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Bowie Blade Notch - What is it Called?

dsutton24

dsutton24

Gold Member
Joined
Apr 9, 2018
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I've seen similar features on a lot of ornate Bowies and European fixed blade knives. I used to think of it as a parrying notch, but I'm not sure that makes any sense. Does this cutout have a proper name or function, or is it merely decorative?

QJ6rgQd.png
 
Elgatodeacero said:
I think you are supposed to catch your opponents blade on the notch and twist it out of his grasp.

I would just use karate.
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I'll let you go first to show me how it's done.

I'm not convinced it was meant to catch blades as the notches were usually pretty small and either right next to your fingers or directly in front of the guard. There were historical knives designed to catch a blade but they usually had large, deep notches.

Pr0nCK1.jpeg
 
oldmanwilly said:
I think it's derived from the "Spanish Notch" featured on dirks and whatnot from Spain and its colonies. Lots of bowies were also made in/for those markets and the notch is therefore prevalent in lots of antique knives.
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Having a search term helps a lot. The parrying notch theory gets some attention, but mostly it seems that if it had a useful function its been lost to time.
 
dsutton24 said:
Having a search term helps a lot. The parrying notch theory gets some attention, but mostly it seems that if it had a useful function its been lost to time.
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Fair point. What we see as the traditional notch may well be a vestige of something older and more useful.
 
Another reputed use is that blood running down the blade would drip off at the notch and not get the handle slippery. Similar feature found on kukris, makes more sense on a kukri which does not have a finger guard.
 
Horsewright said:
I have also read it was a stress reliever for the blade and helped prevent breaking. But I think Jack has it!
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I have heard the same theory about the cho on khukuris, although I cannot see how it would be anything other than a stress riser. Evidently it wasn't a huge issue because the feature persists and I don't recall reading many stories of khuks breaking in that spot.

I know the Dawsons used to include a notch in some of their models that conveniently had just the right dimensions for bottle openers.

 
I had read somewhere long ago that the notch was meant to help with knot tying in some fashion, but there's nothing concrete I found as far as info on it.
 
I just know it as a "Spanish Notch" as well. I've always believed they were just decorative. There's a lot of theories people have about some of them like blade trapping, rope/line work, stripping sinew, ect. But I haven't seen any definite proof of it.
 
I remember reading it had a function for helping make cordage but I didn't understand the brief explanation enough to figure it out. It seemed mostly about holding the cordage, as you made it it could be slid through the notch. Perhaps to help make the finished cord more rounded?
 
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