Comments on the Book

Well I have nearly finished reading the Kirchner Bowie knife book. I wanted to say that it is good from front to back cover, all the more valuable as a reference since mr Kirchner points out where myth overshadows truth. Where fact rises its ugly head he still prints it even though it might go counter to established fables or flowery legend. One very importand point is that in those days a bowie knife was more than the equal of even a colt revolver, or the predominant double barreled muzzle-loading pistols. One story in particular, the attempted assassination of the Sect of State Seward, illustrates the difficulty of an unarmed man overcoming one armed with a knife. In this fracas several people are very seriously injured and the assassin still escapes. One final point. Many martial artists who teach knife defense as a sideline are fond of quipping: "expect to get cut." Well many of these characters in this book do get cut, some of them several times, many of them suffer permanent injuries, disfigurement, or deformities as a result. The good guys do not always win. So the next time your sensei says: :just grab his knife and do this, or that," you might want to rethink who you learn knife fighting/defense from.
This Southwest Style Bowie was hand forged by Matt Lamey

Bit By the Bowie Bug?

First impressions can often be wrong. For some reason a description of the book Bowie Knife Fights, Fighters and Fighting Techniques by Paul Kirchner turned me off buying it. That was a big mistake. I finally bought a copy from Paladin Press and I am having a great read of it. It has 376 pages of well annotated tales of Bowie knife usage and the men who made it both Legendary and often Disreputable. Scalawags, murderers, thieves, slaves and slave hunters, Southern Aristocrats and redneck butchers: the Bowie knife was an equalizer when few men carried Colts.

I am only a third of the way through Mr. Paul Kirchner’s book and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in the history or use of this iconic American weapon. The amount of research required to put together a book like this is daunting. If there are any shortcomings at all to the book it is the lack of photos. It does have a number of nicely done sketches to illustrate a few of the stories. If its Bowie knife photos you want you will need to spend a king’s ransom ($80 or more) for the book “The Bowie Knife: Unsheathing an American legend” by Norm Flayderman. Flayderman’s book is also worth the money if you are a true knife aficionado. I would suggest buying both books and spending the coming winter reading them. Then once you have consumed them purchase the two books on Bowie Knife techniques by Dwight McLemore and you will have caught a serious case of the Bowie Bug. It only gets worse because I can steer you to a few custom Bowie Knife makers and fine instructors to suck the last penny out of your life’s savings. Just teasing, sort of. Once you catch the Bowie bug there is no known cure.

Storm Clouds continue to gather

There are so many things I want to say, and that need to be said, or do they? As Glenn Beck would say, "Do your own research." Check out the powers of the new "Super Congress," see how comfy you feel with the way things are going. Personally, I'm more worried than ever. Oh by the way, one little detail.....guess who has reserved the power to cast a tie breaking vote if the six Democrats and six Republicans are deadlocked?? So in actuality it is a committee of six Republicans and seven Democrats.

Bugging in or Buggin Out?

Talk is cheap, prepping is not. How many of you sense something is majorly wrong with our nation, with the world? Are you preparing for tough times or sticking your head in the sand? I am collecting fighting knives at a much slower pace. Now every time I buy a knife I ask myself if the money wouldn’t be better spent buying MREs, or other survival preparations. Look at poor Japan. An empire built on electricity provided by nuclear power is fighting heroically to control that monster. Those poor people had little or no emergency stores put aside and any they might have had were wiped out in the tsunami.

Without being a doomsday soothsayer, we know we face the potential for that same disaster to occur here because of the nuclear plants built along the fault-line running the length of California. Storms ravage our nation from the Gulf of Mexico to New England, bringing ice storms, power outages, blizzards, flooding, wild fires, tornados and hurricanes. We face economic uncertainty the likes of which have not existed since the Great Depression. We are locked into wars against Muslims in three nations. Nation after nation is crumbling into chaos as established rulers are toppled by mobs and their economies collapse.

Like many of the people I converse with on forums, I have a BOB (Bug Out Bag) prepared. It can be simple or all inclusive depending on your finances, circumstances, and ability to carry it. But it would be prudent to prepare some type of backpack containing a few MREs, water purifier, flash light, fire starting kit, etc. There are forums completely devoted to survival preparations. Do some looking around. One of the forums I go to is http://www.survivalblog.com for good sound information.

Of course any BOB worth its salt will include a folder or two and a larger fighting or camp knife. Some of my BOB knives are a Grayman Kordorfan 8, a Fox XL Panga or the nice Fox Kukri, a Becker BKT-10 bowie/camp knife, etc. You get the idea, something brawny and reliable. Another good addition is a leatherman of some description and maybe a small set of wire cutters. Machete and tomahawks all have their uses, it depends the local terrain, on your mission, and your familiarity with various bladed weapons/tools. Keep a small sharpening tool in your BOB too.

Needless to say, firearms ought to be a thoughtful part of your preparations, whether intended for food procurement or self defense. Keep them legal, simple, and make sure you have enough ammo to feed them. Be completely familiar with their safe operation and cleaning. Do your homework first and avoid wasting money on things you don't need. Look around your home and see what you already have that can be incorporated into your BOB. Have fun, but don't put off doing it forever.The knife is a beautiful "Wendigo" by John Gonzalez of Dervish Knives.

Watson Push Dagger

Here is a neat new knife from Channing Watson! I looked at it on my favorite forum, looked at it several more times, and finally I could not resist anymore. It is made from 1/4 in thick steel and the handles are G-10 on one side and micarta on the other. The four inch blade is chisel ground and then treated with an acid etch ala Kiku Matsuda who pioneered this finish. I already have a plan for this knife. It is going to be mounted on the shoulder strap of my bug-out-bag like from the movie "Full Metal Jacket." My second "BOB" is outfitted with a "Tops Knives California Cobra." Based on its profile and thickness I suspect that this blade would penetrate soft body armor. Unfortunately I don't have anyway to prove out my theory. I'd like to find an old cast off bit of chest armor to do some penetration tests with this and a few other knives but no luck finding any so far. Push ddaggers became popular items during the Gold Rush days and were carried by nefarious gamblers, thugs and riverboatmen. This genre of knives is still useful for close-range self defense, especially for people of weaker grip or small stature. The natural gripping shape of the handle makes its use instinctive and solid. The addition of a fingerhole makes this dagger unique. Channing has produced some very dramatic knives with aggressive looks and solid ergonomics. His designs are fresh and innovative. Looking at the shape and finish I can almost hear the fluttering of Batman's wings in the background. The photos are from Mr. Watson. Great work Channing!
For those of you who follow my political rants: Congratulations mr Sorros. Your Obedient servant, the Big O delivered what you wanted. I heard just last week that you had divested yourself of US Treasury Bonds. Nice move spooky dude.