Bowie Knives

Bowie knives are a style of knife made popular in the early 19th century. They have a large, fixed blade, usually with a clip point.

The first knife made famous by Bowie was designed by his brother Rezin and made out of an old file. In 1827, in a brawl between Bowie and several men, Bowie was stabbed, shot and beaten. Known as the Sandbar Fight, Bowie managed to survive using his knife. Two others were not as lucky and lost their lives, with another four wounded.

But the Bowie knife legend begins in James Black’s blacksmith shop in 1831.

The stories say that Jim Bowie asked the blacksmith to make a knife for him from a wooden sample he had whittled and brought to the shop. Black made this knife, and also a modified second version of Bowie’s original design. Bowie chose the second knife upon paying. This design was like his, with the exception of the double edge along the top of the blade.