense and the right choice of defense or offense weapons must be tempered by the onerous burden of rules, regulations, and the occasional law that prevent us from choosing the right “tool” for the job. Have I ever carried a big knife in contradiction to the ambiguous laws of the land? I leave that up to you to ponder. If you choose to do so do it with EXTREME caution. We are in a police state of mind and today there are cameras everywhere. I MEAN EVERYWHERE. Another example of the idiocy of American bureaucrats is that the top two knives by Peter Bauchop are legal because they are single edged (sort of). Whereas the bottom knife is not legal in many places because it is "more" clearly double edged. Depending on the judge or policeman the top two might be considered double-edged. It's an insane world out there and plenty of people willing to entrap you.
There are so many aspects of the topic I am about to launch into it is hard to decide where to start. Periodically I go through my knife drawers and check to make sure none of them are showing signs of rust. This week I was going through the drawers with “BIG” knives. The ones I decided to illustrate this blog are a Cold Steel Natchez with San Mai blade, a Keating Crossada with a Bowie shaped blade, a Vorhees Iron Mistress and a vintage short-bladed Bowie from AG Russell in Arkansas. “No one needs an AR-15, or a 44 magnum, or a car with 600 horsepower.” “no one needs a Mac-Mansion or a Leer jet or a 45 foot yacht.” Right? We have all heard these sorts of arguments before. “No one needs a Bowie knife with a 12-inch blade or a two-handed claymore.” I totally agree! Wait what are you saying people will ask. No one needs any of these things not even Bill Gates or the richest of people.
All we “NEED” are food, water, air and shelter. Basically, the same things that plants need. So why do we have all of this other “Stuff?” Because we want it! Because it makes our life more enjoyable. Like Art or Music, it embellishes our lives.. But why big knives? I must admit I have never carried any of the monsters shown here. Not even the smaller Russell knife, which is more reasonable in size. It is this intrinsic wanting that got us out of caves, huddled around campfires, or eating raw meat. It is Want that created beautiful works of Art, which actually serve no survival needs. I think you are getting my point. Needs and Wants are totally separate situations. Do I need a big Bowie or a .375 H&H rifle for survival? Not right now, not in the current state of the state. Has there ever been, or will there ever be, a time when I do? That’s hard to say, but I can use the supposition there will be for justification of transposing wants into needs. While some people will laugh at the idea of carrying a 12-inch bowie for survival purposes, I laugh at those “survivalists” who attempt to do everything with a 5-inch bladed knife. As the old saying goes, you can work hard or you can work smart. A big knife will do 90% of what a small knife will do, with less effort. If you insist on building your lean-to and splitting firewood with a 5-inch blade, go for it. I can think of better ways to expend valuable energy and time than using an undersized tool, just to make a useless point. In, and on, my bug-out bag I have a folding saw, a hatchet, and a big chopper. That chopper is an indestructible Becker BK-9 which is strapped to the outside of my bag. In my pocket I carry a medium sized folder with a solid lockup, usually a Benchmade™. Maybe these total more weight than some of you want to carry, but I like the versatility it gives me to handle the camp chores one normally runs into. So that covers big knives and camping, what about defense uses? As a long-time martial artist, I propose that there are three fundamental parameters to defense or offense. They are Timing, Distance, and Rhythm. The function of the knife is to extend one’s reach, ie. distance. Let’s assume I am confronted by a person similar in size to me. He is carrying a 12-inch bladed Bowie and I have a more “manageable” 7-inch fighter like a Blackjack 1-7. We each thrust, without lunging. My blade tip just touches his chest. His blade buries the last 5 inches in my chest. Who’s laughing now? You say that is not a realistic scenario. I might have agreed with you 5 years ago, but now I have seen too many online videos of people being attacked with axes, hatchets, machetes, bats, even swords, in public. Similarly, when I go out in public today, I do not carry only my 22 cal. Mouse gun, I carry my .357 magnum Python, and maybe the 22 for backup and also a quality folder. So basically. what I want to convey to you is don’t confuse wants and needs and don’t judge what another person might do, or can do, with the tools they choose to carry. For example, is the Python with the 8 inch barrel a reasonable "carry" piece? No of course not, even though I have a shoulder holster for it. But it is a work of art and fully functional, if the need arises. On the other hand, I carry the shorter barreled Python frequently. I didn't need the bigger pistol but I sure did want it. Wants versus needs. It is almost that magic time again, Christmas music, decorations, frantic shoppers. But each year it has gotten harder and harder to see the wonder amidst all of the bad news. Wars and rumors of wars, corruption in religion and politics. Crime and degeneracy overwhelming society. BUT, perhaps all of this is because we have lost the sense of wonder, not the other way round. I am reading a book by an Episcopalian Bishop who debunks almost everything about fundamentalist Christianity including the Christmas story. I don't care. The Christmas story is a beautiful story filled with hope and promise. I am not willing to sacrifice it all for an historical account, no matter how accurate it is. Today, more than ever, we need to put a little romance and magic back into our lives and the lives of our children. Don't let it get lost in arguments over "literal-ism" or "historic-ism." Let the academicians fight it out and savor the few moments of "Peace on earth, good will to men."
While my wife and I were in Idaho visiting the kids, I met a new friend named Richard. Richard has been working hard on our new house, even hanging ceiling sheet-rock 30 feet in the air. I knew he was interested in engines so gave him a copy of the text book I wrote on gas engines, and a Puma folder. (Yes we have also paid him wages.) He called the next day and said he had a present for me and he'd be right up. Sure enough he came bustling up the walk with a wrapped present in hand. After all these years I can tell a knife, no matter how good its wrapped! Tearing off the paper revealed this Bowie-esque knife. The massive blade is hand-forged and the spine is nearly sharp. The primary edge is very sharp and the blade is rigid. The grip is antler that looks a lot like Elk. There appears to be a collar missing which left a big gap between the grip and the guard. Richard had no idea who made it, its age or exactly where it came from. He thought maybe it was picked up by his father in a bazaar in middle Europe during their travels. To me it looks more like American or even Mexican. BUT, the scabbard is very similar to those one finds on Kukri, paper thin leather over wood with thin sheet brass throat and tip. Anyone want to hazard a guess at its parentage? Absolutely no marks of any kind on knife or scabbard. HAVE A VERY MERRY AND SACRED CHRISTMAS!!! Keep checking back with us. We are becoming an Amazon Seller so we can give you better access to our books. I plan to have more of our popular Clandestine Knives books printed in January and our second book on X-Daggers and Shanghai daggers is in the final editing stage. Two other books are roughed out on Variants, like beaded and ribbed and fatman, and OSS, USMC stiletto and V-42 etc. The fourth book will be on all of the oddball and one-offs in our collection. We have over 400 F-S knives to work with. I think the Amazon capability will make for easier access to the books and inspire me to get them finished. If I get really bored I also have a collection of several hundred "other" fighting knives including Bowies from WW-II up to today's newest styles to write about. Here is a random sampling of some great knives by great makers.
Well another Thanksgiving has come and gone. My wife and I are truly thankful for the gifts we have, our health, good friends and relatives. Others whom I know had terrible tragedies strike them during the holiday week, making us even more aware of our good fortune.
I continue to have people contact me about where they can find knives, or with photos of their latest finds. It’s good to see people still showing a strong interest in these old WW-2 knives. One dealer I know has been busy listing knives on consignment for exorbitant prices! I know that is how he makes his living BUT if I were the consignee, I would be embarrassed at the asking prices. It has been a long time since I bought an F/S because the prices are like bitcoins. Can one really justify $7,000 for a First Pattern knife? Due to the high prices and lack of nice F/S specimens, my interests have turned back to some of my earlier hobbies; Single Shot rifles, Japanese style swords, practicing my swordsmanship, reading and writing about the Celtic faith. Also I have vowed to get out and do more shooting this coming year. I have been reluctant to shoot because of the skyrocketing price and scarcity of ammo. So I am back to doing another hobby, reloading ammo for my rifles that shoot obsolescent cartridges. Even reloading is becoming very pricy. I have to wonder if there isn’t some conspiracy to take all of the fun out of our lives, to price us into a state of mummification. Stay at home, sit on the couch, watch mind altering shows on the boob tube. Watch the propaganda channels and believe that everything is just fine. Here are a few of the Single Shot rifles I reload for: 3 modern Sharps (45-70, 50-140, & 40-90 calibers) and an antique Remington 38-55. I know it has been forever since I did a new blog. I am sorry for that. Life gets complicated. I am also a year or two behind on getting the second volume on F/S knives published. Its probably going to happen come early spring. My health issues seem to have slowed down (knock on wood). I was just getting back into form doing Iaido and sword practice when I did a real number on my left knee. So, once again, that has slowed me up in getting back to some sort of normalcy. Enough excuses and whining. For something positive I just received a new katana, my wife is not so pleased with that. I had been looking at all of the websites where you can have a custom sword put together over in China. As appealing as that is, I wasn’t keen on dealing with any unknown company and supply chain issues. Once I had decided to make the plunge, I couldn’t get the company to respond to my emails. That’s never a good sign. SO, I decided to check out Bugei Trading Company’s offerings. I have bought several swords from them in the past. Three katana and two wakis to be exact. They are not the cheapest source for sure. But they offer exclusive swords of high quality that you won’t find on every other website or ebay store. A few months back they came out with a new one called the “Armourer’s Sword.” It is a copy of an Edo era makers work. Bugei says; “This katana is dedicated to the memory of the legendary sword maker Nagasone Kotetsu of the Edo period.” I think it is rather plain jane, understated would be a kinder way to put it, but that appealed to me. To make the deal sweeter it was on sale at 20% off. I ordered one with a 28.5 inch blade and 11 inch tsuka and it arrived in just three days, well packed and intact! My first impression was that the saya was black not brown as advertised. Moving closer to a window the sun revealed it had a lovely dark brown, hi gloss lacquer finish. It has a medium brown, hi-quality sageo to compliment it, along with real horn fittings. Brilliant white real ray skin contrasts with the brown silk ito. The tsuka has two simple silver menuki. Tsuba and fittings are blackened copper, nicely formed and fitted. The tsuba is uniquely octagonal shaped. This certainly precludes the sword rolling around on the dojo floor. The blade has a bronze hibaki and silver looking seppa. BUT what is most impressive about this sword is the blade’s hada and hamon! I have never seen a katana blade whose hada (grain) jumps right out at you like this one. Here is how Bugei describes it. “The blade is forged and folded from a mixture of T10 and 1055 steels. This allows the hada to be more discernable without losing strength. The hamon is the o-choji style throughout the blade.” Discernable is a gross understatement. Of course the blade is sharp, and it will slice paper without any difficulty. There is no hi (Groove) so the sword is a little heavier than some of my other katana. I think this sword would be an excellent choice for tameshigiri (cutting mats). All I know is I can’t wait to get down to my dojo and do some Iaido with it. Check out Bugei’s website and treat yourself to one of their many exclusive swords. If you love fine swords you won’t regret the expenditure. I want one of the ‘Old Pine swords” but it will have to wait, now that I am a pauper trying to live on social security in the age of Bidenomics.
https://bugei.com/collections/new/products/armourers-katana Thanks to a plethora of fine doctors, I am back to practicing my Japanese swordsmanship. Although I am a bit rusty, maybe more than a bit. I have also started taking new students. It's amazing how fast motor skills and muscle tone can go away. But it is not lost forever and it feels good to be back in the dojo. Between COVID and my health it has been over 2-3 years since I taught or did much of any martial arts. It took me three hours to remove the "topsoil" on the hard wood floors that had accumulated in my absence. A few thousand dead flies and miles of spider webs were sucked up by my trusty vacuum cleaner.
Some details of the kata were missing from my grey cells and I had to refer back to a book titled "Flashing Steel." It's a great book, and although it has limited numbers of photos for each kata, it was possible to refresh my memory. This is something you need to think about. Anything that is important to you must not be preserved only in a digital format, because, in the blink of an eye this technology can all go away. I practice an art that was developed in the 1560s and is still taught today in limited numbers and places. I have a few books ("Sword and the Mind") on the philosophy and techniques, BUT you could never learn the art through reading a book. Only through training with flesh and blood teachers can you learn and refine this sort of art. Anything, anything worth knowing or saving must soon be collected and stored in a physical format. Right now, everything of importance in this world is being rewritten, compromised, corrupted and often destroyed. Cancel Culture is more than a catch phrase, it is the most destructive movement this world has ever experienced. Many things of value, once lost, will never be recovered. I once told my Abbot that I feel like a man screaming out FIRE in a theater of deaf mutes. This blog obviously has nothing to do with commando knives. There are other things in my life that I am equally passionate about. Many of them are being destroyed, relentlessly, furtively, purposely. As a Buddhist nun said to me many years ago (and I have never forgotten this) "Awaken." I say to you my friends, awaken! |
Author:You can find out more about me on the "Stories" pages. My hobbies have included training in Japanese martial arts, including Kenjutsu, many forms of knife fighting, long range rifles and tactical firearms. I have written several self published books on muzzle-loading firearms, knife-fighting and textbooks on gas engines and compressors. I am working diligently on my 400+ page F-S book. Categories |