Every culture has its key events and special people. America, young though it may be, has gathered to its heart a veritable plethora of these. Bowie and the knife he used to stay alive against all odds. Black, the man who made that knife for him. Patton, the young cadet who designed a saber and went on to become one of the finest field commanders of the 20th century. Tom Sawyer's Barlow Knife although fictional, was based on a real knife and managed to capture the dreams of young boys who yearned for adventure. Here we have threads to a discourse which are tightly woven and unfaded to this day.

The cutting edge is intimately woven into the fabric of The US.

Heritage is the relationship we have with the people and places around us. Generation after generation sweat over the same soil, pray in the same pews and carve their initials into the same school desk, and often with the same pocketknife.

When, by common consent, they are considered remarkable, hero's inhabit a world of imagination based on our past and handed to us through the remembrances and stories of ordinary people.

This was a land of frontiers where the knife came into its own as the all purpose tool and companion of the peripatetic. Away from civilization the knife was a comforting weight on the person and allowed food processing and other activities to be pursued with a view to survival and even prosperity.

Knives were appreciated by a people whose lives were in the balance. This appreciation created a market for good work and fostered a climate of innovation in the art of knifemaking.

Knives of America

On a continent that was still wild and uncut by the machinery of civilization knives were an indispensable tool. The Russell Green River was a feature of many dime store novels and was in real life an instrument of trade with native peoples. It was also the knife used to skin and process the buffalo almost to extinction and so was truly the knife that won the west.

The Greenriver came in three patterns. Blades were usually 6 inches long and handle materials were cocobolo and ebony. They were also available with 5", 6", 7", 8", 9" and 10" blades. 

The larger green rivers were essentially butcher knives. The shorter versions came in three patterns.

• The Dadley, a straight spearpoint blade such as the one in our picture.
• A straight bladed clip point similar to a butcher knife.
• A heavily curved skinning blade,

The Bowie which is the knife that most people associate with the west has now been adapted to suit all situations and is appreciated by those who need a good knife and rely on its service in the field. As a consequence there is no definitive Bowie Knife. Some Bowie's have no clip at all, while clip length varies from one Bowie to another in those that do. Most are saber ground, though a sizable proportion have a full width grind. Blade length is also variable according to taste and handle shapes show a wide variety of styles from coffin, to dog bone, to center swell and so forth. Yet all Bowies share an indefinable something that shows their lineage and affords them the illustrious name of Bowie. A useable point, a good cutting and chopping capability, a generous hand guard and a fist full of handle are generally the marks of a Bowie.

The humble Buck 110 is the original folding lockback and became very popular in the 1950's and 60's. The safety lock ensured the blade was secure so that the user could rest easy knowing there was no risk of the blade collapsing over the fingers. Its Bowie style blade and sturdy construction reinforced a feeling of dependability and safety. These days it is superseded by the Walker designed linerlock, America's most ubiquitous folder, but the 110 lockback is still appreciated for its walk and talk and any locking folder collection is not complete without one.

The drop point hunter, first popularized by Loveless, is perhaps America's most popular fixed blade pattern today. The Drop point is so ubiquitous that some people profess an intense dislike for the pattern but that has not dulled its popularity in the least bit.

Its popularity rests in its usually tidy size, neat, restrained appearance and light weight. Like the Bowie it also appears in a variety of guises and suits a variety of purpose. The lowered point makes it well suited to draw cuts.

The Marble Woodcrafter is another knife that has found a place in any representative sampling of American knives. It is rarely seen today which is a great pity as it is a fantastic utility and general purpose knife. Not a large knife, yet it still has the chopping ability of a knife that is half as large again because of its weight distribution.

The Kabar, still made today was taken into the field of battle by American soldiers in World War Two. Then it was taken home in their kit bags after the war to be treasured by their childern and their grandchildren.

There are many other knives worthy of inclusion in this list, these are only the most obvious candidates. So perhaps at some point a re-edit of this page is called for. In this new world knifemakers from old and established traditions came together to produce new knives with a distinct American character. American knifemaking has re-energized the art through its constant experimentation with new designs, techniques and raw materials. Old long lost processes have been rediscovered and new processes invented. And while our little essay on American knives may be coming to an end, we can rest assured that the great story of American knives, their makers and their users, is only just gathering pace.