SZCO Supplies 15-Inch Bowie Knife with Carbon Steel Clip-Point Blade, Wooden Handle, and Leather Sheath – Hunting, Camping, Survival, and Outdoor Knife

I can see whay a lot of people have left less than five star reviews on this knife. I bought it anyway because I was looking for another "project" to finish. If you view this as a pretty much 95% finished "kit knife" you will certainly not be disappointed. When it arrived it was quite sharp, but with a lot of prominent grind marks in the edge, very much like a sharp but cheap machete. It was a pretty simple thing to get a nice smooth and razor sharp edge by just using my diamond sharpener followed by about ten minutes on my ceramic sticks. And then a light few swipes again with the diamond sharpener to smooth out the grind. Then I turned to the grip scales. They were covered in what I can only assume is some sort of polyurethane finish and were fairly rough. I just used some 220 grit sandpaper to smooth them out followed by 400 and then 600 grit paper. Some stain and a boiled linseed oil/pine tar combo that I make up and voila' -a very pretty set of hand filling scales that look for all the world like walnut. It was a very simple task to get the wood to fit the tang properly since they were pretty close in the first place. Next I put a patina on the carbon steel blade and tang, using some Birchwood Casey Perma Blue and a wash of the same company's Super Blue. The color came out a pleasing blue/gray after carding with oil and 0000 steel wool. The patina is very similar to my 1930s era ROMO Solingen bowie knife. When I get time this weekend I plan to also use some of their Plum Brown solution on it so it will appear to be a much older patina. This is about the heaviest 10 inch bladed Bowie that I currently own. The reaction to my sharpening was very similar to 1095 high carbon steel in some of my other knives. SO in my case at least, it seems well heat treated and tempered. The blade is right at 4.95 mm thick at the spine. So it's a nice heavy Bowie knife with a bent towards chopping. Spend some time (which I find to be fun) in actually finishing this knife. You will find it rewarding and can end up with a knife that will last you a lifetime. (Oh the "Pakistan" tag on mine was a simple piece of tape thoughtfully placed on one of the grip scale. It peels off so easily!) Next up - the sheath. The one I received is actually quite nice and fits snugly. It is much better than the one pictured in the listing. I am going to remove the belt loop and snap on this one. In place of the snap on the mouth of the sheath I'll be putting in a Sam Brown type stud for carrying it tucked inside my belt. The positioning of the snap and the snug fit of the knife will make this a five minute conversion. This knife can easily be made into one that looks the part of an 1840-1870 Bowie knife. It doesn't take much skill. Just a willingness to have some fun and expend a little elbow grease. If this is what you are looking for, then I HIGHLY recommend it. If you want a fancy Bowie knife for under eighteen bucks - well that just ain't going to happen. So get this eighteen dollar knife and turn it into what looks like a $100 knife. It will take you a couple of hours and will be well worth it.

So there I was drunk and off another red dead redemption kick looking for a Bowie knife that was decent looking and cheap. Drunk me and carbon steel are basically married at this point but I digress. When I got the knife the next day I almost rushed to check my checking statement to see how much of a fool I was, thankfully I wasn’t much of one at all at 20 bucks. I took a look a the edge and the majority of it had a pretty good bevel to it and a reasonably sharp edge, however the last inch or so of the point was dull as pig iron. That was annoying yes but easily cared for with a bastard file and a 1000 grit stone and she was then incredibly sharp given her size. Fast forward a few months and I’m beating on the thing just to see if I could break it. Full force throws into trees, often dirt, and bounces off rocks on all parts of the knife and the only thing that gave was the brass pins in the handle. Which honestly was gonna happen sooner than later given they’re just under an 1/8 of an inch thick. I’ll be remedying that soon with 1/4 inch brass rods soon and possibly new handle material but for now it’s a pretty tough knife. Did I mention I tried to snap it and it didn’t even budge? Great buy for the price all the way around. Treat it like hell and it’ll just keep coming back for more.

So I bought this knife based off reviews on YouTube and well let’s just say I was a bit disappointed when my knife arrived rusty and corroded I’d say very rough shape I thought well this things trash and in a fit of dissatisfaction I slammed this knife clean through a small log and into a concrete piling this actually changed my mind on this knife and the piling had a nice gash in it and the knife had zero damage to it it my look like it’s from the apocalypse but I’m fairly confident it will survive the apocalypse over all pretty good for the price u pay for it id give it 3 stars but they get and extra star for the price.

UPDATE: Thrown in the trash. After 1 month in my car it was totally rusted out. I had oiled the blade, ensured the sheath was dry and waxed. DEEP RUST that I couldn't get out with 00 steal wool and oil after a 15 min scrub. Honestly, I wouldn't even use this as a self-defense deterrent. Complete garbage even at $20 bucks when you can pick up a nice Chinese Marbles, Old Henry, or Schrade. In a world of Pakistani and Chinese pot steel knives with purchased USA brands, this simply doesn't even deserve a place at the bottom of a river.This is a truly terrible Bowie! The cut on the handle is way off. The wood was two different kinds on the handle, and had some wetness still in the wood. The grind is completely off. And it was as dull as a Joe Biden fundraiser. The pummel guard is scratched to pieces and has wear in spots. That being said, I sanded and re-stained the handle. Took about 20 min to sharpen the darn thing, and scrubbed it a bit to get the horrid car oil off the blade. Now, it's just a really bad bowie. But for 20 bucks and next day delivery, I have a nice self defense weapon for my car that I won't be upset about when someone in California inevitably breaks into my car and steals it. Another upside is that the sheath is not too bad! Gets five stars from me because it's exactly what I thought I was buying!

For $27 bucks hey it’s fine for intended use. It’s a bit crude, blade has some wave/dimples to it, it lacks finesse, but it is sturdy, solid and not ugly. It is heavy with a chunky handle. It is intimidating to look at, certain meets Crocodile Dundee’s quote “ Now that’s a knife! “ ha. Came pretty sharp, cuts paper,. It’s no wall hanger or display case knife, it’s a woods carry animal protection, brush cutting, camp, shed, car, tool. You will need to keep a light coat of oil on blade at all times or she will rust. . I decided to keep it for what it is…a user…..If you want real quality, and a Big Bowie at a fair price, get a Condor undertaker bowie, at $100 bucks or a Bear and Sons Bowie for slightly more, of which I own both of them.