Longrose Hand Forged Damascus Bowie Knife with Rosewood Handle and Steel Bolster and Black Fiber Spacer & Leather Sheath | Hunting Bowie Collector Gift | RK-473

Eight and three quarter inches of hand forged fire pattern Damascus, a rosewood grip braced by a steel bolster and a black fiber spacer, and 14.0 inches from pommel to point. The Longrose is at the large end of the Bowie range and it is built for the work that size implies rather than for a shelf.

The Bowie is one of the few knife patterns with a documented birth. It comes out of the American frontier in the 1830s, after the Sandbar Fight made Jim Bowie’s knife famous, and within a decade English cutlers in Sheffield were shipping thousands of clip point blades to the United States stamped with American slogans because the demand was so large. What began as a fighting knife settled very quickly into being the general purpose large blade of the frontier, and the reason it stuck was geometry rather than legend. A clip point gives you a big heavy blade that still has a usable point, and nothing else in the knife world had managed both at once.

This one is forged, hardened, ground and fitted in Memphis, Tennessee, and it arrives sharpened, in a fitted leather sheath, with free shipping inside the United States.

Specifications

The clip point, and what the clip is actually for

Look at the last third of the spine. Instead of running straight to the tip it is cut away in a long concave sweep, and that cut away section is the clip. Everything distinctive about a Bowie comes from it.

Removing steel from the top of the blade near the tip does three things at once. It drops the point down toward the centre line of the blade, which means the tip goes where you are pointing your hand instead of riding above it. It makes the tip thinner and finer, so a blade this heavy can still do detail work like caping or opening a seam. And it takes weight off the far end, which is what stops a nine inch blade feeling like a crowbar in the hand.

Underneath the clip, the belly is left long and full, so the bottom edge keeps the slicing and chopping ability the size gives you. That is the whole trick of the pattern: a fine point and a heavy belly on the same blade, which no straight backed knife can offer.

At 8.75 inches you get real reach and real chopping mass. This is the blade for camp work, batoning kindling, clearing brush, breaking down large game and the general run of jobs where you do not know in advance what is coming. If you want fine control over a small area, a four inch skinner will beat it every time, and that is the honest division of labour.

Why Damascus and not stainless

The billet is built from alternating layers of 1095 and 15N20, forge welded, folded and drawn down before the profile is cut from it. That is why the pattern follows the grind rather than running flat across the surface, and why sharpening exposes fresh pattern rather than wearing it away.

For a big working blade the argument is straightforward. High carbon 1095 at 58 to 60 HRC holds an edge through chopping and batoning that would roll a soft stainless edge, and the nickel bearing 15N20 keeps the blade tough enough to absorb impact without cracking. Stainless would be more forgiving of neglect and less capable under load. This blade wants a dry cloth and an oiled rag rather than tolerance for being left wet. The comparison is set out plainly in Damascus versus stainless.

Rosewood, steel and fiber in the hand

Rosewood was chosen for density. It is one of the heavier cabinet timbers, naturally oily, close grained and dimensionally stable, which matters on a handle that has to stay tight around a full tang through heat, cold and damp. It is also one of the few woods that will take a polish and still give grip, because the open pores hold just enough texture.

The steel bolster at the front does the structural work, capping the front of the scales and shielding the joint where the tang meets the blade, which is where a hard used handle would otherwise take in water. The black fiber spacer between bolster and wood is a thin sacrificial layer that absorbs the small movement wood makes across the seasons, so the joint stays tight instead of opening a hairline gap.

Rosewood is oiled rather than lacquered on this piece, which means you can refresh it at home with a rag and a light oil instead of sending it away when it dulls. The method is in wooden handle care.

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 or the handle. 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 whether it goes on the blade or the handle. Where a piece already carries an engraved design, your chosen engraving replaces it rather than sitting alongside it.

This blade is left clean specifically so it takes engraving well. Nearly nine inches of unbroken flat is more usable surface than almost any other fixed blade in the range, which makes it the piece people choose when they want a full rune line or a Norse pattern with room around it. Cut here, before the knife is packed. See the engraving page.

Care and sharpening

Damascus is carbon steel underneath the pattern, so treat it like carbon steel. Dry it after use, put a thin film of mineral or camellia oil on it before storage, and keep it out of the sheath for long spells because vegetable tanned leather traps moisture.

A blade this size is easier to sharpen than a small one, because the long edge gives you room to establish a rhythm. Use a coarse stone only when you have damaged the edge. For normal maintenance a 1000 grit stone and a strop will keep it shaving sharp, and a slightly wider angle at the belly, around twenty degrees per side, will survive chopping better than a fine slicing bevel. Full method in steel care and sharpening with a whetstone.

Forged in Memphis

Ransack Viking forges in Memphis, Tennessee. The billet is welded here, the blade is ground here, the bolster and rosewood are fitted here and the sheath is cut and stitched here to this blade. Nothing is drop shipped from an importer catalogue and nothing arrives finished with our name added to it.

Processing is one to two weeks because someone actually makes it, engraved orders sit at the longer end of that, shipping inside the United States is free, and returns are open for seven days from delivery.

A note on handmade variation

This Bowie is hand forged. It is not machine made and it is not bulk produced, so the knife that arrives will not be a pixel for pixel copy of the photograph. The Damascus pattern comes out of the billet differently every time and rosewood varies enormously from board to board, running anywhere from red brown to near purple with dark streaking.

The dimensions, the steel, the hardness and the build are the same on every one. The grain, the tone, the pattern and the exact profile are not, because each is worked by hand from natural materials. That variation is what you are buying and it is the opposite of a fault.

Frequently asked questions

Is the Longrose sharp on arrival

Yes. It is finished on a stone before packing and will shave and slice cleanly out of the sheath. On a blade this long, expect to touch up the front third more often than the heel, because that is the section that does most of the cutting.

Can I baton with it

Yes, within reason. The full tang and the tough 15N20 layers make it capable of splitting kindling and small rounds, and the 8.75 inch blade gives you enough length to get through most camp wood. Do not use it as a wedge on knotted hardwood and do not strike the tip.

What is the difference between a Bowie and a hunting drop point

A drop point pushes the spine down in a gentle convex curve, which gives a strong tip and a controlled belly for skinning. A Bowie clips the spine away in a concave sweep, which gives a much finer point and more forward mass. The drop point is the better dedicated skinner and the Bowie is the better one knife answer.

Is the tang full length

Yes. The tang runs the full profile of the handle with the rosewood scales fitted to it and the steel bolster capping the front. That construction is what lets a blade this size take chopping and levering without the handle working loose.

Will the rosewood need refinishing

Not for years, and when it does it is a ten minute job at your own kitchen table. The wood is oiled rather than sealed, so a wipe of light oil brings the colour back rather than sitting on top of a cracked lacquer film.

How long does it take to ship

Allow one to two weeks of processing while the piece is forged and finished, plus transit, with engraved orders at the longer end. Shipping inside the United States is free and returns are open for seven days from delivery.

What is in the box

• One Longrose Damascus Bowie knife
• Leather sheath
• Protective packaging
• Forged and finished in Memphis, Tennessee

Explore the range

Compare it against Bowie Knives, Hunting Knives and Damascus Skinner Knives. The reasoning behind the steel and the leather is in the guides.