Technically, a Bowie knife is a type of hunting knife, but it is also much more. A hunting knife can be anything, really, but they tend to have some common characteristics among the lot of them. They share some of these characteristics with Bowies and do not share others. The first, and most significant difference, is the hand guard. Hunting knives do not usually have hand guards. Bowies were designed for fighting, and that is seen in this protective addition to the knife.
Bowie knives are used by numerous military organizations around the world as utility knives and weapons. This rather betrays their best purposes. While these knives are great for skinning deer and cutting meat, they’re not always as practical for those tasks as are hunting knives. Hunting knives, significantly, are usually smaller than Bowies, which makes them much more agile. Because they’re not intended as weapons, there’s no need for the blade to be designed for lethality, which allows for smaller, more precise designs.
Consider the fact that a Bowie knife can be used to chop, cut, gut, skin and cut. You can use this single knife to replace a gut hook knife, a skinning knife, boning knife and even many different types of kitchen knives. It can chop vegetables with the same equanimity that it guts fish or skins deer. That is, you will need only a single knife, rather than having to carry a selection of knives with you on your hunting trip. Therefore, while you can consider Bowies as hunting knives, they are also much more than this.
There are numerous different designs of Bowie knives, so it’s important to point out that a Bowie is a specific type of knife. Some hunting knives have Bowie-style blades-with clipped points and blood grooves-but aren’t really Bowie knives. Bowies have hand guards, a throwback to their combat origins. These are usually never seen on hunting knives. If they are, they’re minimal and are designed to protect the user from their own blade, rather than the blade of another.
These are just a few of the reasons that a Bowie knife might be considered a hunting knife but is actually much, much more. These beautiful, versatile, durable blades can serve you well for years to come with the proper maintenance, and can ensure that you have the tools you need at all times.
Blake is a business consultant for an online bowie knives store featuring SOG bowie knives.
categories: bowie knives,bowie knife,hunting knives,Hunting,Fishing,Camping
