Add a Comment

Comment by Shlomo ben Maved on May 19, 2015 at 22:51

Boucan knives, a form of a gully knife:

* A gully is simply a big knife. It was not usually a fighting knife but could be used as such in a pinch

Hunting swords, a particular pattern, were used during the 17th to 19th century (although can be traced back to the 12th) and were 25" or less in blade.

Blackmore, Howard L., Hunting Weapons from the Middle Ages to the Twentieth Century.

Geo. Washington's sword (replica)

Hunting Sword (top)
English
1765-1780
Iron alloy, silver, dyed green ivory. L 76.2, blade 62.2 cm
The George C. Neumann Collection, Valley Forge National Historical Park, VAFO 315

Short Saber (middle)
English
1777-1778
Iron alloy, silver, ivory. L 74.6cm
The George C. Neumann Collection, Valley Forge National Historical Park, VAFO 346

Hanger [Sword] (bottom)
1750-1780
Double edged American blade with British lion head pommel.
Iron alloy and antler. L 72.1, blade 57.4 cm
The George C. Neumann Collection, Valley Forge National Historical Park, VAFO 278

Celtic Sword

Which wasn't a copy of the Gladius but developed on its own.  They have been found in sites that predate the Romans by many years.  The reason all the swords at that time were short was due to the iron working process and poor tempering.

Comment by Bryan OShaughnessy on May 19, 2015 at 22:15

I hope it walks softly...

Comment by Michael Squier on May 19, 2015 at 21:51

Im thinking, "finger guilotine" wow. 

Comment by Tobias Gibson on May 19, 2015 at 21:15

Speaking of knives that defy patterns:

The Taylor Moonshiner

Sure you can call it a lock-back but...

Comment by Tobias Gibson on May 19, 2015 at 11:54

Jeff, I'm sure you are correct.  There were probably  more Spaniards sailors who deserted and chose the life of the Boucan than French sailors, simply because of Spain's conquest of the new world.  And just about every navy used some type of cutlass. 

In any case, the Boucan knife probably owes its legacy to the European Hunting Sword which dates to the 12th century.  These swords were used to dispatch animals after they were ran down and collapsed from exhaustion by a pack of hunting dogs.   (Pretty much the same way the originals Boucans hunted in the Caribbean!)

The hunting swords often featured a hand-guard and a heavy single edged spear point blade somewhere between 15-25 inches long!

And early Hunting swords bear a striking resemblance to the Gladius  which in turn was the Roman version of the Celtic Kladimos.  In short  The Bowie was nothing new.    I think Michael has a valid point.   The Bowie knife was invented by someone who attached Bowie's name to a big bladed knife that had been around for a long, long time!

I actually think the knife that we envision today as a "classic"  Bowie Knife probably came to fruition well after Jim Bowie's death.  (that is, if you think of a knife such as this as Classic Bowie

Comment by jeff on May 19, 2015 at 10:48

tobias.. i also believe the spaniards had a short sword that  resembled a large bowie also. with the cross guards and upswept clip blade.

Comment by Michael Squier on May 19, 2015 at 10:39

I think the true inventor of the Bowie was the newspaper man who called the big knife a Bowie, after that everyone wanted one, but nowbody really knew what it looked like. So really no knife was invented, just a name that covers a generic style of knife. Only much later when it was more refined to the clip point most think of as a bowie did the term realy define a knife pattern. So yea, they didnt invent it, just made a knife and used it.

Comment by Tobias Gibson on May 19, 2015 at 9:20

What drives me nuts is people think large clip pointed blades with cross guards were invented by any of these people.  The pattern predates  both men by at least a couple hundred years and probably even before that.   The knife in America that most likely influenced the the bowie knife was a the Boucan, which was nothing more than a cut down French Cutlass that was used by  French Pig Hunters in the Caribbean.  The pig hunters them selves were deserters from the French navy.  The knife was named after the Boucan, a word which meant smoke, as in smoked meat.  The men were later known as Buccaneers!  As with the Bowie knife, boucan knives really didn't follow a specific pattern.  They were just big knives that could be used to slaughter a pig or kill a man with little or no problem.

Comment by Michael Squier on May 19, 2015 at 8:46

• Max, I dont have any Bowies from 1880 either but I do have some Shefield bowies from 1890's and I still call them bowies too. Pretty sure they called them bowies when the were new too. 

Comment by Michael Squier on May 19, 2015 at 8:43

Hey guys, great conversation and info. Some how Levine and Bowie can always get it going. Ibe always called my Buck 119 a bowie knife so Im on board with the rest of you. Funny that a little Utica Sport Champ knife could start such a good thread. 

Real or npt the picture of James Black is kind of cool.

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• …
• 10
• 11
• 12
• 13
• 14
• …
• 27
• Next ›
• Page