Thoughts wanted on the Cold Steel Frontier Bowie

[Hammock Hamster]

Hi All,

I have a bit of a love affair with the traditional woodsmen/frontiersmen of yesteryear and have always really fancied a BIG Bowie.

I know they’re not hugely practical in comparison to more modern tools or a good axe/knife combination but I recently got some birthday cash and I’m now looking to finally get one.

I’m thinking of trying to refine my kit to something like the Daniel Boone challenge we had a while back with this as my primary cutting and chopping tool paired with maybe a small saw.
Whatever I go with will be a beater right out of the box so I’m not worried about marring the finish and I’m hoping to sharpen it exclusively with found stones that I may or may not lap.

Anyways the Cold Steel Frontier Bowie has caught my eye and I’m wondering is anyone has any experience or feedback on them.
I know they aren’t everyone’s cup of tea but I am generally a fan of CS knives (can’t say the same for their hawks or machetes) and I expect this one will be well made but I’m struggling to find alternatives or any particularly detailed reviews.

This is the thing itself, I do like the look and despite the impracticality I really want something oversized.

Cheers, Hamster



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[Janne]

Planning to grapple with bears and other dangerous animals?


It is a fighting knife, not a bushcrafters knife, as you surely know!
Knives like this, including the USMC KaBar,( which is quite similar and I think a development of the classic Bowie,) are quite useless in Nature related tasks.

I tried out an original ww2 KaBar during one week in nature with my dad years and years ago. I wanted to prove to him that it was an excellent, allround piece of equipment.
It was not.
I still have it though.

Well, try it out and let us know!

They are OK to open cans with. if you lug on cans.

 

[Robson Valley]

Not a problem. Every bushcrafter deserves a knife that's impractical.
Utility and usefulness go out the window.
Bashing tent pegs, cutting wood, throwing at targets and opening bean cans.
Critical activities like those. Fight with a rare T-bone steak, if you must.

 

[Hammock Hamster]

Planning to grapple with bears and other dangerous animals?


It is a fighting knife, not a bushcrafters knife, as you surely know!
Knives like this, including the USMC KaBar,( which is quite similar and I think a development of the classic Bowie,) are quite useless in Nature related tasks.

I tried out an original ww2 KaBar during one week in nature with my dad years and years ago. I wanted to prove to him that it was an excellent, allround piece of equipment.
It was not.
I still have it though.

Well, try it out and let us know!

They are OK to open cans with. if you lug on cans.

Well there are a few grizzly people about where I camp and mozzies are particularly aggressive.

Your quite right it’s defiantly not a bushcraft knife but I have read in several first hand accounts that they were used as the sole cutting tool of woodsmen, trappers etc...
It’s entirely possible these have been romanticised for the purpose of publishing journals or those using them had been taken in by the press surrounding Jim Bowie but it does feel like there’s a grain of truth in there somewhere.
It also makes sense that those types of people would want something that would function as a weapon (and no doubt a deterrent) if required as well as a tool.

I’m in no doubt that bushcraft style knives (of which I have far too many) will perform much better at bushcraft tasks but I’ve had this idea in my head for a long time and it’s become something of a pilgrimage in my head to try it out.

Your experience with that ka-bar is likely how my own will end up (I also have one but a modern version) and can see all to well how that must have gone.
Again this may be a slightly rose tinted view but I like to think that the old wood/bush/mountain men would have likely used what they had access to and just as likely wouldn’t have been able/wanted to spend their hard earned cash on specialist or expensive gear - I’m sure I read that the old hickory butcher knives were used in abundance for just this reason.


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[Hammock Hamster]

Not a problem. Every bushcrafter deserves a knife that's impractical.
Utility and usefulness go out the window.
Bashing tent pegs, cutting wood, throwing at targets and opening bean cans.
Critical activities like those. Fight with a rare T-bone steak, if you must.

Ah if only it were just one impractical knife.
I have been collecting for longer than I care to remember and although most serve some purpose there are a fair number that were impulse buys or, in my younger days, because they were cool, military looking or just plain scary looking.
I still have the majority of them stored away and will occasionally take them out to ponder what a naive and witless so and so I was back then, I genuinely cringe when I look at some of the “survival” knives that i thought were just that when in reality they would snap, rattle, bend or shear at the first sign of real use.

It like to say with age comes wisdom but I’m not entirely sure that is ever likely to happen for me when it comes to things of a sharp or pointy nature!


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[Robson Valley]

I suggested some usage as I had Bowie replica in a past life.
Took it off, laid it on the roof of the truck, got in and drove away.
I still have an original, Oregon Kershaw folder from the mid-1980's and that's about it.

As for the rest of your inventory, wrap them up and gift them on to bushcrafters that need a useless knife.

 

[Hammock Hamster]

Well after much (ok not too much, alright very little) deliberation I ended up pulling the trigger on this last night. It should arrive tomorrow so I will do a bit of an update once it’s out the box, first impressions and all that.
The more I think on it even if it’s completely hopeless as a bushcraft tool (which I’m quietly hoping to be proven wrong about) it’s a style I have long lusted after which will definitely have a place amongst my “historical” knives.


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[Janne]

You can use it as a light chopper, general slicer of meats and cheese. Use the tip to penetrate cans. You can learn the technique to open cans.
Useless to slice soft bread.
Quite useless to carve with. Fine to make feather sticks with.
Yes, as it is a sharp blade, you can do most 'knife' tasks with it.

I think you will find it fully workable in the field.

)That is what I found with my KaBar.
A KaBar is fine to hammer with too, with the steel end. Your will be OK to hammer in wooden ( even metal) spikes into the ground with the blade.)

 

[Nice65]

Well after much (ok not too much, alright very little) deliberation I ended up pulling the trigger on this last night. It should arrive tomorrow so I will do a bit of an update once it’s out the box, first impressions and all that.
The more I think on it even if it’s completely hopeless as a bushcraft tool (which I’m quietly hoping to be proven wrong about) it’s a style I have long lusted after which will definitely have a place amongst my “historical” knives.

Well, you’ve seen the light as it were, it’s nowhere near a bushcraft knife. The clip point blade reduces weight at the tip, so it’ll lose a bit of chopping power. But, it’s 1055 steel, which isn’t brittle or prone to chip, it’s used for axes and machetes for this reason.

There are a few makers, Bones61 spring to mind, who might make you something similar for not too much more cash. I’ll be interested to see how you get on with it, there’s something attractive about a Bowie for sure.

 

[C_Claycomb]

The original was 1055, then it was meant to change to 1085.

 

[tombear]

If you can live with only 10 inch you can get a Sheffield made finished blank for just under 70 quid, do the easy bits yourself and end up with a more authentic and only slightly less silly knife which they sell for £270.

http://www.sheffieldknives.co.uk/acatalog/25-72.html

Back in the day they often shipped the blades only by the barrel full and they would slap on a basic cross guard and a couple of slabs of wood or horn ( or whatever.) held on with 4 or more thin pins. Mountain man side slot sheaths are the easiest thing to make. even if you don't fancy doing it yourself I'm sure there are folk here who would do it for a nominal charge, I'd do the plain sheath myself for the cost of the leather and postage.

Just a thought.

ATB

Tom

 

[Hammock Hamster]

If you can live with only 10 inch you can get a Sheffield made finished blank for just under 70 quid, do the easy bits yourself and end up with a more authentic and only slightly less silly knife which thy sell for £270.

http://www.sheffieldknives.co.uk/acatalog/25-72.html

Back in the day they often shipped the blades only by the barrel full and they would slap on a basic cross guard and a couple of slabs of wood or horn ( or whatever.) held on with 4 or more thin pins. Mountain man side slot sheaths are the easiest thing to make. even if you don't fancy doing it yourself I'm sure there are folk here who would do it for a nominal charge, I'd do the plain sheath myself for the cost of the leather and postage.

Just a thought.

ATB

Tom

I had considered the blank option but fancied something ready made not to mention ridiculously over sized.
I figured if I was going to finally get a Bowie clone I may as well go hole hog.

I am, not so patiently, waiting for delivery confirmation and work to finish so I can get home give it a good once over and a few practice swings/test the edge etc...

If nothing else I can always join a Dave Crockett reenactment troupe!


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[Janne]

Then you need a proper hat.

Does your neighbor own a cat with stripes?

 

[Hammock Hamster]

Well this arrived today and to be honest it’s even bigger in real life.

On first impressions it well made and finished and the leatherwork is pretty nice too.

The blade was disappointingly dull though not entirely blunt and if anything I will take some time and probably a little pleasure in sharpening with some natural found stones in the spirit of ye old frontiersmen.

All in all I’d say I’m pretty pleased with it, I’m going to put it to some use over the next few weeks and months and will put together a review if anyone is interested.

Cheers, Hamster


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[Robson Valley]

I appreciate wood carving tools, knives included, which arrive quite dull-edged. Some people feel insulted and blow a gasket.
I will use the bevel angle of my own choice, thanks.

I'll guess that for a "pig-sticker" of that size, a total included bevel angle of 25 degrees ought to slash a bean tin in half.

 

[Janne]

Are the wooden scales removable?
If yes, that would be quite cool. You can make your own scales from some interestingly figured wood, or even better, some nice beef bone!

Sharpening takes time. Time is money (for the manufacturer) .

Morakniv these days deliver decently sharpened knives.
In the old days, before the Morakniv company came into being, you had to sharpen them yourself.
Frosts, Eriksson.

 

[Hammock Hamster]

Are the wooden scales removable?
If yes, that would be quite cool. You can make your own scales from some interestingly figured wood, or even better, some nice beef bone!

Sharpening takes time. Time is money (for the manufacturer) .

Morakniv these days deliver decently sharpened knives.
In the old days, before the Morakniv company came into being, you had to sharpen them yourself.
Frosts, Eriksson.

Yes completely removable and the thought had crossed my mind.

I do like the rosewood handle as it is but as it’s held together with screws it’s a simple process to remove and reattach.


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[Klenchblaize]

Save your pennies and never look back:

https://www.heinnie.com/fallkniven-nl1-thor

K

 

[Janne]

Those are virtually unusable. The blade is what, 6mm thick?

The Modern Bowie they make ( I looked into getting one for my stupid son) is about 7.5mm thick.
I can not cut with a log, no matter which super duper steel and sharpness......

 

[Klenchblaize]

Those are virtually unusable. The blade is what, 6mm thick?

Yep, but no problem as they come with a year's free gym membership!

K

The Modern Bowie they make ( I looked into getting one for my stupid son) is about 7.5mm thick.
I can not cut with a log, no matter which super duper steel and sharpness......