Given the many applications for which a bowie knife is designed to be suitable, one would be correct to assume that they come in many different materials. Bowie knives that are made after the fighting tradition of the knife are usually of hard, expensive and very sharp high-carbon steel. More multi-purpose knives are made of cheaper materials. Some knives are even made of exotic materials such as titanium and ceramics, but these are not frequently employed in bowie designs.
If a knife just needs to hold up to abuse, edge-holding isn’t usually an issue. Knives that need to be durable are usually best made of a variety of stainless steel. Another benefit is that this metal is resistant to rust. For hard-working bowie knives, a softer, less expensive variety of stainless steel such as 420 is usually fine. It won’t get, or stay, that sharp but it is tough.
High-carbon stainless is an excellent option for those who need the durability of stainless steel with better edge-holding properties. As the carbon content goes up in steel, such as in 440C versus 440A, the metal becomes more brittle. It is also able to be sharpened to a finer edge and will retain that edge very well, however. This makes high carbon stainless steel very popular for multi-purpose blades.
For a hard-working, multi-purpose bowie knife, plain stainless steel is often best. The 420 and 440 varieties can both offer good service. Stainless steel is incredibly tough and, partially as a result of that, is very hard to sharpen. There are new types of stainless steel being developed all the time and some of these metals have very favorable properties where edge-holding and durability are concerned.
A bowie knife has a distinctive type of blade that makes them naturally tough. No matter what type of metal is used, the thick blade ensures that it can take plenty of abuse. This aspect of a bowie, however, can also make them very expensive when they’re made of high-end steel due to the amount of materials employed. In some cases, multiple types of metal may be used for different parts of the knife, such as softer metal on the spine for strength. For collectors and for those who just want an excellent knife for sporting, the time-tested design is a good use of expensive steels.
Brian is a business consultant for an online bowie knife store featuring combat knives.
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