Why would Cold Steel mislabel the weight on their own website? It literally says 9.5_oz, and it doesn't list a blade thickness. My DF Survivalist is 5_mm thick, and begins to taper at the swedge.
Scales for drop forged knives
- Thread starter CS-hunter
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I thought the factory handle scales were pretty comfortable. That said, I imagine they can tear up your hands with prolonged use.Work in progress. Epoxied hemp cord wrap. One more finish coat to go, then some cleanup. It’s already much more comfortable.
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Correct specs are on the product box. Google it and see for yourself.
I'm still not going to buy it. They nailed the ergonomics with the Drop Forged Survivalist. I have zero clue why the handle is curved downward on the DF Bowie, and why the handle is so small. My palms are 11" in circumference. I can see that thing flying out of my hand while chopping.
Creaky Bones
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They aren’t too bad. This is just more comfortable and adds some girth.
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It's meant more as a fighter compared to the Survivalist. In this video Lynn talks a bit about and demonstrates the purpose of the handle shape.
oldmanwilly
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If it counts, I've got the original DF Bowie, Survivalist, and the 9.5 Bowie. I've cord-wrapped each of them and, other than the weight issue on the Survivalist, I really like them all. My best wrap is on the 9.5 Bowie whose grip I found a little thin and needed an extra swell at the pommel (for reference, I wear size large gloves). I actually like the curved handle on the larger Bowie as it adds nice leverage for chopping, whereas I wish the smaller Bowie had a straighter handle.
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If I had a cutting torch I'd hollow out the handle on my Survivalist to lighten it up. Until then, I find its weight distribution just too lopsided to use with confidence.
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If I had a cutting torch I'd hollow out the handle on my Survivalist to lighten it up. Until then, I find its weight distribution just too lopsided to use with confidence.
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The new DF Survivalist is my favorite survival knife. But, it's meant to be a survival knife, not a large chopper. IMO, for the money, there is no better survival knife. The new DF Bowie is meant to be a chopper and fighter. Those blades typically have a weight forward design. I can't really justify buying the new DF Bowie. My hands are too big. If they had used the gritty handle scales from the Survivalist on it, it might be different. I also have the Chaos Bowie, and the 1917 Frontier Bowie. Let me tell you, that Chaos Bowie is a great knife for chopping, fighting, and survival. People think the tang is weak, but it isn't. I batoned 4 pre-sawed logs with it. It went through them like butter, even the hardwood logs. The only problem, is that the 6061-T6 aluminum handguard, is made for people with XXL hands. The piece of aluminum that splits the fingers, would be uncomfortable for people with smaller hands. Some people actually cut it off. As for the 1917 Frontier Bowie, it's a beastly blade. That thing will never break, and it has a nice saber grind. The handle is uncomfortable, though. I also wish they had given it a Secure-Ex sheath, instead of leather. But, since Cold Steel buys it's large Bowies from Windlass Steelcrafts in India, you get what you get. I still haven't made up my mind on whether to buy the Wild West Bowie. It's a beastly blade, but I don't like the edge grind. I'm not really sure what I would use it for. I think I'd buy a backup Chaos Bowie instead.
My understanding is that 5160 spring steel is better than SK-5. But, SK-5 seems to get the job done well, because Cold Steel has the heat treat down to a science.
oldmanwilly
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if we're talking about the drop forged series, they come in 52100 which I think is better than both 5160 and SK-5 (although both of the latter are perfectly fine for fixed blades).
I take your point that the Survivalist wasn't intended to be a great chopper. But, I think it could be decent at light chopping if weight in the handle was reduced, thus bringing balance a little forward. I've got 2 of the originals and already messed one up trying to add a finger choil, so eventually I'll try lightening up the hande on that one with a grinder or something.
I haven't got any of the other bowies you mentioned, although the more I hear about the Chaos Bowie, the more I want one. I've got an original Western W49, so I don't see the need for the Wild West Bowie and the Frontier Bowie never appealed to me. The darn thing just seems thick and bulky in all the wrong places.
I take your point that the Survivalist wasn't intended to be a great chopper. But, I think it could be decent at light chopping if weight in the handle was reduced, thus bringing balance a little forward. I've got 2 of the originals and already messed one up trying to add a finger choil, so eventually I'll try lightening up the hande on that one with a grinder or something.
I haven't got any of the other bowies you mentioned, although the more I hear about the Chaos Bowie, the more I want one. I've got an original Western W49, so I don't see the need for the Wild West Bowie and the Frontier Bowie never appealed to me. The darn thing just seems thick and bulky in all the wrong places.
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The Chaos Bowie is great, if you have XXL hands. People with hands smaller than XL, complain about the grip. It fits my hands perfectly. I'm going to buy a second one, and sharpen the swedge on one of them.
As for the 1917, I regret my purchase a bit. Yes, it will do anything you ask of it without breaking. But, it's a bit too long, and I prefer a belly on large Bowies. I'll sell it for 30% off, if anyone wants to buy it. It's in new condition, and I still have the box!
I hear you on the WW Bowie. I'm not going to buy one. I have a $21 SZCO High Carbon Bowie, that's a clone of the W49. I wish I had a real high carbon W49, but they're too expensive. Believe it or not, those SZCO's are tough knives. People don't like them, because they arrived essentially unfinished. You have to remove the rust, sand down and put a finish on the handle, and sharpen it. But, it comes with a decent sheath, and I've seen that blade survive some pretty severe testing. It's also a normal size, not the jumbo size of the WW. It also comes with a flat grind, not a hollow grind like the WW.
I'm sorry you messed up your original Cold Steel Survivalist. They're very inexpensive on Chicago Knife Works.
You seem to like the fighting style knives. I do too, but I prefer dual purpose knives for the outdoors. My only knife that is solely for self defense, is the Cold Steel Large Luzon. A lot of people hate it. I love it, for it's intended purpose. It's also legal to carry a folding knife of any blade length in VA (some areas have blade length limitations).
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You're correct. I forgot it was 52100. That was actually the biggest selling point when I bought mine.
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Maybe, but not a fan of the curved handle myself. Only posted that vid because you said you didn't know why it had a curved handle. For dual purpose, I'll take a Trail Master, Recon Scout, or Survivalist. If the Laredo had a full tang that would work too.
I'm not sure which knife you're talking about, or the posted video. Are you sure you aren't thinking of someone else? Which knife are you referring to?
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The DF Bowie, and the video I posted in post #26 above in response to you saying you didn’t know why it had a curved handle. You said I seem to like fighting knives, which is true, but I don’t really like the curved handle on that one and would prefer the others I listed for “dual purpose”.
You confused me, because you replied to my comment on the Cold Steel Large Luzon. I believe I watched that video by Lynn a few years ago, when they first came out with the DF Bowie. I don't remember what he said about the curvature of the handle. I do remember him saying that it's very difficult to drop forge large blades, and it took them a long time to get the process right. I suspect if the the blade was more front heavy, the handle would be longer. They must not have figured out how to make the blade longer in their manufacturing process. Personally, I prefer handles that lock in my hands, on larger blades The DF Survivalist does that. Most standard Bowie knives do that. It's not a big deal on the SRK, but for heavy knives, I prefer it. I see a lot of Bowies out there that I would buy, but they come with coffin handles. With hands that are 11" in circumference, those things will fly out of my hands without special knife gloves.
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But your post's first 2 sentences had nothing to do with the Luzon...that's what I was responding to. Also, they did figure out how to make the blades longer. The first version of the DF Bowie had a much shorter blade.