Talk:Bowie knife

message: It seems that Bowie Knives are somewhat of a small machete (the largest bowie knife and smallest machete being at 12 inches). What do you think? Zachorious 04:11, 13 October 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Bowie Knife vs Machete 

message: I've heard this story about the brass back being used to "catch" blades but it's always struck me as remarkably unlikely.  Unless someone can verify it I recommend it be cut.
Peregrine 12:21, 24 October 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: That's common enough actually, lots of knives and swords use some method of catching another blade with the back or side. Whether you're quick enough to do it is a matter of practice and talent I assume.209.169.111.193 02:15, 31 October 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Perhaps we're using "catch" in different senses here.  I'm familiar with back surface parries (al la circle six in FIE fencing) but as it was reported to me it involved intercepting someones edge with one's own back.  So it needs both citation and clarification (as does the reference to the dirk).Peregrine 06:32, 31 October 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I don't know, I just understood it to mean that the softer metal on the back would be used to "catch" your opponents knife/sword/etc as an attempt to reduce damage to your own knife (especially the blade), and to increase the liklihood of damaging your opponets blade. But if you're talking about actually catching and holding your opponents weapon I'd have to agree that it seems unlikely.Eno-Etile 02:47, 1 November 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Again, 'catch' needs to be defined here.  Setting a thrust aside with the back, fine, taking a blow on the back...I'm not so sure.  One version of the story I've recently come across is that it's to prevent damage to the blade when using the back as an expedient hammer.Peregrine 15:41, 15 January 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Bit late on teh repost, sorry. Well it would defintly prevent damage to the blade as a narrow surface takes more damage from a blow than a wider one. Thats why you can hit a metal post with a baseball bat for hours and not damage it but you dull or possibly break a knife made of the same material. Oh And various sword methods teach that you use the side or back of the sword to block as opposed to the edged end of the blade 209.169.111.193 03:35, 29 January 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I'm also doubtful about this. If nobody objects, I'm going to rewrite a little at some future time. I'll have to go to a library. Noble Rust (talk) 03:13, 21 May 2008 (UTC)

text: The Spanish Notch is not used for blade catching in the Spanish style of knife fighting as referenced by both the Manual del Baratero and by James Loriaga's book Sevelian Steel.  Many researchers today believe it to be a tool for stripping sinew and tying/reparing rope and nets.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 198.97.67.59 (talk) 18:25, 21 May 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: Brass Back-strap 

message: Why the link to the Napoleonic bayonet site?
It's broken anyway so I recommend either fixing it with an explaination of its relevance or cutting it.
Peregrine 07:20, 25 October 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Have removed Peregrine 06:35, 31 October 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Yeah, that was just spam. I reverted all of his contribs but didn't go far enough back on this one. Kafziel Talk 12:08, 31 October 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Bayonet link

message: A "buck knife" is a brand/manufacturer of knives that sometimes do have a bowie style/clip point blade.  When the original Buck 110 first came out it attracted a lot of attention and other makers began producing designs similar.  From there on out anything that resembled that knife was called a "buck knife".  Bowie is really a style of blade rather than a knife.  It isn't necessarily a fixed blade, it can also be a folder as well.  There is so much misleading information about bowie knives that it kind of hard to know what to believe and what not to believe. I work in the knife industry so I know first hand how confusing it can be.--Saucycountrygirl (talk) 20:29, 14 October 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: "Buck knife" cite?

message: Note that this conflicts with the story of the knife's origin in the Wikipedia article on the "Sandbar Fight" where a blacksmith named Cleft (apparently documented) made the knife based on a design by Bowie's brother.
:For the brother, see Rezin Bowie. Some work should be done on consistency of what is said here, and sources cited. Charles Matthews 15:36, 30 May 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I agree with much of this criticism, and am trying to get my hands on some materials to properly cite regarding at least some of these issues. I'm not entirely convinced there are "many" good references, but there are certainly some. Random name 11:31, 24 October 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Consistency?

message: I've added several of these. Notably, the quote regarding the use of the bowie as razor,boat paddle axe etc is a good discription but was made up by Russell T. Johnson as a device to detect plagerism rather than a historical artifice. It has been widely reproduced without attribution.  I have cited Johnson and linked to his article, " The Bowie Knife and the Arkansas Toothpick." Some of the cited material I added makes this article repetitious in places.  I have refrained from deleting key portions or reformatting the entire article in order to let interested partie contribute and arrive at a consensus. --Mcumpston (talk) 15:47, 11 April 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: citations 

message: The Alan Ladd movie about Jim Bowie is The Iron Mistress (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044753/), not The Iron Maiden.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.225.186.68 (talk) 14:34, 17 April 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Movie title incorrect 

message: Not sure how to do it, so I won't even try, but the pronunciation on bowie is wrong, check how it is pronounced here against how it is pronounced in the jim bowie article  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.204.138.244 (talk) 01:49, 26 April 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Pronunciation 

message: Hi, can someone start a new article, or section, about the Rambo knife.
It surprised me, no article on Wikipedia I found, about a Rambo knife.
They're popular here, in the Indian subcontinent. Albeit fuzzy legal status, they're possessed by some, mainly small localized gangs, as a souvenir.
It's known about them - gangs and rambo knives, when they're arrested.
Rambo knives are those, the ones John Rambo, used in the Rambo and Expendable series of films.
A coincidence - John Rambo is from Bowie, Arizona. And this knife is called a bowie knife.
I first read of a Rambo knife, in the newspapers, many times, when gangs are arrested, Rambo knives, are confiscated by them.
Gang members have used these knives in an assault. Which is in addition to having them as souvenirs.
Newspaper reports used the exact term - Rambo knives. They never used the term Bowie knife. Also because Bowie knife is hard on the Indian speaker, Rambo knife, sounds familiar, with the local tongue, here.
Also, upon Googling on the Internet, the term Rambo knife appears in many websites, yet there is no article on Wikipedia. Thus this section, by me.
I think Bowie knife and Rambo knife are the same thing. But I ain't a knife expert.
Someone, please conclude. And don't forget to start the Rambo knife article, or section - below the Bowie knife, or maybe some other similiar knife I don't know of. I'm even seeing machete here.
  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 117.195.13.133 (talk) 21:18, 30 October 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Rambo Knife 

message: Under 'Type' in the info box, it says, "I phone." Is it supposed to say that? --ThePlaneFan (talk) 17:50, 24 May 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Type 

message: There are several such links.  Have articles been removed or are they planned?172.249.8.109 (talk) 19:35, 19 March 2015 (UTC)
replies: text: It looks like in at least one case (false edge), there was an article which has since been deleted. The others may have been planned by the person who linked them and they never got around to it.--Mike - Μολὼν λαβέ 20:15, 19 March 2015 (UTC)
replies: text: Should I fix the links?  I am not writing new articles.172.249.8.109 (talk) 18:23, 20 March 2015 (UTC)

text: It would be nice to point to sections of Blade, Knife, Sword  or Guard for more information on these topics. :-)172.249.8.109 (talk) 19:49, 20 March 2015 (UTC)
thread_title:  Links to missing articles 

message: I had an authority that Black's first knife for Bowie was made of a nickel-iron meteorite (the best steel then available) that he'd found.184.99.159.217 (talk) 21:38, 11 April 2017 (UTC)
replies: text: What's your source, I've read that as well.--Mike - Μολὼν λαβέ 23:52, 11 April 2017 (UTC)
thread_title:  Meteorite? 

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thread_title:  External links modified 

message: I noticed that the note close to the bottom of the article had no reference article or citation.  I will gladly look for one, but I wanted to mention it here in case I don't get around to it.  zfJames (talk) 16:32, 8 April 2018 (UTC)
thread_title:  Texas Citation 

message: Hi, the description links to a "handguard" article, which is about handguards on guns. On that page there is a link to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossguard, about bladed weapons. Maybe make the use of terminology more consistent? T 84.208.86.134 (talk) 09:58, 12 July 2021 (UTC)
thread_title:  Quillion 

message: I have spent a good bit of time researching this because I am a knifemaker and want to be precise and correct in my terminology.   This is my best understanding of where the term "false edge" comes from:
A double bladed knife or sword has two true edges meaning they are sharpened the entire length (or nearly the entire length) of the blade on both sides. If only one side is sharpened the entire length it is a single edged knife or sword with only one true edge.   If part of the blade opposite the true edge is sharpened, then that side of the blade is a "false edge."  That term includes not only the sharpened part near the tip, but also the unsharpened part, which is called the "spine."
A single bladed knife or sword with a false edge can cut both ways near the tip.  If it doesn't have a false edge it can only cut one way.
If there is a beveled section near the tip of a knife opposite the true edge, that is called a "swedge."   Whether or not a swedge can be sharpened and still be called a swedge is a matter of much debate.  Most knifemakers use "swedge" to mean an unsharpened bevel.
A considerable amount of confusion arises from the fact that if a swedge cannot be sharpened and still called a swedge, then there is no agreed upon name for the sharpened part of a false edge.   I suppose the simplest solution would be to say that a swedge can be sharpened, and then define a "false edge" as having a sharpened swedge. 
Good luck trying to find an authoritative source that definitively settles all of this.  I've tried to no avail...DrHenley (talk) 16:25, 11 April 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  False Edge