What do you think of this Bear and Son Bowie

U

usakr8

Joined
Dec 19, 2011
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<non-paid dealer link removed>

Do you think this would be a good hard user knife. How well would it hold up under Hard use if I carried it out in the woods alot. Do you think it would be comfortable to use? Could this knife also be use for smaller work such as skinning and processing game. I have never had a bear and son knife so im not really sure about the quality.
 
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The link did not work for me but I am kind of interested in a Bear and Sons Bowie as well I saw one at an outdoor store and handled it. It was a 9 1/2 inch blade Damascuss steel bone handle. The overall quality of the handle seemed a bit rough there was adhesive sticking out a bit but if felt sturdy and the blade looked good, was sharp and came with a nice leather sheath. I prefer a smaller blade for processing game, I dont think a bowie would be great for skinning due to the sharp point, I prefer a sheeps foot but could be a good all around camp knife. If anyone has any real worl experiance with it I would be interested in hearin more about it too.
 
usakr8 said:
<non-paid dealer link removed>

Do you think this would be a good hard user knife. How well would it hold up under Hard use if I carried it out in the woods alot. Do you think it would be comfortable to use? Could this knife also be use for smaller work such as skinning and processing game. I have never had a bear and son knife so im not really sure about the quality.
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Hi,

I removed the non-paid dealer link as it considered deal-spotting and against the rules. I know you simply want to talk about the knife so I'm including the picture of the knife in question.

Bear & Son 12" Genuine India Stag Bone Frontier Bowie Model 501

BearSonGenuineIndiaStagBoneFrontierBowieModel501_zpsac0d1118.jpg
 
Where are they made, looks so much like the Sheffield-made Wostenholm.IXL bowies (and others)? It's an old pattern.
 
bowiestag.jpg


This is the sort of thing I was thinking of. They used to be made all over Sheffield.
 
Is it a good woods knife? Not particularly. Bowies are fighters. This is a reproduction of an newer style Bowie, when they were attempting to re-cast them as outdoors knives...which they aren't.

It's a cool looking knife...kinda old-timey (not Bowie era old timey...more like 70 years after the Sandbar fight old timey...turn of the century). You like its looks, then you like it looks, nothing wrong with that. But one can do better as far as highly-functional outdoors slicers and choppers go. This one is not great at either.

But it will function. And it will look neat.
 
marcinek said:
Is it a good woods knife? Not particularly. Bowies are fighters. This is a reproduction of an newer style Bowie, when they were attempting to re-cast them as outdoors knives...which they aren't.

It's a cool looking knife...kinda old-timey (not Bowie era old timey...more like 70 years after the Sandbar fight old timey...turn of the century). You like its looks, then you like it looks, nothing wrong with that. But one can do better as far as highly-functional outdoors slicers and choppers go. This one is not great at either.

But it will function. And it will look neat.
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Yes, I agree. Also far too small for a classic bowie IMO, and not enough belly (for slashing). These mini bowies are neither good fighters nor good woods knives. The Sheffield ones are ornaments really, the steel and HT is generally awful.
 
Nice looking bowie for sure, I don't process game so I can't comment on that but if the steel is good and the price is right...
 
Jack Black said:
Yes, I agree. Also far too small for a classic bowie IMO, and not enough belly (for slashing). These mini bowies are neither good fighters nor good woods knives. The Sheffield ones are ornaments really, the steel and HT is generally awful.
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Do you have Levine's Guide? He has an excellent couple paragraphs on the subject...I'll have to key them in and post them.

It's still a cool looking knife to me, even though I know it is neither historically accurate nor functionally ideal.

What does worry a bit about that Bear and Sons is that I couldn't find anywhere that would list the steel, beyond calling it the dreaded "440 steel."
 
The ol' Green River trade knives probably saw more action as a "woods knive" than any bowie. Most of the old hunting and EDC fixed blade knives that were actually used were ugly things.
 
marcinek said:
Do you have Levine's Guide? He has an excellent couple paragraphs on the subject...I'll have to key them in and post them.
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No, I don't, but I'm from Sheffield and (like most of my family) have had some involvement in the cutlery industry there. Be interested to read what's said.

marcinek said:
It's still a cool looking knife to me, even though I know it is neither historically accurate nor functionally ideal.
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Yes, you're right, it is :)

marcinek said:
What does worry a bit about that Bear and Sons is that I couldn't find anywhere that would list the steel, beyond calling it the dreaded "440 steel."
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Eek!
 
Levine goes on at length about the early (1827-1860s) Sheffield Bowies. Highly prized and in the spirit of the the original Bowie knife.

He goes on to say the "The bowie's soul was transmigrated...into the factory-made bowie-style "hunting" knife which, though of doubtful utility, was virtually unchallenged in popularity until the turn of the century."

I think that thinking that bowie knives are "outdoors" knives still lingers.

He goes on to say "What distinguishes a hunting knife from bowie knives and other combat knives is that a hunting knife is intended for peaceful camp use. It is meant for skinning and butchering game, slicing bacon, and chopping kindling. ... Bowie-style hunting knives are not practical tools. As butcher knives they are too big and thick. As brush knives they are not big enough. I suspect that they appealed to the city boy's dime novel fantasies about fighting a ferocious grizzly bear and rescuing a ranchers daughter." (Bernard Levine, "Levine's Guide to Knives and Their Values," 3rd ed.)

That said...I still said they were cool-looking...so I'm no more immune to "city boy dime novel fantasy" than anybody else. :)
 
Yes, I agree. Also far too small for a classic bowie IMO, and not enough belly (for slashing). These mini bowies are neither good fighters nor good woods knives. The Sheffield ones are ornaments really, the steel and HT is generally awful.
Click to expand...

I've got a Sheffield made of EN-9 steel. I haven't worked it too hard to wring out the steel mostly because the really narrow grips get my hands cramping up. I love the look of the knives like that because that is what I grew up seeing for styles mostly but the modern steels and ergonomic grips of modern knives sure make hard work easier.

Joe
 
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The Mastiff said:
I've got a Sheffield made of EN-8 steel. I haven't worked it too hard to wring out the steel mostly because the really narrow grips get my hands cramping up. I love the look of the knives like that because that is what I grew up seeing for styles mostly but the modern steels and ergonomic grips of modern knives sure make hard work easier.

Joe
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Who's the maker, if you don't mind me asking?

Jack
 
Who's the maker, if you don't mind me asking?

Jack
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It's a Sheffield IXL I bought from KC to try the old WW2 era steel standardized formula. http://www2.knifecenter.com/item/IXL6004/IXL-Wostenholm-Bowie-Knife-5-78-inch-Carbon-Steel-Blade-Rosewood-Handles

I believe they are supporting members so I hope this is ok. I had to order it through them as they don't ever seem to stock them.

EN steel compositions. http://www.atozsteel.com/chemical-composition.html Looks sort of like a 1060 ish steel.

Joe
 
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