Bowie Machete from Cold Steel any good?

S

SnowmanBob01

Joined
Feb 20, 2010
Messages
61
Recently, I've been a bit torn on what to add to my collection next. Maybe a bigger Bowie. Or a kukri. Possibly a tomahawk, or machete...etc. But then I saw this pretty interesting knife from Cold Steel. One of the models is an machete with a slight clip point on an 18'' blade. I figured it mixed two of my loves. Machetes, and the ever famous Bowie knife. At first a clip point doesn't seem to make much sense on a machete, but it does allow for finer work to be done. And you could sharpen the back portion for obvious reasons. The rest of the blade is just a standard machete. I think the thickness is a bit greater than on something like a tramonita though. Has anyone bought this blade? What do you think of it?

http://images.knifecenter.com/knifecenter/coldsteel/images/97BW18S2.jpg
 
It's probably the best knife that money can buy, one of the best for sure. Go for it.
FerFAL
 
I have the 12". Thicker than a tramontina, but dull as a brick from the factory. Once you sharpen it thought it's great.
 
i have a 12'' barong and a 12'' bowie. the barong is a great chopper and sees a lot of use in the yard; the bowie is lighter and a little more aggressively styled. feels good in the hand. put your own edge on them though.
 
Picksmith said:
I have the 12". Thicker than a tramontina, but dull as a brick from the factory. Once you sharpen it thought it's great.
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Yes, forgot about that. The original edge ins't worth a damn, put a good convex edge and its a terrific knife.

FerFAL
 
I have a 12" barong machete by cold steel. I chipped out the edge pretty good chopping up and prying apart an old head board. Guess your not supposed to chop nails? :)
They come dull as all get out, but are easily sharpened. Mine won't chop hard wood half as well as my RTAKII but it will split it alright and for the money I think they are a great buy.
 
Cold Steel machetes are awesome, but like others have said, they need sharpening straight from the factory but other than that, cheap, reliable, solid handles too.

The bowie version is no longer being made so only old stock now. Get one while the gettin' is good.
 
shangchi108 said:
I like my machetes with the weight a bit more forward.
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Me too. I have one of the barong machetes and it, too, is a little light at the forward end. Also if you accidentally strike a glancing blow the handle is just a little too round so it wants to twist in the hand. Not a problem with good strikes though. Good steel, too. I batoned mine through a log taller than am just to see if I could. It did just fine. :cool:
 
I am glad most here have had good results with there CS Machetes. Yes mine have come with atrocious edges but they have also been very soft. Of the ones I have owned the edges always seem to roll or dent pretty easily and I am not chopping seasoned oak or anything. Mostly clearing brush and saplings, for me the steel is just a few points too soft.
 
the 13in kukri is my favourite. Has lots of weight for a light blade with the deep belly. Cleared a lot of trail and chopped a ton of roots/rocks reclaiming land with that one. As mentioned re-edge, once you take an 1/8 in off the edge stock they hold an edge better, like some tramontina's. They probably burn the edge a little pumping them out.
In the field I keep a folded piece of 200 wetdry in the sheath and just wrap it around a stick, works fast when your edge is all dinged and rolled over.

Make sure you get a spetnaz shovel. Really cool and very useful around camp. They take a wicked edge and throw/stick awesome. I have 3 friends that edc them in their trucks after gifting them. I use one landscaping and in pest control.
Good survival/emergency tool. That and a mora in the trunk covers a lot of bases cheap.
 
I like mine. The Bowie from Cold Steel is my most used machete in fact. Its a pretty tough steel being 1055. They take a pretty good bit and perform well once you put a slightly better edge on one and being that they are cheap and come with a sheath as opposed to many others you can buy they seem to me that they are an exceptional value. I hear tell they are discontinued though so you can't say they are easily replaceable anymore if thats true. I bought three when I needed one so in case I break one or lose it I can have a back up.

STR
 
I don't understand the whole "they're dull from the factory, you need to put an edge on it" thing. Both my 12" Bowie and my 12" barong style came paper cutting sharp from the factory - with the baked on finish still on them. That's plenty sharp to cut limbs (tree and people), but if you insist, I made a few passes on the paper wheels, and can easily shave clumps of hair off of my arm. I don't know that I need it to be that sharp for a home defense or survival situation. It's plenty sharp stock. I don't know that I'll refine the edge on the others.
 
All mine were butter knives when they arrived. You'd be all day chopping even small limbs off with them trying to use one with the factory edge I saw. Now they zip right through them as they should after sharpening them. My Bowies were both bought at the web site store under the 'close out and seconds' banner so maybe they are not what you got. Either way they do the job after my working the edge over.

STR
 
STR said:
All mine were butter knives when they arrived. You'd be all day chopping even small limbs off with them trying to use one with the factory edge I saw. Now they zip right through them as they should after sharpening them. My Bowies were both bought at the web site store under the 'close out and seconds' banner so maybe they are not what you got. Either way they do the job after my working the edge over.

STR
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My Magnum Khukri machete came with a toothy edge, but it rolled a bit first time I chopped. It had a bit of a wire edge, and I had to re sharpen it. Much better now. I think when they sharpen them a grinding wheel, they overheat the edge a bit, and you have to take a bit off on the first sharpen to get to the harder steel.

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My barong came pretty sharp from the factory. I used it for 6 hours right out of the box clearing out my back yard. I just used the bastard file I use on my axes and it sharpened up nicely.
 
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