Stag & Steel

Sometimes the opportunity to own something very special comes along once or twice in a lifetime. It was that way with my purchase of an original Larry Harley Battle Bowie and later a Harley Battle Dagger. It was like that with an early Bagwell Bowie that I owned and traded off. (We all do dumb things in our lives, that was one of them.)

Not all knives are irreplaceable but any finely crafted handmade knife deserves our respect. In the past year I won the bidding on this lovely austere Howard Faucheaux Bowie (top knife). A crack ran the full length of the stag handle, caused by age and shrinkage. Probably this defect accounted for the anemic bidding. I mixed up epoxy, along with some coloring, and forced it down into the crack with a thin metal shim. Now I defy you to find the crack. The classic lines of Faucheaux’s knife define the Bowie knife of the late 1800s. The forged and flat ground nine-inch blade is hair shaving sharp. The heavy leather sheath is excellent quality, although left-handed. This is an elemental fighting knife, in both proportions and balance.
As luck would have it a Bill Bagwell bowie (bottom knife) came up on auction at a time when I had already committed monies to buying knives from other custom makers. If you do not already know, Bill Bagwell and his Bowies are legendary. I decided that I would do my utmost to add this knife to my collection. To say I am fortunate to have won the bidding on this knife would be an understatement.

Importantly, above and beyond any price paid, I think it is imperative that collectors recognize their responsibility and privilege when owning such irreplaceable items. This Bowie is unlike most of Bill’s big knives, being made, as the seller stated, in a distinctive “Sheffield Style.” The 8 ¾ inch long blade is extremely sharp and forged from a very thick (nearly 3/8") piece of steel. Despite the heavy stock he forged it from, the knife is well balanced and only slightly blade heavy. In the end I paid four times for the Bagwell what I paid for the Faucheaux Bowie. Is the Bagwell four times the knife? I seriously doubt it. The Faucheaux would serve just as admirably in a knife fight. When my wife asked why I paid so much, I just shrugged and pointed to the name stamped into the ricasso. It is hard to explain, but this is a Stradivarius among Bowies.