SZCO Full Tang Bowie Fixed Blade Hunting Knife 15 inch - Camping Knife with Leather Sheath for Men - Firm Grip Handle, Brass Guard with Carbon Steel Clip-Point Blade Knifes for Camping, Outdoor

So there I was drunk and off another red dead redemption kick looking for a Bowie knife that was decent looking and cheap. Drunk me and carbon steel are basically married at this point but I digress. When I got the knife the next day I almost rushed to check my checking statement to see how much of a fool I was, thankfully I wasn’t much of one at all at 20 bucks. I took a look a the edge and the majority of it had a pretty good bevel to it and a reasonably sharp edge, however the last inch or so of the point was dull as pig iron. That was annoying yes but easily cared for with a bastard file and a 1000 grit stone and she was then incredibly sharp given her size. Fast forward a few months and I’m beating on the thing just to see if I could break it. Full force throws into trees, often dirt, and bounces off rocks on all parts of the knife and the only thing that gave was the brass pins in the handle. Which honestly was gonna happen sooner than later given they’re just under an 1/8 of an inch thick. I’ll be remedying that soon with 1/4 inch brass rods soon and possibly new handle material but for now it’s a pretty tough knife. Did I mention I tried to snap it and it didn’t even budge? Great buy for the price all the way around. Treat it like hell and it’ll just keep coming back for more.

UPDATE: Thrown in the trash. After 1 month in my car it was totally rusted out. I had oiled the blade, ensured the sheath was dry and waxed. DEEP RUST that I couldn't get out with 00 steal wool and oil after a 15 min scrub. Honestly, I wouldn't even use this as a self-defense deterrent. Complete garbage even at $20 bucks when you can pick up a nice Chinese Marbles, Old Henry, or Schrade. In a world of Pakistani and Chinese pot steel knives with purchased USA brands, this simply doesn't even deserve a place at the bottom of a river. This is a truly terrible Bowie! The cut on the handle is way off. The wood was two different kinds on the handle, and had some wetness still in the wood. The grind is completely off. And it was as dull as a Joe Biden fundraiser. The pummel guard is scratched to pieces and has wear in spots. That being said, I sanded and re-stained the handle. Took about 20 min to sharpen the darn thing, and scrubbed it a bit to get the horrid car oil off the blade. Now, it's just a really bad bowie. But for 20 bucks and next day delivery, I have a nice self defense weapon for my car that I won't be upset about when someone in California inevitably breaks into my car and steals it. Another upside is that the sheath is not too bad! Gets five stars from me because it's exactly what I thought I was buying!

I love this knife so far, the sheath is alright but not impressive, the latch that's on the back of the belt loop doesn't reach to the front of the sheath to secure the knife for some reason. One thing that is incorrect in the description above, is that it's carbon steel, now carbon steel is a very strong and dense metal, but there is low carbon and high carbon, if they are saying this is carbon then it's actually stainless steel because when I was trying to chop a 5cm branch with it, small parts of the edges would bend. Stainless steel has a tendency to do that, this knife is either stainless steel or it's low carbon, or maybe not even that because carbon is carbon.The knife came sharp and is definately a full tang blade. The choice of metal for the guard of the knife isn't very good, the brass guard bends after a few good hits which is not good for a guard, I plan on replacing it with steel or something stronger, so keep in mind that the brass guard is pretty weak. The knife doesn't rattle, it's entirely secured. The price for the quality is outstanding.

So, I got my Szco bowie knife today. Right away I found out that it was well constructed, well balanced, and made of superior steels that put my Timber Rattler Big Green bowie to shame. It came sharp, which my Timber Rattler didn't, and in fact the tip had been broken on the Timber Rattler, and it took a long time to put on a new tip on that one. This knife had a nice pointed tip for easy penetration, and the blade was sharp. It will even cut paper, so I don't know why some say it came dull. It does not. The blade guard on the Timber Rattler was loose and this one is very solid, as was the overall construction. Now, there was one defect, the metal on the handle did not totally meet, or was not properly ground down, but since I always wrap my knives in grip tape, this was not a deal breaker for me. The fact that this knife was made of 1095 carbon steel speaks for its quality and workmanship. Simple classic shape makes for a great bowie knife, and a god slasher and fighting knife. I'm very satisfied, and I am giving an informed opinion, not an emotional one. I recommend you buy one before they raise the price to over $20-$30, I got mine for $15.99, and consider that a damn good deal. It's worth twice as much! UPDATE: loving this knife more each day. Still sharp, with few touch-ups, strong and sturdy. Big, beefy, and made of very good materials.

For $27 bucks hey it’s fine for intended use. It’s a bit crude, blade has some wave/dimples to it, it lacks finesse, but it is sturdy, solid and not ugly. It is heavy with a chunky handle. It is intimidating to look at, certain meets Crocodile Dundee’s quote “ Now that’s a knife! “ ha. Came pretty sharp, cuts paper,. It’s no wall hanger or display case knife, it’s a woods carry animal protection, brush cutting, camp, shed, car, tool. You will need to keep a light coat of oil on blade at all times or she will rust. . I decided to keep it for what it is…a user…..If you want real quality, and a Big Bowie at a fair price, get a Condor undertaker bowie, at $100 bucks or a Bear and Sons Bowie for slightly more, of which I own both of them.

Beefy, cheap, what else can I say? I bought this to replace my gardening knife that broke the first time I used it. The idea of using a knife for gardening is actually new to me. However, as it turns out, it is a great idea. In the past, I was placed in many situations where I wish I had a knife to separate roots in propagating plants. However, I did not want to ruin an expensive knife. When I found that there were actually knives that were specifically designed for gardening work, I bought one. I liked it. However, it broke the first time I applied a little sideward pressure. Every gardening knife is pretty flimsy made of thin gauge soft metal. Then, I got the idea of buying a large Bowie knife and using it for gardening (a purpose it was not designed for). I found this knife and I knew I had found my knife, cheap and strong.This knife has almost 1/4 inch thick full tang handle that is continuous from the top of the handle to the bottom of the handle and from the blade to the end of the handle. Rock solid. It would take a lot of pressure to try to break the knife from the handle. Having said that, I would not mind buying a second one to keep sharp and to use as a survival knife. The finish is a bit rough but, the knife is about the biggest and sturdiest knife that I have ever seen. Almost ridiculously so.Shape is right and with a little attention to sharpening, I believe this would make a fine survival knife. Seems to get very sharp and hold its edge surprisingly well.

I can see whay a lot of people have left less than five star reviews on this knife. I bought it anyway because I was looking for another "project" to finish. If you view this as a pretty much 95% finished "kit knife" you will certainly not be disappointed. When it arrived it was quite sharp, but with a lot of prominent grind marks in the edge, very much like a sharp but cheap machete. It was a pretty simple thing to get a nice smooth and razor sharp edge by just using my diamond sharpener followed by about ten minutes on my ceramic sticks. And then a light few swipes again with the diamond sharpener to smooth out the grind. Then I turned to the grip scales. They were covered in what I can only assume is some sort of polyurethane finish and were fairly rough. I just used some 220 grit sandpaper to smooth them out followed by 400 and then 600 grit paper. Some stain and a boiled linseed oil/pine tar combo that I make up and voila' -a very pretty set of hand filling scales that look for all the world like walnut. It was a very simple task to get the wood to fit the tang properly since they were pretty close in the first place. Next I put a patina on the carbon steel blade and tang, using some Birchwood Casey Perma Blue and a wash of the same company's Super Blue. The color came out a pleasing blue/gray after carding with oil and 0000 steel wool. The patina is very similar to my 1930s era ROMO Solingen bowie knife. When I get time this weekend I plan to also use some of their Plum Brown solution on it so it will appear to be a much older patina. This is about the heaviest 10 inch bladed Bowie that I currently own. The reaction to my sharpening was very similar to 1095 high carbon steel in some of my other knives. SO in my case at least, it seems well heat treated and tempered. The blade is right at 4.95 mm thick at the spine. So it's a nice heavy Bowie knife with a bent towards chopping. Spend some time (which I find to be fun) in actually finishing this knife. You will find it rewarding and can end up with a knife that will last you a lifetime. (Oh the "Pakistan" tag on mine was a simple piece of tape thoughtfully placed on one of the grip scale. It peels off so easily!) Next up - the sheath. The one I received is actually quite nice and fits snugly. It is much better than the one pictured in the listing. I am going to remove the belt loop and snap on this one. In place of the snap on the mouth of the sheath I'll be putting in a Sam Brown type stud for carrying it tucked inside my belt. The positioning of the snap and the snug fit of the knife will make this a five minute conversion. This knife can easily be made into one that looks the part of an 1840-1870 Bowie knife. It doesn't take much skill. Just a willingness to have some fun and expend a little elbow grease. If this is what you are looking for, then I HIGHLY recommend it. If you want a fancy Bowie knife for under eighteen bucks - well that just ain't going to happen. So get this eighteen dollar knife and turn it into what looks like a $100 knife. It will take you a couple of hours and will be well worth it.

Not my idea of a good knife or sheath. The blade may prove serviceable once sharpened, and the scales (handle) are going to have to be replaced or somehow cleaned up. The blade is poorly "sharpened" and is useless until I put an edge on it. My hatchets and axes have better edges. The blade is stout and if it is not brittle, should give decent service. The guard is actually a very good fit, but bears a lot of sanding and tool marks. The scales look as though they were made from green or wet wood that shrank. The tang is not only visible all the way around, but it it's sharp edges have already cut my hand. Swell. The scales look as though they were damaged on the underside but the damage was ignored and the knife was packaged and thrown in a box to sell as-is. The blade is thick in cross-section and the false edge is actually thicker than several other knives I own. In short, the fit and finish are crude. I do hope the blade sharpens well and holds and edge and doesn't shatter when used. The sheath is reinforced paper! It was already starting to delaminate a bit and it's essentially fancy cardboard. Wow. The decorative stamping is awful and wanders away from the edge entirely. The retaining strap is not up around the handle, it is a strap that comes in from the wrong (sharp) side of the blade at an angle and is actually too short to secure properly (as in, with the knife in the sheath).