How Should You Hold A Bowie Knife?

Hard Ball · November 27, 2000, 01:01 PM

I just saw a program on the History Channe in which a man decribed as a historian stated that bowie knives were (are) held with the full edge up and the false edge down. He also said that the strong unsharpened part of the false edge side was used to parry attacks. Any one have any opinnions on this?

fubsy · November 27, 2000, 03:26 PM

that position has those attributes as well as a feature that most people are not aware of anymore.....the back or spine of these blades had brass along the spine, it helped to control the opponents blade and its progression toward the hilt........There was a time that Randall offered this on there bowies but that has been a very long time ago....and im not aware of anyone offering that feature anymore----it takes a master craftsman to do that.......occasionally you will see the larger blades affixed with subhilts, that came about to try and give better faster control of the larger blades with out having the user extend his finger infront of the hilt in the choil area...........I wish I would have seen the show...fubsy.

animal · November 27, 2000, 11:49 PM

Hold it firmly in your non-dominant hand. Dominant hand is for the pistol.

Glamdring · November 28, 2000, 12:09 PM

Hold it by the handle [hilt if you will]

You can hold it by the blade but that sure smarts

guerilla1138 · November 29, 2000, 01:54 PM

i would suggest you get in contact with james keating if you want a good in depth answer to this.
He moderats a forum at http://www.knifeforums.com called the riddle of steel, goes by the user name JAK.
you will need to register, if your not already, to post.

IMHO Mr. Keating is the guy to go to for information on bowie knives, and other large fixed blade fighting knives.

hope you find what your looking for.

also, in my way of thinking thats a screwy way to hold a bowie knife. i hold all bowies it the saber grip position, with the blade forward, and the edge down.
this was i can chop, whack, slash and make use of the false edge for back cutting.

Hard Ball · November 29, 2000, 02:02 PM

guerilla1138-
I hold mine the same way that you describe.
I am just curious if there is anything to the grip alleged to be historical on this TV program.

November 27, 2000, 01:01 PM	#1
Hard Ball Senior Member Join Date: November 28, 1999 Location: California Posts: 3,925	I just saw a program on the History Channe in which a man decribed as a historian stated that bowie knives were (are) held with the full edge up and the false edge down. He also said that the strong unsharpened part of the false edge side was used to parry attacks. Any one have any opinnions on this?

November 27, 2000, 03:26 PM	#2
fubsy Senior Member Join Date: May 20, 1999 Posts: 1,363	that position has those attributes as well as a feature that most people are not aware of anymore.....the back or spine of these blades had brass along the spine, it helped to control the opponents blade and its progression toward the hilt........There was a time that Randall offered this on there bowies but that has been a very long time ago....and im not aware of anyone offering that feature anymore----it takes a master craftsman to do that.......occasionally you will see the larger blades affixed with subhilts, that came about to try and give better faster control of the larger blades with out having the user extend his finger infront of the hilt in the choil area...........I wish I would have seen the show...fubsy.

November 27, 2000, 11:49 PM	#3
animal Senior Member Join Date: April 28, 2000 Location: Mississippi Posts: 705	Hold it firmly in your non-dominant hand. Dominant hand is for the pistol.

November 28, 2000, 12:09 PM	#4
Glamdring Senior Member Join Date: April 23, 2000 Location: MN Posts: 1,388	Hold it by the handle [hilt if you will] You can hold it by the blade but that sure smarts

November 29, 2000, 01:54 PM	#5
guerilla1138 Senior Member Join Date: August 28, 2000 Posts: 294	i would suggest you get in contact with james keating if you want a good in depth answer to this. He moderats a forum at http://www.knifeforums.com called the riddle of steel, goes by the user name JAK. you will need to register, if your not already, to post. IMHO Mr. Keating is the guy to go to for information on bowie knives, and other large fixed blade fighting knives. hope you find what your looking for. also, in my way of thinking thats a screwy way to hold a bowie knife. i hold all bowies it the saber grip position, with the blade forward, and the edge down. this was i can chop, whack, slash and make use of the false edge for back cutting.

November 29, 2000, 02:02 PM	#6
Hard Ball Senior Member Join Date: November 28, 1999 Location: California Posts: 3,925	guerilla1138- I hold mine the same way that you describe. I am just curious if there is anything to the grip alleged to be historical on this TV program.