Does anyone know of any accurate Bowie replicas out there. I'm talking about the original design used James Bowie in the early 1800's. I've searched the 'net somewhat, but haven't come up with anything truly satisfactory. As I understand the original design (or first two designs as he had his brother's original design improved upon) are lost to the mists of time. Does anyone know anything that might be of help in this matter?

Have you seen this article? There is a pic of a knife that might have belonged to Bowie.

http://www.thealamofilm.com/bowie_knife.shtml

Yes, I have. That was one of the articles I read prior to making my initial post. What I'm searching for is replicas based on the drawing featured in that article. Or perhaps "guesstimated" replicas based on what the design prior to that one might have looked like. :)

Joachim;

For what it's worth here are my general impressions of what " The Bowie " knife may have been like: Not relying on any specific articles or references but just years of reading articles on the subject in " Knife " magazines like BLADE since the 1980's. ( And from memory ! )

Your are right that no 100% proven knife or knife design has been identified as " THE " Bowie knife.

Various knives have been claimed by various " experts " or " collectors " as being IT or a close period copy.

The theories seem to support a few different types as being at least the next generation of knife " popularly identified as Bowie knives.

If I remember correctly the first " Bowie Knife " may just have been a very large " Glorified " butcher knife.

The Searles Bowie made by " Searles of Baton Rouge " about 1830 for James Bowie's brother Rezin may have been copied in general outline from the first Bowie Knife but probably much more finely made: Very much like a large Spanish like knife ( I think ??? ) of a very large butcher knife or chef knife.

The fame of the knife rapidly led to a large export market of so-called Bowie Knives from English 19th century cutlery firms:These knives may have been made / designed based only on description of what the knife used by Bowie looked like by designers who never saw the actual knife and based their designs on " yellow journalism " or penny awful novels
( I think that is what they called very cheap paperback books at the time. ): A bit like todays fantasy swords being made according to movie swords like LOTR.

The clip point type varying in size from quite modest or huge became the accepted norm for the shape of a Bowie knife but a lot of different types like the " Spear Point " or California style bowies. Or any very large knife being rightly or wrongly called a " Bowie knife.

By the time of the American Civil War the reality of what the design was became lost but the " American Style Bowie " became fixed in the mind as any large clip point knife. ( The power of marketing. :p :lol: )

Anyway this is my general take on it please feel free to fact check this and I'm sure that other may chime in with more precise and supported information.

Oh, I can't help wondering if some memory of the Seax design or late survivals of the genre inspired the clip point Bowies ? Or it might just have been the reinventing of a good design: An idea too good to die :eek: :lol:

Many have laid claim to having the “Original Bowie Knife”. Unfortunately, its identity is probably lost. I pulled everything in italics from an article I found online:


This comment from Rezin seems to hint that the "original Bowie knife" was only a simple hunting knife. It had no clip point, nor massive cross guard, like the knives Rezin was so fond of giving as gifts. Whatever the fate, whatever the actual design, the knife baptized in blood that September day began a legend that has inspired generations to want "a knife like Bowie's.



Some contemporary sources reporting the Sandbar duel describe Bowies knife as a “ Large Butcher knife” Which certainly fits in with Rezin’s comments. Based on the types of knifes in use during the time period I also for the moment tend to agree that the sandbar knife was most likely very simple being a similar shape to the Schively and the Forrest. Knifes with guards and clip points most likely evolved as the market increased and fighting techniques were established.

I'm not aware of any quality production copies being made at this time. The best option is to have one custom made.

A side not e on the Bart Moore knife I don't remember the source but Someone who handled the knife commented that the knife was well balanced. But also added that the blade "felt" to short and perhaps it may have been broken and reground.
This is just an observation but one worth noting.


The entire article That I pulled the descriptions from can be found here: http://www.geocities.com/the_tarins@sbcglobal...owies.html

I added the pictures they were pulled from this photo bucket.
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/tattooroc4q2/de...mp;.src=ph




Presently on display at the Mississippi State Historical Museum in Jackson, Mississippi, the Schively/Perkins Bowie matches the original description of the Knife used in the Sandbar fight. Evidence strongly suggests that the Schively/Perkins Bowie was not intended as a presentation piece, but may have been Rezin Bowie's personal knife. Eventually, the knife became a gift to Jesse Perkins of Natchez, Mississippi.7
The knife had a 10-1/4 inch straight back blade with no guard, fitted with checked Ebony handles and mounted with silver. The pommel of the knife bears the initials R.P.B. in a script engraving. The silver sheath bears the inscription "Presented to Jesse Perkins by R P. Bowie - 1831". The knife is a simple and functional piece, beautiful in its simplicity and this author's choice for what the original resembled.




Daniel Searles, a cutler from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, made the Searles/Fowler Bowie now on display in the Alamo. It is one of the finest examples of an early Bowie in existence. Daniel Searles appears to have been Rezin Bowies favored cutler. Although there are four presentation knives attributed to his shop, only two can be positively identified as a Searles knife. This bit of information comes from Miss Lucy Leigh Bowie a family relative who made one of the earliest efforts to separate legend from truth.8
The Searles/Fowler knife was a gift to Captain Henry Walker Fowler a member of the United States Dragoons. Fowler owned the knife until his death in 1848. The Searles/Fowler knife is a straight back knife finished with silver and checked ebony handles. It has a 9-1/4" blade with a shape much like the Schively/Perkins. A small, almost non-existent cross-guard, if seen from a distance, could easily cause it to be mistaken for a butcher knife. A gold-plated insert on the back of the blade bears the inscription "Searles, Baton Rouge, La.." The silver scabbard is inscribed "R. P. Bowie to H.W. Fowler, U.S.D. 9





The Bart Moore knife is a claimant for the title of Bowie's Alamo knife. The Moore family asserts that an old Mexican soldier, who claimed to have participated in the storming of the Alamo, gave the knife to Mr. Moore's grandfather. The soldier supposedly retrieved the knife from where it lay by one of the funeral pyres and had kept it for many years. He offered it to Mr. James F. Moore as payment for a five-dollar debt.
The Moore Knife is a Clip point blade 8-1/4" long with iron furniture and an oak handle that appears to have been replaced. The blade has "J. Bowie" scratched on one side and the initials J.B. on the other. This knife not only claims to be the Alamo Bowie, but also the knife made by Arkansas blacksmith James Black from Bowie's original idea. Black claimed to have made two knives, one as Bowie requested and one of Black's own design. Bowie chose Black's design over his own. 13




The other blade Miss Bowie attributed to Searles is a knife that was once owned by Edwin Forrest, a well-known actor of the period. He alleged that Jim Bowie personally gave him the knife. Its blade is twelve inches long with a very slight clip point. While it has checked wood scale handles, it bears more of a resemblance to the Schively/Perkins knife than it does to any other known knives made by Searles. No markings or inscriptions appear on the knife. It was not until many years after the deaths of James and Rezin Bowie that this knife became known. This made it suspect as actually being aRezin/Searlespresentation knife. 11





Hope this helps :)

if your looking for a bowie i would recommend Dan Harrison. He makes custom knives, his website has a lot of bowie knives on it, if you have a picture he could probably make it based on that at a reasonal price. He made me a knife and it is amazing. Im sure he could easily make a bowie to your specifications. check out his website www.harrisoncustomknives.com

Joachim,
I recently bought a "Rezin Bowie" made by Pedersoli of repro Black Powder
firearm fame . It is as nice an example as I have found, at least among those not
custom made. It is 370mm overall with a heavy 240mm blade, the slab sided
lozenge shaped grip fills the hand nicely. I opted for the German Silver
scabbard furniture which is pretty, but I did have to clean up the opening a little,
also the blade fit into the scabbard isn't at all as good as it should be
considering the price. Opt for the plain scabbard and tart it up with the Kroner
you save.

www.Davide-Pedersoli.com

Best,
Doug Gentner

A guy that does a great job on Historical Bowies Tim at www.swampfoxknives.com, well known across the US at rendevous and at civil war re-enactments, does a really good copy of the Forrest Bowie. check him out , email him what your looking for, he can help.



Vincere Vel Mori
Clan MaClaine of Lochbuie