Bowie Daggers

Bowie Daggers

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Definition of a Bowie

The conventional Bowie knife was not a single model, but was array of daggers improved a couple of times by Jim Bowie over the years. The first such dagger, created by Jesse Clifft at Rezin Bowie's request resembled the Spanish hunting daggers of the time and differed little from a common butcher dagger. The blade, as later reported by Rezin Bowie, was 9.5 " (24 cm) long, 0.25 " (0.64 cm) thick and 1.5 " (3.8 cm) broad. It was straight-backed having no clip point nor any hand guard with basic riveted wood scale handle. Rezin gifted the knife to his brother because of a recent violent encounter with one Norris Wright. This knife became renowned as a "Bowie" after the sandbar fight of 1827. Bowie and Wright were spectators on reverse sides of the duel. When the principals abandoned the arena, a fight broke out between the attendees and Bowie, though seriously injured by a rifle shot, killed 3 men, by almost decapitating one, splitting the head of another, and disembowelling the third. Bowie and his knife, described by witnesses as "a big butcher dagger," promptly achieved fame and the Bowie brothers got many requests for knives of the similar pattern. They commissioned additional ornate customized blades from distinct knife makers including Daniel Searles and John Constable. George William Featherstonhaugh documented them as:These formidable equipment...are the pride of an Arkansas blood, and got their name of Bowie knives from a conspicuous person of this fiery climate.

The style most ordinarily referred to as the traditional Bowie dagger would possess a blade of at least 6 inches (15 cm) in length, some reaching 12 " (30 cm) or more, having a reasonably broad blade that was an inch and a half to two " wide (4 to 5 cm) and made of steel usually between 316 to 14 in (4.763 to 6.350 mm) thick. The back of the blade occasionally had a patch of soft metal (normally brass or copper) inlaid which some feel was designed to catch an opponent's blade whilst others hold it was designed to offer support, absorb shock & to help forestall breaking of deficient quality steel or inadequately heat treated blades. Bowie knives at times had an upper guard that bent forward at an angle (an S-guard) designed to catch an adversary's blade or offer protection to the owner's hand in the course of parries and corps-a-corps.

Some Bowie knives had a notch at the bottom of the blade near the hilt referred to as a "Spanish Notch." The Spanish Notch is frequently cited as a contraption for taking the impact of an adversary's blade; nevertheless, some Bowie scholars hold that the Spanish Notch is ill-suited to this objective and often ill-performs to attain the expected results. These researchers, instead, hold that the Spanish Notch has the much more mundane function as a tool for stripping sinew and repairing rope and nets, as a guide to enable sharpening the blade (assuring that the sharpening process starts at a distinctive point and not further up the edge), or as a point to relieve stress on the blade during use.

One characteristic of Bowie daggers is the "Clip point" at the top of the blade, which brings the tip of the blade lower than the spine for better control. As the aim is to create a sharp, stabbing point, most Bowie knives have a bevel ground along the clip, typically 1/4 of the way, but sometimes much further running the entire top-edge. This is known as a "false edge" or a "swedge" as from a distance it appears sharpened, however it may or may not be. Regardless of whether or not the false edge is sharp, it facilitates to take metal away from the point, streamlining the tip and consequently improving the penetration potential of the blade during a stab. The model attributed to blacksmith James Black had this "false edge" fully sharpened so as to make it possible for any individual skilled in European techniques of saber fencing to conduct the maneuver referred to as the "back cut" or "back slash". A brass quillon, usually cast in a mold, was attached to safeguard the hand.

Noted knife expert Bernard Levine has documented that the first known Bowie knife reflected a strong Mediterranean influence insofar as general lines were concerned. This would have involved the single, principal cutting edge, irrespective of the false edge's existence or not. It is reported that in the Old West numerous "Bowie knives" were designed that in fact didn't show Mediterranean impression, but were just enormous knives, often with two full edges.

The curved section of the edge, toward the point, is for removal of the skin from a carcass, and the straight segment of the edge, toward the guard, is for tasks involving cutting slices, equivalent in concept to the classic Finnish hunting knife, the "puukko" (though the traditional early 19th-century Bowie dagger was far larger and heavier than the typical puukko). Arkansas culturalist and researcher Russell T. Johnson describes the James Black knife in the following manner and at the same time captures the quintessence of the Bowie Knife: "It must be long enough to utilize as a sword, sharp enough to use as a razor, broad enough to utilize as a paddle, and heavy enough to use as a hatchet."Most such knives intended for hunting are only sharpened on a single edge, to lessen the danger of cutting oneself while butchering and skinning the carcass.

Over the years many daggers have been named as Bowie daggers and the term has almost become a synonymous for any big sheath knife. Through the early times of the American Civil War Confederate soldiers carried large knives referred to as D-Guard Bowie knives. Many of these knives could have qualified as short swords and were often made from old saw or scythe blades.

The Bowie dagger is sometimes confused with the "Arkansas toothpick," probably due to the interchangeable use of the names "Arkansas toothpick", "Bowie knife", and "Arkansas knife" in the antebellum period. The Arkansas toothpick is fundamentally a heavy dagger with a straight 15-25-inch blade. While balanced and weighted for throwing, the toothpick can be employed for thrusting and slashing. James Black is given credit for inventing the "Arkansas Toothpick" but no firm evidence exists for this claim.

Daggers manufactured in Sheffield, England, were quick to enter the market with "Bowie Daggers" of a distinctive pattern that most modern users acknowledge with the true form Bowie. The Sheffield pattern blade is thinner than the Black/Musso daggers while the false edge is often longer with a less pronounced clip.

The form and style of blade was such that the Bowie knife could serve as a hunting tool as well as a weapon. However, some camping authorities dissent as to its usefulness as a camping knife on the grounds that it is far too large.

Since the 1960s, Bowie daggers with sawteeth machined into the rear edge of the blade appeared inspired by the United States Air Force survival knife (NSN 7340-00-098-4327). The sawteeth were designed to cut through the acrylic glass canopy of a downed aircraft. Through the Vietnam War the United States Army issued them to helicopter crews for the same purpose.

The Bowie remains popular with collectors. Collecting antique Bowie knives is among the higher-end types of knife gathering with uncommon models selling as high as $200,000.

The USMC Ka-Bar of World War II fame is based on the Bowie design. There is yet another analogue of the Bowie, which is a Folding Knife known the CQC13.

A Bowie dagger appears on the shoulder sleeve insignia of the 39th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas. Jim Bowie was posthumously inducted into the Blade Magazine Cutlery Hall of Fame at the 1988 Blade Show in Atlanta, Georgia in recognition for the effect that his design and style made upon generations of knife makers and cutlery companies. Rock star David Bowie (born David Robert Jones) assumed the name Bowie after the Bowie dagger because, in his words "it cuts both ways".

Legal Status

Although many jurisdictions around the world have knife legislation regulating the length of a blade one may possibly own or acquire, certain locales in the United States have legislation alluding to "Bowie knives" particularly. These regulations were passed in the late 1830s, in several southern provinces as an attempt to cease the manufacture and trade of these knives.

In 1837, the Alabama legislature imposed a $100 transfer tax on Bowie knives and proclaimed that any killing with a Bowie knife was murder regardless of the circumstances.

In Texas, the state where Jim Bowie died, it is now a criminal offense (generally a Class A misdemeanor) to keep a Bowie dagger, as a Bowie dagger is enumerated in Texas as an "illegal knife". This law does not apply should you be traveling in a private vehicle because it is now legal to carry a handgun, knife, or club while en route to or from the vehicle or engaged in a sporting activity involving the use of such equipment

About the Author:
Click to open the following links

Swords Knives Daggers Blog

at http://www.swordsknivesdaggers.blogspot.com

Our Bowie Collection

at http://www.earthyflavorance.biz/bowieknives.aspx

Pictures of Our Bowies on Flikr

at http://www.flickr.com/photos/earthyflavorance/sets/72157626344100375/

Author- Gurpreet Singh

earthyflavorance@yahoo.ca



Article Originally Published On: http://www.articlesnatch.com


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