What Makes a Good Combat Bowie?

[@rosalindstewart7013]

My sincerest condolences to you and your family on your loss mate 🙏, Yogi ✌️

[@100BearPaw]

Those are exceptional designs that are well executed. Im impressed.

[@RecycledSoul]

Absolutely beautiful. They remind me of the AG Russel knives from back in the early 90's but brought up to modern standards. Your work is exceptional.

[@calebwhiteknives]

Thank you very much!

[@JosephAllen-d2e]

I have 3 of your knives that I bought a couple years or so ago. They are still 3 of my favorite knives.

[@calebwhiteknives]

@@JosephAllen-d2e thank you, and I’m very pleased to hear it. 🙏🏻

[@ASimao71]

Sorry for your loss, Caleb. Concerning your ideas and designs, they are extremely well thought, I love them! 👍 When I served, one could carry the knife he ( there were no shes in infantry @ the time - early 90's) wanted, provided it was stainless (for dealing with medical stuff - cutting fabric near flesh wounds and stuff). I ended up carrying a solingen german combat knife. It served good... What I quickly learned was... A duty knife can be used for anything... Prybar, shovel, screwdriver, fork, can and crate opener, ziptie cutter... The lightest the knife, the better... Ounces are pounds, and pounds are pain... Also, both the handle and sheath must be impervious to wet climates. So... Blade lenght and thikness matter, so does the width. The grind must be robust, but forget scandi... It sucks... Heat treatment is of utmost importance, the blade must be tought and easy to sharpen. Handle and sheath must be impervious to the elements. This is my assesment of a combat knife... 26:58

[@calebwhiteknives]

We’ll put! Thank you. And good lord I miss the 90s military…I went in at the tail end of the good ol’ days(98’). 😆

[@ASimao71]

@@calebwhiteknives 92-94 here... Ohh Dear God! The good old days!! 👍😄

[@longrider42]

I am a leather worker, so when I make a leather knife sheath or holster. I water proof it using Boiled Linseed oil, and I apply at least three coats, inside and out. Making sure there is a drain hole at the bottom. Now it is weather proof. As for handles. If its wood or leather, I.E, the Kabar, do the same thing. I've worked on leather horse harnesses that are 100+ years old. You know what gives out first, all the brass bits and pieces and buckles :)

[@colinburgess9455]

I love your work. The only thing that puts me off is the hollow grind, I’m completely opposite, I prefer convex grinds they’re tougher than hollow grinds and more conducive to utilitarian and hard use.

[@calebwhiteknives]

Fallkniven does convex very well. Other than that, I can’t think of many doing it. Convex edges on the other hand are very useful

[@shubbagin49]

Still got my Randell and passed it on to my eldest son who is in the 42nd, British Marines, HE is allowed to carry a Fairrbain Sykes on active duty.. His Captain told him that his Dads pigsticker was verboten on active service

[@russelldavis8415]

When I served in an armoured regiment many years ago, we could carry any type of knife we wanted, it was never an issue, how times change.

[@JohnTBlock]

The Bowie crossed over as a camp "Chopper," as well as a fighter. Blade length minimum of six inches, will reach the "vitals," in a stab...

[@lesliestjohn101]

Reminds me of the bagwell coffin handle Bowie which I love

[@calebwhiteknives]

A fine knife!

[@longrider42]

A side note on the California "Bowie" Dagger. It was designed for one reason. Self Defense, and carried by many single women. So really, is not very useful for much else. I personally do not consider it a Bowie knife. But I know it as the California Dagger.

[@mannywilliams6409]

The knife you show at 7:41 reminds me of the paracord handled EK I carried when hunting.

[@shubbagin49]

Last word from your cousin in the Old World. FREEDOM

[@calebwhiteknives]

Amen! Let it ring!

[@rosalindstewart7013]

Your work just keeps getting better and better mate, awesome designs and flawless finishes, take care and stay safe cheers Yogi ✌️

[@calebwhiteknives]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@globyois]

Fantastic work! Your blades are GORGEOUS! Yeah, being a writer, words are important to me and I have come up with my own “taxonomy” for different blade types, Bushcraft vs. tactical vs. Survival knife. I have a SCHF9 - a big reason is the low cost - as a survival knife. I think there are certain necessities that are needed for a true “survival” knife. Here’s my idea of what one should be, in no particular order - 1. Must be virtually indestructible. When surviving, a broken blade can be heartbreaking! So for me, I want at least a 1/4” thickness and a full tang. 2. Must be tactically capable. Not just for the two legged predators but the four legged ones as well. The good Lord forbid, but if you I attacked by a bear and that’s all I have I want to be able to reach vital organs and do some damage. So a fair bit of length and breadth is in order, along with a decent point. 3. It needs to be heavy and beefy enough for wood processing. Again, we’re talking survival so woodworking is essential; young trees, brush, even small logs, many different natural resources need to be gone after and you need a blade that can handle them. 4. Processing game. If all I catch is three inch bait fish my machete may cause me to waste meat (hunger can make one injudicious). So a survival knife has to be able to - if not comfortably, at least adequately - work on small game. However, if I happen to get an elk with my bush-made atlatl I want enough steel to allow me to field dress such a beast as quickly as possible (God has been generous to the olfactory strength of bears and other hunters I could be competing with). 5. Good tried and true steel. This is essential! As mentioned above, a broken blade means a broken heart. Even an impressive LOOKING knife can fail if the material is not of a high quality level so I want to make sure of the makers and their reputation for the manufacturing practices. So there you have it. A quick five must haves for me when it comes to a survival knife. I will accept nothing less. My life just may depend on it!

[@calebwhiteknives]

By far the most..expansive response! 😆 Fine points, all. 🙏🏻

[@globyois]

@@calebwhiteknives Thank you Sir. And thank you for donning the uniform and protecting our country and our lives, we here couldn’t do it ourselves.

[@calebwhiteknives]

@@globyois it was my privelage

[@aarongolub2790]

Sorry for your loss🙏❤🙏

[@AltaSurvival]

My condolences to you and your family. 10:45 I just found your channel and this is the first video I’ve watched. My jaw dropped when I saw your model 1 MK 2 with the micarta handle! If I were to combine all my favorite knife parts in one design, that’s it. My favorite blade shape is the raised clip point! You have a new follower! Now I need to reach one of my goals so I can reward myself with a model 1. Well done Caleb! A version of the model 1 that is the size of the small tanker would be an awesome “do everything “ edc knife! I’m definitely a fan of your work!

[@calebwhiteknives]

Thank you, sincerely. And welcome to the thunder dome! 🤟🏼⚔️ If you sign up for my mailing list through my website you’ll get notified as I drop knives, show schedules etc.

[@AltaSurvival]

@@calebwhiteknives are you going to be at Blade Show West in a couple of weeks?

[@calebwhiteknives]

@@AltaSurvival no, unfortunately. But I will be at Blade Texas and Blade Atlanta. I’ll be at NCKS in Nashville for November.

[@chrisnewport7826]

Great design, may ask to review.

[@49giants3]

Rip to your family member. Stay strong brother

[@markfulmer67]

Really appreciate your content, great stuff and your work is awesome! My prayers for you and your families loss

[@calebwhiteknives]

🙏🏻

[@JohnTBlock]

We grieve with thee...

[@camerongunn7906]

Very beautiful knife.

[@calebwhiteknives]

Thank you 🙏🏻

[@amayapahernandez5532]

The Small tanker with a flat or Saber grind. For outdoor and survival. 🤔

[@theredpilldougmckinzie]

AWSOME, I love videos like this….

[@calebwhiteknives]

🙏🏻 more on the way!

[@darrenkautz7982]

Sorry for you and your families loss Caleb.

[@richardhenry1969]

Id never pick a hollow grind. But that's my personal opinion. I also prefer a drop point and a fighter needs at least a 5in blade. The blade needs to be able to get through clothes and gear. You make a beautiful knife. Funny thing about being a veteran. When i was in i didn't have enough money to buy expensive knives. I carried a coldsteel recon tanto. Of course back then it was American made and cost over a $100. Which was a months jump pay.

[@calebwhiteknives]

Definitely had one of those at one point. Had to eat at the chow hall for two months after buying it, lol

[@ZAKCOBRA]

What makes a Good Combat Knife you ask - 1. A knife that i can carry easily 2. Should be strong enough to be my partner in distress 3. Should cut, slice, and punch through. 4. More importantly be comfortable 5. One that will not let me down. 6. Shape Steel and how it is made gives me the confidence that it will not falter. 7. One that is going to quench my thirst and end my search of another. Wish i could add the pic of my knife..my own design here...i love it none comes close had it custom made..:)

[@calebwhiteknives]

At least now you know 😆

[@joshuaford9003]

I carried a tanto K-bar for all my tours in sandbox

[@calebwhiteknives]

Definitely went through a couple of those! 😆

[@JohnTBlock]

Like you, I prefer full-tang, for the strength, regardless of blade length....

[@shubbagin49]

Love your thoughts on bladed utility and no bullets real no-nonsense put the shits up you fighting.

[@shubbagin49]

Hope you make some money with our blades, ask any combat-experienced soldier, as long as they haven't been traumatised by blade fighting. PERSONALLY my favourite bladed weapon is a spear, cant hang it from your belt though

[@chrisnewport7826]

Blade length equals mass.

[@jamessampson964]

I would really like one of the mini tankers with a subhilt

[@calebwhiteknives]

I don’t think there’s enough room in that design for a subhilt…it would need some heavy handle mods. Blade could stay the same though 🤔

[@Eye_Guard]

Love it!

[@calebwhiteknives]

Thanks!! 🙏🏻

[@WilliamCollins-sh6lm]

Your going to actually need 3 knives large medium and small ... Large fairly heavy but not too heavy ... Medium about 1/2 size of large ... Small 1/3 of large ... A zipper or gut hook that takes replacement blades ether razor or utility... Is a welcome addition ... If I'm going hand to hand blade against blade the large heavy razor sharp Is hard to beat or best !!! The US cameralus K Bar design with a center diamond point comes out as easy as it goes in and is capable of splitting ribs ...

[@longrider42]

I would carry for fighting, a knife with at least a 10 inch blade, and a good guard. Reach is every thing. For every day use the Buck 119, with a six inch blade. For a small knife hard to say, but I would also carry a Multi tool. But I like how you think. Right tool for the job.

[@louiswilkins9624]

Condolences 🙏🙏🙏

[@russelldavis8415]

I think a combat knife is only as good as the person using it. I have used a bowie type knife and a kukri. The bowie is a good stabbed and slasher, whereas the kukri is not good for stabbing, but is very good at slashing and indeed removing limbs including the head. The FS handle put me off preferring a thicker handle myself. It’s also illegal in UK to carry a knife unless it is relevant to your job (having a valid reason to carry it) We have a serious problem here in UK with knife crime, but the Govt dont think we should be allowed ANYTHING to defend ourselves. took away guns, taken away knives,

[@GrumpyBearArms]

Great video bud.

[@calebwhiteknives]

Thanks 👍

[@TrentCostello]

No long storys bro 😮

[@jasonvliet-odonataknifeworks]

Love your design style…very clean lines. Thank you for saying boo-e and not bow-e…drives me nuts!

[@calebwhiteknives]

Man it takes so much effort not too…not gonna lie 😆

[@vorpalblades]

Bow-E is the correct Scottish pronunciation.

[@jasonvliet-odonataknifeworks]

@@vorpalblades That’s great if you’re David Bowie but since the name sake of the Bowie knife is Jim Bowie (boo-e), an American frontiersman born in Kentucky and died defending the Alamo in Texas, bow-e is incorrect in regard to the pronunciation of the Bowie knife. There is even a town in Texas called Bowie and everyone there pronounces it boo-e. No hard feelings…I know it’s a constant debate in the knife community. Cheers!

[@vorpalblades]

@@jasonvliet-odonataknifeworks he was of Scottish descent. Bow-E is the correct pronunciation.

[@jasonvliet-odonataknifeworks]

@@vorpalblades We’ll have to agree to disagree, because you’re wrong. I’m from Texas, I’ve been to Bowie several times, been to the Alamo, been to TX history class in middle school…It’s always been Boo-E…not Bow-E. Even in Scotland, one of their most famous exports is a Scotch whiskey named Drambuie (dram-boo-e). Buie is just a derivation of Bowie. Both are pronounced boo-e. I’m not saying you’re the only person who gets it wrong, but you are most definitely incorrect sir.

[@shubbagin49]

Advanced on a South American soldier with a bayonet, and then they tell me I CANNOT CARRY A BLADED NON LOCKING KNIFE IN MY OWN COUNTRY FOR SELF-DEFENSE.

[@calebwhiteknives]

Lol…an MOD clown tried to arrest me on our own base at Fairford for wearing my EK Commando..while on active patrol with my machine gun, pistol, grenades, and a handful of Gurkhas with me. On our own base. On duty. With a machine gun…but I guess a knife was just a step too far. 😂 Ass-clowns.

[@TrentCostello]

Thinking the spartan blades ronin shinto is my next edc

[@calebwhiteknives]

A fine choice. Spartan makes amazing blades.

[@longrider42]

For fighting I'll stick with my Cold Steel 1917 Frontier Bowie. For every day use my Buck 119. A proven design, which saw use by soldiers, although I think more by pilots, during Vietnam. I've been collecting knives since the early 80's. I've learned what a good knife is, and what is not so good. Never liked Stainless steel blades. I find them hard to sharpen, and don't they become brittle in cold weather?

[@vorpalblades]

Most Buck fixed blade knives are 420 stainless steel.

[@shubbagin49]

FROM a soldier of my queen and 4th generation soldier you really thought about this 2nd Para and formally HELLS LAST ISSUE, BRITISH ARMY Light infantry unit who wasn't nice to anybody anybody opposed to them, , my martial history in my genes Yank. KNIVES are not used very often now in modern warfare. I was told once to advance with fixed bayonet on a position until I received Effective fire, had to do it because my oppos and mates were doing it, plus I was a British soldier and had taken theQueens shilling. It is called a bayonet charge . I carried on my hip an American knife, not unlike a bowie, Blackjack knife, A 2 Steel, designed by the gentleman who is connected to Bark river knives, nearly 50 years ago sir. To tell the truth, darkness and grenades won the skirmish. I love the shape of your knives, if I HAD LIVED 500 Years ago, a Scottish dirk would have been CQC, EVEN TODAY AT 75. ELEQUENT BLADES, the blade for this old British soldier seems to put the shits up most opponents

[@calebwhiteknives]

🙏🏻🤟🏼

[@Blackie991]

Sign me up for the California Bowie

[@calebwhiteknives]

Jump on my email list through the website! This one will be available in the coming weeks

[@Blackie991]

@@calebwhiteknives I’m on it what is your email

[@MarkSenger]

Sorry to your family from me guy,keep your chin up. 😊

[@49giants3]

What is the stainless steel that you use?

[@calebwhiteknives]

CPM154 and RWL34 primarily

[@49giants3]

@@calebwhiteknives thanks

[@TrentCostello]

Some one say big bowie? ❤ walk round with tops wild pig hunter in texas all the time 🎉

[@MrRourk]

A D Guard

[@simontenkate1786]

Change the sheeth containing a button, for a quick-draw sheeth. The one or two seconds needed to unbutton the sheeth will make a fatal difference in a life-threatening situation

[@bobbieschke599]

Colonial Americans used the kitchen/butcher knives of the time as hunting/fighting knives, usually made in Sheffield England. The Arkansas dirk, Bowie knife and Taos Spanish Bowie came later in the 18-19th centuries. Mountain Men and soldiers/scouts needed an all around knife, usually 7-9 inches long, to dress game, build shelters/ process wood, and lastly for defense. Knife fighting is not prevalent in modern combat, except for the use of the Kukuris by the Gorka regiments, and maybe the dagger to take out sentries. 95% of a knifes duties are not in hand to hand..........

[@calebwhiteknives]

Indeed!

[@jusme8060]

Doodie knife??? Ewwww

[@calebwhiteknives]

@@jusme8060 and it’s a big doodie! 😝

[@redrustyhill2]

Calling any large knife a bowie is dumb. None of those shown are bowie knives.

[@calebwhiteknives]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/aZTdgoCAjbScjZI I think you'll really enjoy my newest video. Great discussion on my newest Bowie knife.

[@JosephAllen-d2e]

No one really knows what a Bowie knife looks like. The old school Bowie knives were clip points that knife companies renamed Bowie knives to take advantage of Jim Bowies fame.

[@calebwhiteknives]

@@JosephAllen-d2e so true, lol. It’s such a broad descriptor used all over the place.

[@bradleyb.425]

Dude, at one minute 30 seconds you changed your topic from what makes a good combat knife to a monolog about all kinds of knives. Wtf? No one seems to be able to focus anymore, or be honest in their titles on KZbin.