Made with Damascus steel and India Stag bone, this strikingly beautiful American Bowie knife is a head turner.
But how does it perform?
Read on to find out.
Bear & Son’s take on the blade is a classical rendition with a long, wide blade, upswept clip, double quillons and straight handle.
A Necessary Tool?
Rezin commissioned friend and local blacksmith Jesse Clifft to forge the knife that Rezin gave to Jim for protection.
And here is where the controversy enters.
A 9″ blade precludes the Bear & Son 502D from being used as CCW knife. However, it can make for an excellent outdoors tool.
The design of what became known as the Bowie knife has been argued through centuries.
Heck, even the name and details of that early Code Duello are not agreed upon.
Jim Bowie killed Wright by stabbing him directly in the heart or lacerating him open from neck to groin.
High definition Damascus steel is used for the blade in this full-tang Bowie knife.
Accounts, even from the late 1800s, vary wildly.
before the lethal thrust.
This fanciful retelling sounds like a line from a modern Bond film.
The Bowie knife has a distinctive shape, and the Bear & Son interpretation is inspired.
It is visually what we think of when someone says Bowie knife.
I own no knife of its sheer dimensions or fearsomeness.
Bears Bowie comes with a neatly stitched brown leather sheath with a single strap/snap to secure the knife.
The 502D Bowie knife is designed for outdoors use. It is not designed for discreet pocket carry.
It has a generous belt loop which will accommodate belts of nearly three inches.
The edges of the sheath itself are burnished and then finished in a contrasting dark dye.
The brands logo is stamped on the front of the leather.
The Bear & Son knife is beautiful, but is also suitable for tough work. The author’s sample was able to hack through hardwood with the factory edge.
The blade is hollow ground with a very long swedge, about half its length.
This imbues the knife with a sleek, classic, and definitely dangerous visage.
Bear & Son uses what they term Genuine India Stag Bone they source from India.
This is bone that is jigged and dyed to look like Stag Horn.
Bear stands by the quality of the bone and their name for it.
Bear did research and put the best product available into their scales.
I rather like them.
They have a weathered quality that fits with the Damascus steel.
There is no solder at the ricasso, but the fitment between the blade and guard is tight.
The scales are mated to the tang precisely, with the steel extending barely past the scale.
you could feel the cool Damascus versus the warm scales when you grip the blade.
Hands-On
The 502D Bowie is naturally blade heavy.
That said, it wields almost like a short sword.
It is quick and decisive in the slash and thrust.
With the quillons interfering in a saber grip, you heft this knife in a hammer grip.
I taped the blade and went through the 12 angles of attack taken from Filipino Visayan knife combatives.
After warming up, my speed increased, and I found this Bowie would move fluidly and with momentum.
Manipulating a blade this large is empowering.
A knife this impressive begs to be cleaving things.
I obliged it with 9-oz.
leather scraps, cardboard, a downed tree limb from Hurricane Idalia, and nylon rope.
The factory edge was not touched up beforehand but came to me keen.
It processed all the materials without issue and stayed sharp.
I was especially careful since the length of the edge is more than I am used to when slicing.
The Bowie brothers were reputed to have given away many replicas of that first knife.
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