Handmade Bowie Knife, Carbon Steel with Buffalo Horn Handle

A bowie is a big knife that still has to point and slice. This is the carbon steel version. The blade is 8 inches of hand forged 1095 with a clip point, set behind a polished steel cross guard, and the handle is black buffalo horn pinned over a full tang. It runs 13 inches overall and suits people who want a full size outdoor knife they can sharpen at home.

Specification

The blade

The steel is 1095 high carbon, forged with the hammer marks left on the flats and the bevel taken mirror bright. It takes the sharpest edge in the shop and comes back fastest on a stone. The clip is the concave cut taken out of the top of the blade from about a third of the way back to the tip, ground as a false edge. It drops the point lower and brings more of the tip in line with your hand. The trade is rust, so it wants drying after use.

The handle

Buffalo horn polishes to a deep black and warms to your hand instead of staying cold like steel. Under the scales the tang runs unbroken from tip to butt, with brass pins through both sides. At 5 inches the handle has room to shift your grip back for heavier cuts. The steel cross guard in front of it keeps your hand off the edge if a cut runs out. Horn is natural, so the shade moves from knife to knife.

The leather sheath

The sheath is cut for this exact knife, so the blade goes in snug. The leather is vegetable tanned. A wide belt loop is stitched to the back, a strap with a snap closes over the handle, and a welt is sewn into the edge so the stitching sits clear of the sharpened side. Every stitch is put in by hand. The face is hand tooled with a basket weave stamp inside a carved border, struck one impression at a time. Most sellers write the words leather sheath and stop there.

Who it suits

This is the size of knife people buy once a folder has stopped being enough, and carbon steel makes it the cheaper of the two ways to own one from this shop.

• Campers who want one large fixed blade in the truck
• People who sharpen their own knives on a stone
• Buyers who prefer natural horn to a synthetic handle

What comes in the box

• The carbon steel bowie knife
• The tooled leather belt sheath
• A care card
• A free laser engraving quote on request

Every piece is different

Each knife is forged, ground and finished by hand, so no two come out the same. The hammer texture, the color of the horn and the depth of the tooling differ from the photographs. Yours will be its own piece.

Looking after it

Wash and dry it by hand. Never the dishwasher, since that voids the warranty, and never leave it wet inside the sheath. The gray patina that builds with use is normal and protects the steel. Oil it lightly before storage and let the leather dry away from heat. Sharpen on a whetstone at roughly 20 degrees per side, then strop. No pull through sharpeners. More in our knife care and sharpening page.

Put a name on it

Laser engraving is 20 dollars per blade and you add it on this page. Around 30 characters fits on a blade, and a longer message sits better on the sheath. Clean line art marks well, photographs do not. We send a proof image before the laser runs, and it adds 3 to 5 business days. See the engraving page.

Questions buyers ask

What is a clip point? It is the concave cut taken from the top of the blade near the tip, which lowers the point so the knife slices better.

What is the cross guard for? It keeps your hand off the edge on a blade this long.

Why buffalo horn? It polishes to a deep black and warms fast in the hand.

Will this steel rust? Yes, so dry it after use and oil it before storage.

How sharp is it out of the box? Sharpened by hand and ready to cut on arrival.

Can you engrave it? Yes, 20 dollars per blade, adding 3 to 5 business days.

For the same size in wood, see the hand forged bowie in rosewood, and for horn with a Damascus blade there is the handmade bowie in buffalo horn and stacked leather. The rest sit in bowie and camp knives, in high carbon 1095, and in gifts for him.