Rather than as a wallhangar or trophy case display for the Cape Buffalo hunting set, let me mention a few things as to why Bill's knives have always been geared primarily to those who want a superb forged weapon far above most.
And before anyone once again mentions other smiths making good bowies, I remember back in 1987 when he was giving very nice press to newcomers such as Jerry Fisk, helping them along. But truthfully, most other bowie makers today are for the wealthy collector, the knives not geared towards actual mortal combat in blade and edge geometry, weight distribution, fit to the buyer, etc., I cannot offhand think of a still active one who has seriously studied knife fighting at all, and frankly, they have adopted what amounts to one man factory production techniques as for production of large wootz billets with presses, welding chunks to blades, heat treat in sophisticated ovens using sophisticated steels geared to easily oven treat due to similarity of metal treatments etc. While Bill still goes out to the shop and forges out each knife from scratch and to order. For the life of me, I cannot see how folk who scoff at one size fits all work boots say an actual fighting knife made to fit is useless and a waste of money. Your feet, your life, which is more important.
So, Bill fits the knife to the owner so that it becomes an extension of will. And his knives of today are more advanced than they were even when he was acknowledged blade master of fighting bowies 30yrs back.
Today, obviously the handle will be geared in shape and diameter towards which hand, and the hand size. So that it comes more straight back on dominant hand side and flares away on oppposite. Also the bevels more pronounced on preferred hand side. Likewise, the top will come back straighter, while bottom flares away....AND handle angles down in back, relative to blade, much as a Randall #1. But many more subtleties than a basically/comparatively straightforward #1 has, both in handle and especially the blade.
The blade is much a short sabre, still showing its distant origins as well as fighting techniques. Added to actual handle-centerline to blade-centerline angle, the spine dips down and then back up to clip. While edge is a continuous curve arcing down all the way to belly curve up to point. This presents a fearsome kukhuri-type leading/trailing edge combo out front, the edge well ahead of handle centerline in a chop. The clip combined with blade drop puts point at centerline of handle or even slightly below.
The handground by feel blade will be close to convex steepening at edge, rather than dead flat to convex edge, and also of stronger geometry out front where a beating might be expected from hacking/chopping blows. But still wicked out front as only a good handforged blade can muster due to superior steel worked under the hammer, and all marvelously enhanced by sophisticated heat treat of hard edge, spring temper back, a tough elongated diamond point which splits the difference, and softer ricasso/spine, a knife made to take a beating which would leave others in pieces, and a critical gradual blending of all tempers, rather than abrupt steel weakening change.
It is a true shame that the amazing has been lost. When these folk burst on the scene in press in the late 60s/early 70s, what their knives could do and endure was pure legendary blade stuff, and that angle was heavily and rightly pushed. And many mastersmiths still can crank out that quality today, BUT, the user angle not pushed at all, instead are gold encrusted engraved collector blades fit(and priced)for royal pretenders, and modern wondersteels, still nowhere close to a master forged blade, are heavily promoted, as the only affordable alternative.
As for affordable, keep in mind several things. Bob Loveless had, in 1971 a $150 boot knife which was $2000 by 1978. Also keep in mind that Bill Bagwell at height of health could make one HB in two weeks (the guard alone taking a week), and a more standard bowie in a week.....and he is far far off that stroke today....AND is self employed and own insurance and retirement contributions and etc....which is why currently he cannot even afford to make a $2000 carbon steel bowie which does not even put groceries on the table at current production speed. So, when you look at a $3000 wootz basic bowie such as mine, and think of a 72yr old man with heart problems in a forge in Texas summer heat, and how many current weeks it might take to make such a knife, $3000 does not even begin to touch what the knife is worth. How do you put a value on that?.........and how many here have not dropped three grand on other far less worthy toys in the last three years?
With the blade made to order as a real user, this blade is 0.300" thick at ricasso which starts immediate distal taper, spine still 0.220" thick at clip origin, and slow, then more radical taper to tough tip which is 11 3/16ths" from center of guard. But still, knife manages to weigh 1 lb on the nose and is as fast and balanced as a Randall 1-8. An incredible feat of armorer smithing.
The above is not meant as a treatise as to what anyone else's knife would be, as length, depth, taper, clip length, etc would all be adjusted per individual both to suit weight and balance, and to suit knife style ordered. Instead, it is a treatise on the generally unsuspected finesse which goes into every knife he makes. Personally, I fence very little with a bowie, and the odds of my dueling a similarly armed opponent needing his blade trapped would be laughable. So, the most sophisticated modern fighting bowie was not ordered, but rather, the most sophisticated 1830-1840 bowie was ordered. And ordered as a user. And not a concealment piece or specialized dueling weapon. It still happens to be a superb a weapon as it was in the early 1800s, which also is the best large woods/camp knife a person could ever desire, and unbeatable combat/utility knife. It will chop and split, it makes a great short machete, and as well a wonderful fireside chef knife, finer edge in back, generous choil easily choked up upon with thumb past low top guard and resting on thick spine, a great adventure knife.....that is stone cold lethal.
