Sawcrest Hand Forged 1095 Steel Sawback Bowie Knife | Clip Point Blade with Etched Panel | Cord Wrapped Grip and Leather Sheath | Survival Gift | RK-1880

The Sawcrest is a full size bowie built along military survival knife lines. The blade is polished 1095 high carbon steel in a deep bellied clip point with a long false edge along the clip, a row of coarse sawteeth cut into the spine behind it, and a bead blasted geometric panel etched into the flat. The handle is black cord wrapped over the tang between a steel double guard and a knurled steel pommel. A brown leather belt sheath is included.

The clip point is the feature that makes a bowie a bowie, and it is doing more work than it looks. Grinding away the top of the spine near the tip removes mass from where a knife needs it least and drops the point down below the line of the spine, so the tip enters material closer to the centreline of the blade and meets less resistance. The removed section leaves a long swage that can be sharpened into a false edge for back cuts. The knife that made the pattern famous belonged to Jim Bowie, and his reputation was made at the Sandbar Fight near Natchez in 1827, a duel that turned into a general brawl in which Bowie, shot and stabbed, killed a man with a large butcher style knife. Within a decade every cutler in Sheffield was selling bowies to America. This one is forged and finished in the Czech Republic.

The clip point and the deep belly are what make a bowie a bowie, and the bowie buying guide covers what the shape is good at. 1095 is the plain carbon steel we work in, and the steel glossary explains what the number means and why it takes an edge. For dressing game the skinner knives take over where a bowie stops being handy.

Specifications

What the sawback is actually good for

Let us be straight about the teeth, because a lot of nonsense gets written about them. A row of sawteeth cut into the spine of a knife will not saw through a log in any reasonable time. A saw needs set teeth that cut a kerf wider than the blade body, otherwise the blade binds, and a knife spine cannot have set teeth without becoming dangerous to grip. Anyone who tells you a sawback knife replaces a folding saw has not tried it.

What sawteeth are genuinely good at is a narrower list, and it is a useful one. They rasp notches into wood quickly, which matters for traps, tent pegs and pot hangers. They strip bark and cut fibrous material like rope, webbing and hose far faster than a plain edge. They score plastic and light sheet metal. That last one is the reason military survival knives carried them at all: aircrew survival knives were given sawbacks so a downed pilot could cut through the skin of an aircraft to get out. On a general purpose knife, treat the teeth as a rasp and a rope cutter and you will get real use out of them.

The steel and the build

The blade is 1095 high carbon steel hardened to 54 to 58 HRC. On a heavy chopping knife that range is right: hard enough to hold a working edge through a day of use, soft enough that the teeth on the spine and the tip survive impact instead of chipping out. 1095 sharpens easily on a stone in the field, which is a real advantage over harder alloy steels when you are a long way from a bench.

The handle is cord wrapped over the tang, which gives a grip that stays secure when wet and can be unwound in an emergency for several feet of usable cordage. The steel double guard stops the hand running forward onto the edge under a hard thrust, and the knurled steel pommel gives you a striking surface for driving pegs or breaking glass. The etched panel on the flat is bead blasted, which leaves a matte grey area against the polished steel around it.

Engraving, runes and your own design

Use the rune converter on this page to turn a name, a date or a short phrase into Elder Futhark and we will cut it into the steel, the leather or the wood. If you would rather have a Viking pattern than a rune line, choose your own design in the engraving option above the add to cart button and tell us where it goes. Where a piece already carries an engraved design, your chosen engraving replaces it rather than sitting alongside it. On this knife the etched panel on the flat is the natural place, so your runes or design take its place, or you can have the sheath leather engraved and keep the panel. See the engraving page.

Handling and balance

A nine inch blade with a deep belly puts weight forward of the hand, and that is what you want in a knife that will be used for chopping and for heavy campsite work. The balance sits an inch or two ahead of the guard, so it swings with authority rather than feeling like an oversized paring knife.

Keep the fingers behind the guard when you are working hard, and keep your other hand well clear of the sawback: teeth on the spine are unforgiving of a hand sliding over them. If you are batoning, strike the spine forward of the teeth, not on them.

Care

Wipe the blade dry and oil it after use, every time. 1095 has no chromium and it will rust, and the sawteeth are the worst offender because water sits in the gullets between them and does not evaporate. Dry them deliberately with a corner of a cloth. Sharpen the main edge on a stone and leave the teeth alone unless one gets rolled, in which case a small round file will restore it. Feed the leather sheath twice a year and never store the knife in it wet. Our steel care page covers rust removal on carbon steel.

When the edge goes dull, sharpening on a whetstone covers the angle and the pressure.

Made in the Czech Republic

The work behind this piece happens in a Czech Republic workshop that has kept to the old methods. Steel is forged and heat treated by hand, the grind is taken down by eye rather than by machine, and the handle, fittings and sheath are cut and finished one at a time. Because of that, every piece carries small marks of the hand that made it.

Ransack Viking is a United States company. We import direct, check each piece when it reaches us, and ship from our Chicago, Illinois warehouse. Engraving is added here in the United States after arrival, so the piece you receive is finished to your order.

A note on handmade variation

This is hand made, not machine made or bulk produced, so what arrives will not be a pixel for pixel copy of the photograph. Sawtooth spacing and depth vary because they are cut by hand. The cord wrap tension and the exact number of turns differ slightly from knife to knife. The bead blasted panel takes a marginally different tone every time depending on how the blast lands. Leather tone and grain on the sheath vary because it is a natural material. The dimensions, the material and the build are the same every time. The character is not.

Frequently asked questions

Will the sawback actually cut through wood

Slowly, and only through small stuff. It rasps notches and cuts fibrous material very well. If you need to cut logs, carry a folding saw. We would rather tell you that now than have you disappointed in the woods.

Is it sharp out of the box

Yes, the main edge arrives shaving sharp. The false edge along the clip is left unsharpened as standard. Ask in the order notes if you want it sharpened too.

Is the tang full length

The tang runs through to the knurled steel pommel, so the knife is built as one continuous piece of steel from tip to butt. That is what lets you use the pommel as a striking surface.

Can I use the pommel as a hammer

For light work like driving tent pegs, yes, that is what the knurling is for. Do not use it as a general purpose hammer on steel, because repeated hard impact on a hardened pommel is a good way to eventually crack something.

Can I unwrap the handle cord in an emergency

Yes. The wrap is several feet of cord and it comes off if you need it. You will need to rewrap it or the bare tang will be uncomfortable to hold.

How quickly does it ship

One to two weeks of processing, then free shipping within the US. Tell us in the order notes if you need it by a particular date.

What is in the box

• Sawcrest 1095 steel sawback bowie knife with cord wrapped grip
• Brown leather belt sheath
• Care card for carbon steel and leather
• Lifetime warranty against defects in forging, grind, heat treat and fittings
• Forged and finished in the Czech Republic

Explore the range

See more in bowie knives, hunting knives and Viking knives, or read the guides on knife blade shapes and sharpening on a whetstone.

If this one is not it

In the same category sits the Emberstack bowie knife, pattern welded Damascus. A near match for this one is the Bonecliff bowie knife, 13 inches overall. Closest to this in the range is the Hornreach bowie knife, pattern welded Damascus.

Fitting out further, the Steelfold folding pocket knife belongs with it. Pick the steel, the length and the fittings yourself on the custom hunting knife page.