BIG A** Knives..................

[Ray S]

Somewhere along the line I became infatuated with large knives.Probably around the same time as I became obsessed with large caliber guns.For a time I owned two of the largest handguns I have ever seen:A Smith & Wesson Model 29 in .44 Magnum with a 10 5/8ths inch barrel that was only made for a couple years and was designed strictly for hunting.It sported 4-way adjustable sights and was dialed in for two hundred yards.I could not fit it to a holster(at 17inches overall length)that was concealable and it was too heavy(nearly 6 lbs loaded)for hip carry as I have some back issues.
The second gun was even more outrageous:a Phelps single action with an 8 1/2 inch barrel(cut down from 12 inches)chambered for .45-70 rifle cartridges. I fired 3 rounds from it(500 grain slugs)and sold it a week later. So ended my infatuation with big bore firearms although I do still have a Ruger Blackhawk in .45 Long Colt and a Marlin lever action rifle chambered for .44 Magnum.
Anyway I also began to covet large knives about this time.My first one was a gift from a friend of mine whose brother got it overseas while in the Army:a R.J.Richter bowie hunter which I thought was pretty large with it's 8 inch blade.It was actually pretty comfortable to carry as the blade was bent slightly outward at the guard so it didn't dig into your side.
Many others followed that one;some smaller and some (much)larger. My prize find was an 1880's era Joseph Rodgers bowie with a 9 inch spear point blade and original sheath.My largest one is a Colt bowie made of what appears to be chunks of wire cable with a 14 1/2 inch blade.There are also a couple of daggers and a few hand made so-called,"theatre" knives included.
I must confess that I have never had the need to carry one of these monsters but they are there should the need ever arise.
Due to the number of knives I am posting this will take about 9 posts so please be patient.
#1 is a replica of a supposedly original Bowie that is owned by Bart Moore.
#2 is a bowie marked,"P.(Patrick)Henry Liberty or Death",a fairly recent make.
#3 is another recreation of a supposedly original Bowie knife by Carvel Hall who I believe is now Cutco.
#4 is a Case XX bowie.

[Ray S]

Page two:
#1 is a bowie I believe was made in China.
#2 is the Colt bowie.This knife is massive (5/16ths thick blade)but fairly comfortable to hold.
#3 is a Mexican tourist bowie.These come in all sizes;I have two or three different ones.
#4 is a German made bowie by Emil Voos.

[Ray S]

Page three:
#1 is another German bowie by F.a.Bower.
#2 is a recreation of a 19th century bowie by Fred James of England who once worked for Geo. Wostenholm.
#3 is a Frost Cutlery bowie designed by Tak Fukuta.
#4 A large bowie by G.C.Co.(Gutmann) of Italy with an unusual horn handle.

[Ray S]

Page four:
#1 is a very large bowie by Hoffritz made in Sheffield England.
#2 is the Indiana Jones knife.Not quite a bowie by very large indeed.
#3 is an original 1880's Joseph Rodgers 9 inch blade spear point bowie with original sheath.Long story on how I got this one.
#4 is a Jos. Elliott large butcher knife that could conceivably have been used as a bowie.

[Ray S]

Page five:
#1 is a bowie by Manhattan Cutlery Co. of Sheffield
#2 is an Olsen made in Germany
#3 is a new black bowie by Ontario Knife Co.
#4 is a recreation of a 19th century English bowie made in Pakistan.

[comis]

Page four:
#1 is a very large bowie by Hoffritz made in Sheffield England.
#2 is the Indiana Jones knife.Not quite a bowie by very large indeed.
#3 is an original 1880's Joseph Rodgers 9 inch blade spear point bowie with original sheath.Long story on how I got this one.
#4 is a Jos. Elliott large butcher knife that could conceivably have been used as a bowie.

#2 is not a knife, it's practically a short sword! 


Awesome collection!  When apocalypse come, I now know where to hide.

[Ray S]

Page six:
#1 is a Parker-Edwards Damascus bowie/survival knife.
#2 is my first bowie:R.J.Richter Germany.Etched on the shield is the name,"Crazy" Probably wouldn't have wanted to meet him!
#3 The Rambo III knife.
A custom bowie by Rigid Knives of Santee California

[Ray S]

Page seven:
#1 is the smallest one:Rosco Japan.
#2 Silver Stag bowie.
#3 Solingen Germany bowie.
#4 a handmade knife I got from a guy whose dad made it just before he escaped form Hungary in 1956.

[Ray S]

Page eight:
#1 An unmarked theatre knife with multi-colored pieces of plastic in the handle.
#2 is and unmarked fantasy bowie my son gifted me awhile back.
#3 another unmarked knife with a saw back;obviously made from an old saw blade.
#4 A Western W-49 bowie.

[zoidberg]

Heck Yes!! Liking this thread.      

[comis]

Heck Yes!! Liking this thread.      

  I posted in the middle, not knowing the show is still going.  It's an amazing collection, and would love to hear more about how Ray got his Joseph Rodgers.

[Ray S]

Page ten: a few daggers:
#1An old dagger made for Cogswell & Harrison;London gunsmiths for over two hundred years.
#2 A faux Damascus dagger.
#3 A dagger made of brass with the head and body of a snake(resin) for a handle
#4 A Hubertus hunting dagger.

[Ray S]

Page last:
Just one here: a Hubertus folding bowie.

[Ray S]

  I posted in the middle, not knowing the show is still going.  It's an amazing collection, and would love to hear more about how Ray got his Joseph Rodgers.

Will try and give the condensed version:
Was headed to a car show one day about a hundred miles from home and when I arrived found it had been cancelled due to rain.Getting ready to return home I stopped into a coffee shop to get one for the road and noticed an antique shop next door.
Went in after getting my coffee I saw mostly junk in the front and almost turned around and left. The owner was down back and had some knives on the top of the counter. I asked to look through them and he gave me those and another box he had behind the counter.
As I was perusing them he asked if I like Bowie knives. Thinking he probably had some new junk I said "sure" and he reached down under a bunch of stuff and pulled out the Bowie! I knew it was a good one and when I finished with the pocket knives started to examine it.He said that he thought it was from about 1900 but I thought earlier.The asking price was $225 and I got it for that without the tax as I told him I needed gas money to get home which I did.
Got it home and called another knife collector in town who was into bowies.He looked at it and said it was probably worth about $1000 to $1200.
Just a case of being in the right place at the right time.Here are some closeups of the handles and tang stamp.The blade shows very little sharpening and the sheath does not look like it has ever seen a belt.

[comis]

Will try and give the condensed version:
Was headed to a car show one day about a hundred miles from home and when I arrived found it had been cancelled due to rain.Getting ready to return home I stopped into a coffee shop to get one for the road and noticed an antique shop next door.
Went in after getting my coffee I saw mostly junk in the front and almost turned around and left. The owner was down back and had some knives on the top of the counter. I asked to look through them and he gave me those and another box he had behind the counter.
As I was perusing them he asked if I like Bowie knives. Thinking he probably had some new junk I said "sure" and he reached down under a bunch of stuff and pulled out the Bowie! I knew it was a good one and when I finished with the pocket knives started to examine it.He said that he thought it was from about 1900 but I thought earlier.The asking price was $225 and I got it for that without the tax as I told him I needed gas money to get home which I did.
Got it home and called another knife collector in town who was into bowies.He looked at it and said it was probably worth about $1000 to $1200.
Just a case of being in the right place at the right time.Here are some closeups of the handles and tang stamp.The blade shows very little sharpening and the sheath does not look like it has ever seen a belt.

Wow, what an amazing find, that's serendipity at its best. 

[SteveC]

Great story and nice collection of BAK's   

[Rapidray]

You have such a great collection of knives and not in just one field, all of them! 

[Aloha]

 

I really like big knives as well tho I don't collect them.  I am always happy when you post Ray.   

[Ray S]

Thanks for all the kind words;I enjoy sharing pictures of my knives.Here are two more that I neglected to post.Both of these came out of a large collection of militaria that a good friend of mine purchased.He would buy large collections;sort out anything military and sell off the rest.
We became good friends as I used to see him at this one particular flea market and would talk knives and buy stuff that he had.It got to where when he acquired a collection he would call and I would go over his house and see if there was anything I wanted and he would give me first shot at it.
I didn't collect military stuff at the time so anytime I got anything that looked military I would call Frank and if he liked it we would usually trade something.He was always very generous in his trades. One time I got a rather nice Model 1849 British cavalry sword for pinstriping a car and Frank traded me about a thousand dollars worth of knives for it! I doubt it was worth that much but he wanted it.
Anyway these two knives were in one of his acquisitions and I wound up with them along with several others.They are apparently "theatre" knives although Frank didn't consider them of military significance like they do today.
The first knife is a double edge dagger stamped with the initials,"L.J.M." on the ricasso.Handle is made from rings of red/brown linen Micarta interspersed with aluminum spacers.The guard and pommel are also aluminum and it is held together with an Allen bolt. Blade looks very well made with a fuller running the length.It is VERY sharp!
The second one is unmarked and seems to be the size of a short sword rather than a knife.The handle is constructed of solid brass and aluminum rings held on again with an Allen screw and the guard and pommel aluminum.This one is even sharper than the previous one! I've cut myself a couple times mis-handling it.
The collection had several other hand made knives in it including a checkered wood handled dagger with pearl button insert in the end and a triangular blade dagger with a formed red/brown Micarta handle that looks like an assassin's tool. Also a small hand made hunter with a machined steel handle and Micarta inserts.Pictures follow.

[Ray S]

And the last one.The sheath came with it.

[David]

   Lots of great knives!