The perfect blade length.

[Daniel Nighteyes]

Is it true that all of your knives have wide round points and dull edges so you won't hurt yourself while playing with them?

Yes, and I never run with them...   

[Black River Smith]

This post still interested me so, I made a tally of the hunting knife lengths available through the Mail Order houses.

This is just for information sake from the old catalogs that I own.

Montgomery Ward 1894 -95:  6 - 6"; 1 - 6.5"; 2 - 7"; 1 - 9".  Looks like more 6"

Sears 1897: 4 - 6"; 1 - 6.5"; 2 - 7".  Looks like more 6"

Sears 1900:  I have this catalog but this copy has numerous pages not printed from the original.  It does not contains the hunting knife section.  So I am including the 1902 tally.  I know it is past the timeframe in the original posting but ......

Sears 1902: 2 - 6"; 1 - 6.5"; 2 - 7"; 1 - 8".  Looks like 6 and 7" are the same.

Now this is just what was handled by the big supply houses and could be purchased by the town general stores.  Why were there more 6" knives make and carried or available?  What was the most requested length by the consumer, is still up for debate?

[1961MJS]

Hi

Frank Einstein raising the dead again.   

I'm putting scales on knife blades I purchased from Crazy Crow, Track of the Wolf, and Jantz Supply.  I've noticed that the handle on the 6 inch bowie knives is a hair too small for my hands.  I have long fingers.  I'm building a seven incher to my own use because it has 1/2 inch more handle.

Later

[Gun Creek Phil]

Hello,

I have a Sheffield bowie with stag handles and blade of 6 inches.
Easy to wear on a belt and not too long for fast draw 

[1961MJS]

Hi, interesting thought.
Antler grip length isn't defined by the tang length like it is on a full tang blade


Later

[Forty Rod]

I agree with Books.  

Might go 8", but any more won't balance as well and will get clumsy to carry...but longer will chop better.  

The balance issue is the same for less than 6-7", and you won't have the heft needed for heavy camp work...but it will be easier to carry.

I have two favorite knives: a Linder 8" Bowie with stag scales, and a 7 1/2" Longline Charlie Bowie with an 8"Damascus blade and a stag horn grip.  

Both balance beautifully and both are getting close to being too long for comfortable carry.

I also have a 4" Linder hunting knife with full horn handle that is not good for much.  It's not big enough for most camp use and it's too big for cleaning my nails, etc., but it's a lovely jewel to look at.  It stays on my desk for opening letters and the like.

Finally, I have 2 1/4" knife exactly like the ones Linder still make, full stag handle and all.  My grandfather brought it back from Switzerland in 1895 -1896.  Its sheath wore out many years ago and now rides in a sheath around my neck.  Crazy Crow used to sell them but I no longer have a source.  I'd buy a new one in a second.

I recently made a sheath for the 4" knife and it now resides on the end on my shooting bag from my 'skinner days.

[Tinker Pearce]

In the bush I tend to carry an 8-9" camp knife for building shelters and blinds, clearing brush and the like. I'll also carry a 5" hunting knife and a 4" Case folder with a spey blade- not a model they made but years back I picked up a trapper with a broken clip-point blade and rebuilt it as a single-blade. Useful as hell in the field for anything from food prep to skinning.

If I had to pick just one it would be the 5" hunter.

[Roscoe]

I recently made a decision on a knife but was wanting something more affordable than a custom and no longer than I would care to carry on my match costume. I have other huge Bowies and a machete, if serious about using the knife for chopping. Basically I wanted a practical skinning knife,, if ever needing to actually use it. Happily I found something Made in USA and a true Bowie shape. I passed on a number that did not have a full cross guard. I already owned a 6" Triple K sheath, not cheap, so that defined what blade length and width I needed. The best fit I found was a Buck from MidwayUSA, so when they appeared with the second price reduction, I went for it, no regrets. The handle looks a bit modern and decorative, but I prefer it, and the brass butt could actually serve for pounding. This will replace a 4" Baby Bowie by Remington, a really nice little knife and sheath.

[Jeremiah Jones]

When deer hunting, I carry two knives.  A 4" for cleaning the deer and a 12" Bowie for cutting brush/vines to cammo my stand.  Around town I carry a Swiss Army Knife and a Gerber Mark II boot knife.  To repeat what others have said, there is no one perfect length.

[PJ Hardtack]

Years ago I determined that a guy packing a 10"-12" Bowie was someone I preferred NOT to hunt with.

Not enough blade to replace a camp axe and way too much blade to be useful for anything else.

I think it was Col. Townsend Whelan that said the ideal hunting belt knife was one that could slice bacon from a slab and do the surgical cutting on a deer carcass.

I think he was right. For years I packed a 4" folder because I could sharpen it to scalpel sharp. Gutted out several large Mule Deer, a few moose and black bears with it. Only time I ever cut myself inside a carcass I was using a different knife, a classic 6" Bowie.

[Black River Smith]

To the last three or so posters', please go back to the original posted question or statement.

It is not what is the most useful by todays standards but what would be needed in 1860 to 1890 to live by.

The time and necessities have changed between then and now.  You have unfortunately strayed from the original question.

[PJ Hardtack]

I went back to the beginning of the thread.

Bottom line - what do want to do with the knife? Butcher a carcass? Clear brush? Split firewood? Fight?

Knives have always come in various sizes and shapes for good reason. Form follows function, as with all tools.

[Roscoe]

To the last three or so posters', please go back to the original posted question or statement.

It is not what is the most useful by todays standards but what would be needed in 1860 to 1890 to live by.

The time and necessities have changed between then and now.  You have unfortunately strayed from the original question.

Which I translated to what would be suitable for a match costume. My post was relevant, and I am sticking to it.