Bailey Bradshaw

Thought I would share with you one of the most beautiful and artistic Bowie knives I have ever had the pleasure of owning. Bailey Bradshaw is the maker. He is now making custom rifles and that is the knife-making world’s loss. His British style falling block rifles are equally artistic displaying fine lines, exquisite engraving, even in high relief, and exhibition grade woods. Check his rifle work out at http://www.bradshawgunandrifle.com/ The 10 3/8 inch forged blade exhibits a crisp and active hamon. The spine (or mune) has a graceful sweep and is ground to a peak like a fine Japanese blade. Bailey’s Japanese torri trademark is etched on one side and his MS (master smith) stamp is on the other side. There is an incredible presence to this blade. Remember that aliveness I mentioned in an earlier post? This knife has it in spades.

The handle has a traditional Bowie shape but clearly a Japanese treatment: with same gawa (rayskin) underlay with tsuka ito (cord wrapping) of Navy blue silk. The steel mounts are again Japanese in form, crafted of mild steel, inlaid with gold wire, and gun blued. This fighting knife exudes an understated elegance a samurai would appreciate. Mr. Bradshaw said he made this knife about 2004-2006. While it is of presentation grade, in materials and finish, hefting it leaves no doubt that it is also combat grade.

What would James Bowie have given to carry a knife like this? The heavy leather sheath is simple and perfectly fitted so that even inverted the knife stays put. It has the belt stud common on today’s sheaths allowing the wearer to slip it in and out of their belt whenever you need to sit. So I am not the first owner (more correctly caretaker) of this knife, but time and prior ownership have not diminished its exceptionalism. Thank God there are people out there like Bailey Bradshaw who create such works of art.
And now you know why I am selling some of my other Bowies. It is "time to pay the piper" as the saying goes.

Bowies For Sale

I have these bowies for sale on another forum so if you are inerested contact me by email soon! ghdave2@hotmail.com

These Bowies are now SOLD! I am selling these bowies in anticipation of having to pay for a custom one from Matt Lamey. They are all custom knives by two different makers. One came without a sheath. They are excellent knives for re-enactors of the fur trade or civil war era. I am no longer doing re-enacting. They are priced according to what I feel is a realistic value based on the rougher finish on two of them. The finish in no way detracts from their function. Two of them have faint hamon. I am asking $175 for either of the knives with sheaths and $150 for the one without. I will sell the three of them as a set for $450. Numbered from the bottom to the top: #1 has 11 inch blade, #2 has 10 inch blade and #3 has a 9.5 inch blade. #1 has visible grinding marks on the blade that the maker did not polish out but its a hell of a stout blade. All are about 3/16" thick.

The Value of Friends

I just spent a terrible three days traveling for my work. It took me almost 20 hours to fly from here in NY to Kansas. I flew from Elmira to Detroit, to Memphis, to Atlanta (cause my flight got in late and I missed a connection) finally arriving in Wichita at 11:30 PM. Crashing at my hotel about midnight. Oh this was not the hotel I was supposed to be in because that was another 4 hours drive west. So who cares about my travel woes other than me, probably no one. I would have turned around and gone back home from Detroit but for one thing, I wanted to spend a few hours with a close friend in Wichita.

I am not sure how many of you have a friend worth that sort of effort, but if you do, then cherish them. In the coming days things are going to get tough and you will find a true friend is worth more than all the gold in the world. Thanks for a nice visit Gary, it made it all worthwhile.
http://www.bradburnknives.com/

Class Warfare?

The fallacy of the greedy wealthy and the reality of class war.
News Flash! Sunday April 17. The president said he believes that "the rich want to give back more to their country." Therefore I guess he is being their conscience and taking from them what they have not readily given up. I'm so stupid Mr. President, I thought this was stealing. Maybe its something you learned from Socialist Rev Wright.
I am far from rich monetarily, but up until two years ago I at least felt reasonably free. Now thanks, to Mr. “Hope and Change,” I am poorer financially and I have more of my private life being encroached upon by his massive, burgeoning government, bigger than even GW ever considered. The federal government grew by nearly 40% under the current Prez and in just two years! What annoys me the most is knowing that I am paying my own jailers’ salaries, and knowing that they are making more money than I am. That is ludicrous and it borders on insanity. The average federal employee salary is over $81,000, the median income in my part of NY is just over $43,000. Despite this disparity our taxes are among the highest in the nation. What about the wealthy? I don’t give a damn how wealthy some people get unless they are stealing it from me. Who is stealing my money and giving me nothing in return? Yes that’s right, the US government. Wow what a coincidence. So not only do I pay for the intrusions into my life and the endless erosion of my freedoms, but I am also paying more to the people who do it so that they can do it even more, and steal even more of my money. Well Mr. Obama why not go ahead and take it all, redistribute it all. Just give me back a pittance to live on? It is only a matter of time until we all will either be working for the government, a ward of the government, or stealing for the Government, from the few brave souls who have tried to remain free. A good friend of mine said his neighbor who has been on welfare all his life got a tax refund, even though he has never paid any taxes. Where do you suppose that money came from? Not out of Mr. O’s pocket I can assure you. Remember this man, who incessantly attacks the wealthy, has a net worth of $10.5 million dollars! Look up disingenuous in the dictionary and see whose pictured there.

Cash for Clunkers

(I quickly cropped this photo to protect the "innocent") It is being sold as a custom knife. To be honest, it is one of the $19.95 versions.

There are people who call themselves knifemakers who are basically forging plowshares into knives. They take a piece of barstock, grind a low bevel about 3/8 inch up the blade, slap on some handles, and call it a custom knife. They charge you a custom price to make you feel like you got a custom knife. I could name a few of them who charged exhorbitant prices for their "custom" work but I haven't. Folks these are not custom fighting knives, they are chisels. You might cut open boxes or pry open doors with them but you are paying cash for clunkers. Can a heavy piece of bar or round stock be hammered or ground into a credible fighting knife? You bet it can! But it takes someone with rare talent and an eye for line, proportion, and balance. Can a small knife be used successfully for defense or a big Bowie flow lightly in the hand? Yes, yes is the simple answer. Finding the right people to make them is the difficult part of the equation. There are even production examples that fit our criteria but they are quite rare and maybe we will talk about some of them at a later date. There is an “aliveness” to a properly made fighting knife. I am not sure that a description of that feeling can even be written. Not every knifemaker will be able to duplicate that feeling in every knife he makes. It’s like people. We all know some people who are vibrant with life and others who are as exciting as a dog pile. (Remember our header says “always brutally honest.”) A person might be the most fastidious, detail oriented, knifemaker alive and still not be able to breathe life into a blade. In fact many of the over-polished, perfectly executed knives are dead in the hand. You will know the difference once you pick up a live one. If you want to know what the dead ones feel like, go to your local mall-ninja store and pick up a bunch of the shiny, stamped out stainless steel cadavers lying in their display case. There is a reason they only charge $19.95 for that huge Chinese Rambo-style Bowie. Live blades are going to cost you a lot more.

I just received my third blade from Johnathan Mitchell, this sweet little kwaito. The shipping box weighed more than the knife itself. Now here’s a hint, don’t base your knife selection by weight, its not like buying hamburger. This kwaito is formed from very thin titanium, not a metal commonly associated with traditional Japanese knives. I guarantee that you will not pry open any doors with this kwaito without destroying it. That’s not what it was designed for. If I were stupid enough to press my finger against the blade, with even moderate pressure, it would cut me to the bone. This knife is designed to cut flesh. Interesting that it has a bat menuki on the handle, a blood sucking Vampire bat maybe? On the other end of the size scale is this “working class” Bowie I received from my good buddy Matt Lamey. It is forged from round stock and the spine is nearly a ¼ inch thick. No need to pry open doors with this one either, just chop your way through, and once inside do what you need to do. This knife, like all of Matt’s knives, comes hair shaving sharp but it also comes with the gusto that only a kukri or a Bowie can bring to a fight. Neither one of these knives can be gotten for $19.95. This goes back to the old saying, just what is your life worth?

Blocking with the Blade Part II:

If you are using a reverse knife grip then in general you should reverse the blocking rules given in Part I posted a few days ago. Depending on how fast and flexible you are you may be able to block an attack to any zone with your knife positioned in reverse grip with the tip-down position.
What about the middle zone? Because of the way that the human arm is articulated, this zone presents a unique set of problems. When the attack is to your middle zone it is extremely difficult to contort your body to safely and reliably place your knife between your flesh and your attacker’s blade. To mitigate the middle zone issue you must either raise or lower your body. What we are actually concerned with, is where does your elbow lie in relative to the attack. The best bet is usually to drop your body into a crouch and block tip-up. This way, if the attack is higher than expected you can ward it off and pass it over your head. Trying to block tip-down in the middle zone may allow your attacker’s blade to pass under your knife, or with a slight adjustment to his cut, to come over the top of your block. Keep in mind that whenever you are blocking you should always remain relaxed and allow your entire body to move. If you harden up your moves then you may not move quickly enough or fluidly enough to get into position to block the attack. Harden your posture only at the moment of contact to prevent your blade from being folded back and slipping his blade over or under your block.
Do not forget that you can perform a stop hit using the very tip of your knife instead of the edge, but it requires a lot practice and excellent weapon control. Stop hits with the point can be especially useful against knee strikes or kicks, should your opponent be stupid enough to use them. Be careful to not lean your head into his range when performing any stop hit to the lower zone, just drop straight down by folding your knees. These techniques do not require any power, just perfect blade placement, body positioning, and timing. You use the attacker’s own energy to do the damage. Knife point stop hits may also be effectively targeted to your opponent’s hands when he thrusts or punches.
Your blocks should be reinforced by placing your body solidly behind your blade through proper foot placement and hip alignment. More importantly, keep in mind that the block is not the end-play. Your block should be thought of as merely the launching point for your riposte. Should you successfully block the incoming attack, but are not positioned to redirect the attack to your opponent, you will find yourself in the predicament of either having to block again or, worse yet, being tumbled by your attacker. At all times you must pay attention to your base and make sure it is not compromised. In brief, stance is nothing, stance is everything.