New bowie

Time has come to invest in a new "toy"... it has come down to either a CS Natchez, or the CS Frontier bowie. I know that the Natchez is balanced and intended to be a "fighting knife" while the Frontier, made of lower carbon steel, is more likely a work bowie.. something that will deliver in a camp site and last under tough conditions.

Would like to hear the experience and opinions of others regarding these blades. Would be open to "counter-proposals" as well. But mostly opinions and experience with these two blades.

I have a collection of knives, work knives, bowies, and "fighters" and have been handy with a khukri (have several) as well. Am older but not yet senile, and way more likely to shoot a threat than engage in a "knife fight" so my question is more academic I suppose. What say you all?

 

I been looking at the Marauder by Cold Steel

 

CS Frontier bowie

 

Marauder is AMAZING and light, the frontier is excellent, if you like the heavier end, and the Natchez is longer and sleeker than in most pics I have seen, like an improved Marauder. Have all but the Natchez, and it is on the radar for soon/future purchase. Feel free to ask any specific detail questions you have, I EDC both that I own.

 

Just going on looks here... I like the CS Natchez....but with that said...
A lot of what makes a knife "good" is how it handles and feels to you....without seeing both in the hand to compare I really can't say which to buy.

I can endorse the Blackjack model 5 ...it comes in both 5 1/2 inch ( like mine ) and a 7 inch version .
This was the knife I carried and used while in the Army and on four combat deployments.
When I bought mine they were still made in the USA ...I am not sure about the newer ones.
Andy

 

I almost sprung for the marauder, until i discovered that the quillions are rubber/kraton and not metal.. rubber just doesnt cut it (so to speak)...thinking about getting the knife and removing all the rubber and installing my own quillions and grip...
That said, I have admired the Blackjacks for some time... Im sure that the one Andy has functions stellarly and Id... prefer not to meet it in the hands of a determined man!
My only real objection is that they feel "handle-heavy" like the old USMC "kabar" - more grip than blade.
My problem is that I lost my Buck 120, after 40 years of companionship it sprouted legs somehow and altho I have bought another it just doesnt do the trick for me.. may spring for the 7.5" CS Recon and clean the black stuff off of it and make a leather sheath and use it for edc (a bit large)...

 

The Marauder not having a sold guard kind of sucks, but it it is a good grip, and, frankly, on the design, I think a steel guard would have been next to useless in a fight.

 

In the event I did spring for the Natchez... It's a HONKER! Now of course Im looking to the Frontier bowie... That will be a while in the future tho and really the Recon 7.5" bowie is likely to be more practical for my uses. The plastic sheath/scabbard of the Natchez is not my cup of tea and will require a leather scabbard when I get a roundtowit..
The Marauder looks like a useful blade design and I like it.. the rubber grip and lack of a real quillion makes this knife problematical for me, altho as with other knives that is not insurmountable as I could improve upon it with some work and some pieces-parts of my own devise.. The cheesy "secure-ex" plastic sheath that Cold Steel has gone to is a poor excuse for a sheath and would have to be replaced with leather of my own design...
As one might expect, i am a blade addict and freely admit it, I cannot help myself... for 40 years my carry knife was a Buck 120 and it served well until it grew legs and wandered off. This threw me into a dither and frenzy of knife-buying, and right now my edc is (cough) usually a Buck 119...

 

Nice knife (if a bit short for my tastes, netheless) That knife right there has the "look" about it.

 

The 1917 is a beast, solid knife.

 

Western Bowie for me.

 

Some Bowie like objects.

 

I have one in this pattern, seems to be pretty legit.

 

I have a western like your from the 60's and a Puma... like this one...


Only a little more wear...

 

When I was younger I favored big knives. I still like the way a quality bowie-type knife looks. I also love the Blackjack fighters. I think they were a more affordable copy of the Randal fighting knife if I remember correctly. That five-inch pictured above must have a lot of memories and will surely be a family heirloom.
Today I favor a more practical blade. A four to five inch carbon steel drop-point. Daily my carry knife around the place is a TOPS puukko. Not dissing anyone's love of the bowie. Different strokes for different folks.

 

Because the bowie was built as a fighting knife, much like the sword, the guard is an integral part.
Knife to knife contact is serious business.
The similar shaped long narrow knife with a guard is an Arkansaw toothpick.
The unique feature of the Bowie is it's width and weight. It was said that after making it Bowie walked over to a tree and in one slice took it down. It can't have been a very big tree but the test was sufficient I suppose.
Being a knife fighter, I would suppose with the metallurgy of the day a rather large blade had the greater advantage.

 

The Antique Bowie Knife Book - Bill Adams
Love this knife. 1/2" thick

 

I have one of Bill Bagwell's Damascus Hell's Belle bowies. Bill has passed and the world lost a great man when he did. I sparred with Bill for hours (Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! Dammit! Ouch!) before I got the hang of it and learned a lot from him.

While I believe the Bagwell is the best design out there, training with a bowie is critical because it doesn't run like a normal knife. Slashing and stabbing alone will rob you of the great benefits of a bowie. (The reason they became illegal in so many states is they were a death sentence to a man with a sword in the dueling days) Bill's style was some version of a Scottish fencing style. My style isn't but I'm built funny so I move differently and have found my own way.

You can buy a discontinued Ontario knives version for about 1/10th the price of an original. $350-$450 if you look deep.

I'm modifying an Ontario SP-5 to a Bagwell blade design and putting a bodark handle on it from the farm. I feel like there is a spiritual bond to a knife with a natural handle vs synthetic. I'm stuck on the gator bone inlay design, but almost done!

The SP-5 is a touch short for my taste but it is a skill development project for me to gift one of my boys.

BTW, the knives you are admiring are good knives. Either should make you happy. Get a feel for each in person and you will know.

 

It has been years since I started this thread... I actually got both knives I was asking about, the Frontier and Natchez bowies. Both are badass blades. My choice has been a Laredo bowie, just a meanass killer of a knife. Not for camp chores, have plenty of those- this Laredo is special- balanced and feels like a much smaller, handier knife than it's size... The first time I handled the knife, my astonished words were- "Wow, this knife was made for killing!"... Of course one might say that about many knives- but this one holds a special place in my personal armory.
Wanted to touch base after 6 years or so, and there it is!