"Authentic" Cowboy Knife

[John Ray Davis]

Looking for an "authentic" 1880s cowboy knife.  Thinking it will be a Green River or similar style as I'm not looking for a large Bowie knife, modern hunting knife, or screw knife. Modern materials OK.

 

What would a cowboy have carried?

 

And I will need a sheath.

 

Thanks.

[Sam Sackett]

There are different views on “authentic “. I like the Green River style as I believe it to be the basic knife found on the frontier. 
 

Here is a very basic (read that inexpensive) setup for less than $50. You can spend way more than that if you want to go with custom knife makers, but the end result will look about the same. 

Check out these links. May or may not be what you are looking for. 
https://www.knifecenter.com/item/OH77/old-hickory-butcher-knife-7-carbon-steel-blade?srsltid=AfmBOoqL7hPHE5-GAb8dL6lI-cj06QOWOdTcawYqt_TbqUTbyisYC0iAZKM

 

https://www.amazon.com/Snake-Eye-Tactical-Genuine-Leather/dp/B07Z8GZSD1/ref=sr_1_6?crid=32G5VSGIEW8LB&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.lhB01AwY5VLv2ZyGW1ihkmNgJDPeO93IPM3DHNbIvadeS52Er0sv3Y3y26Do_MPv7aptE7ke0bbEwl-VSd2OWc51krA1AGu84JT8JkyHD8uDZFzHxY5V52EJGTyHwbN9mCUDVlaoRM8d8WhaFoea3qyqJelpS4EB55TbiVtnGCDV55JYfpCQpfaSmW2PcNR-x4_1L1wJaS7XYrOZAqqjTBoTPpTpAklRpmDkUuG6-Px1vlrvYpM9OjmraAoYWWzPCZIDj_J59B6uQs-ylOqy2vvglz2tVMZTYz4RsZBAJ4-dKlhz5iyRgrcUABDeEER8QvaWmkeB4U3PVTg6-kptUkXFgHrcIuGSQtuQoJuiUlsuyTnFg_EpagIA6uUhxuTTEk2UoreswjAyR2D4qzdlgslL-OCqvL90wxN3uRjYKCQyrVcKroBfjIr2e90mPnPi.P9AgekQsIha-a-D50h8tKVxTp9dZvhfb1PH8i3XllQ8&dib_tag=se&keywords=leather%2Bsheath%2Bfor%2B7%2Binch%2Bfixed%2Bblade%2Bknife&qid=1741296074&sprefix=leather%2Bknife%2Bsheath%2Bfor%2B7"%2B%2Caps%2C176&sr=8-6&th=1

 

Good luck,

Sam Sackett 

[Cholla]

A pocket knife. Not as romantic as a belt knife, but cowboys weren't making much money.

[Rye Miles #13621]

1 hour ago, Cholla said:

A pocket knife. Not as romantic as a belt knife, but cowboys weren't making much money.

Very few cowboys wore the knives that many shooters wear. Yea they’re cool looking but I think the majority of them had a pocket knife.

[KatfishKid]

I'm sure you'll get plenty of examples of what folks consider to be cowboy knives. But I doubt most cowboys in the 1800s carried more than utilitarian fixed or folding jack knife/sod buster knives, probably with not more than a 3-5" blade. Though I have no actual facts to back that claim. As far as Bowies go. My idea of an "authentic" Cowboy Bowie would be the Natchez style Bowie designed by James Black for Jim Bowie in the late 1820s. Bark River Knives makes/made what I consider to be the nicest modern interpretation of the Natchez Bowie.

 

[Dantankerous]

A small folding pocket knife is what cowboys used and still use. Easily fits in a vest pocket. Most of us who use a larger Bowie style knife do so for style and some of us will hang equipment from the handle, like a cartridge strip.

[Rip Snorter]

I always carried a nice handmade since I collected knives for decades pre SASS.  At a match one time, I was asked for the loan of my knife.  I got it back with cosmetic damage.  If you carry a good knife, do not loan it out!

[Slow Mo Dern]

Hi John Ray,

 

I think the handiest knife to carry in a suspender sheath is a pocketknife with 2 blades.

One blade is a knife for cutting things and the other blade is a screwdriver blade.

Scarlett used to have these on her website a couple lustrums ago.  They are handy and they are sturdy.

Another handy knife I use all the time is a big Kershaw pocketknife that opens with your index finger.

One hand operation and opens in the blink of an eye.  I keep it in a vest pocket.

I hope this helps.  Don't loan'em out. 

 

Slow Mo

[watab kid]

i gave up my belt knives as extra weight i didnt need to carry , i have a small sheath knife attached to my holster because i have had need of a knife on occasion , i still have a couple belt knives in my kit bag but i dont wear them anymore , but ya never know i might want to someday , 

 

having said all that , i won a custom made damascas blade and sheath at a SASS shoots years ago , its basic wood scaled blade has brass cross fasteners , its simple straight forward and about a 5" blade its not too heavy and it looks right on a gunbelt , id look for something along that order before a big bulky heavy bowie , but again thats me , if id lived in the mountains id probably need that big heavy tool that i might hang on a belt for rendezvous type reenactments 

[Griff]

I can't speak to 1880's cowboys, but the few of a more modern ilk I've known generally carried a folder.  And maybe had a bigger, camp knife, in a saddle bag.  I knew a couple that wore a belt knife, the ones I'm thinking of either carried a Schrade "Sharpfinger" or a similarly sized drop point.   

[Boggus Deal #64218]

Green River and a sheath made at Tandy from about 50 years ago.

[Boggus Deal #64218]

A much more modern design but close to several of the era I’ve seen.

[Stump Water]

22 hours ago, John Ray Davis said:

Modern materials OK.

 

Interesting piece.

 

https://cuttingedge.com/product/boker-knives-cowboy-crossdraw-klc19259/

["Big Boston"]

From a different continent, but fairly authentic copy of the Gaucho Fighting knife. My son was on vacation in Argentina and he brought me this gift.

 

[Jack Spade]

I used to have a knife similar to this one in my collection that was supposedly from the 1860 ish time frame.  Made in Sheffield, England they had several different makers or importers names on them.   Unfortunately my entire collection was stolen in house break in and I have  never recovered a single knife of over 100 antique and custom made knives. 

 

[watab kid]

some nifty knives guys , 

[Pee Wee #15785]

The knife carried would depend on the time and gun/guns carried/used.  Cap and ball guns a larger knife was carried as reloading was slower.  If you were a town person a pocket knife was more likely carried.  Once cartage guns came on the market the belt knife got smaller or went away.  The knife size would also depend on if you were by yourself or with a group.  Weight was a big factor on equipment carried.

[Crooked River Bob, SASS#26199]

A lot could be said and written about this, which is a topic that interests me.  I browsed through some of the references I have on hand this morning to refresh my memory before writing this.  Just to sum it up, a lot of cowboys carried folding knives.  A Barlow knife with a carbon steel spear-pointed blade and handle scales of some natural material (horn, stag, bone, wood...) would be an excellent choice.  A working cowboy would have most likely carried it in a vest pocket, or a pocket on his chaps.  I was never a cowboy, but I do have some experience with riding, and bulging pants pockets can be uncomfortable when you are on horseback, not to mention the fact that it can be difficult getting into your pants pockets when you are in the saddle. 

 

I'll try to post a couple of photos of a Russell Barlow I picked up a while back, but I'm still figuring out how to do that.  Wish me luck...

 

As for a straight-blade or belt knife, a cowboy would have generally carried a common, cheap butcher knife with a five-or-six-inch blade, although any sort of sheath knife might typically be carried in a bedroll, saddlebag, or war sack when the cowboy was actually working cattle, just to keep it out of the way.  You don't want a protruding knife handle to get fouled in your rope, and you dang sure don't want to land on that knife if you get thrown.  Anyway, these would have been indistinguishable from the "trade" knives being sold to Indians.  William Bonney, "Billy the Kid," was carrying just such a knife in his hand when he was shot in 1881.  This very knife sold at auction not long ago:  The Billy the Kid Knife

 

You are spot-on in thinking of a Russell Green River knife, although those in current production have the scales attached with brass cutler's rivets.  The best information I have found indicates tubular rivets, including cutler's or compression rivets, were patented by an American inventor named Mellen Gray in about 1878, and rivets of this type were not used much, if any, in the cutlery industry until into the 1890's.  Prior to that, scale handles were attached with pins.  There followed decades of "overlap" with both pinned and riveted knives in production well into the 20th century.  There were some other American cutlers in competition with Russell (Shapleigh comes to mind), and there were still knives being imported from Britain in the last quarter of the 19th century.  In my opinion, the absolute best you can do for a nearly period-correct 19th century "trade" knife for a cowboy impression, in today's market, is a John Nowill butcher with a five or six inch blade.  You can order these directly from England, or you might find one (as I did) on eBay, or you can get one from Bernal Cutlery , which is what I would do if I had to do it over.

 

I did say "nearly period correct."  Nineteenth century butcher knives were a little different from the modern ones.  The tang was tapered in thickness, being thinner toward the butt, wood scales were pin-fastened to the tang (not riveted), the choil was minimal to nonexistent, and the maker's mark would have been stamped into the metal instead of etched.  Stainless steel was unknown, and beech was by far the most common choice for the wood handle scales.  The John Nowill butcher knives tick all of the boxes, except for the tapered tang, and you'd have to be pretty hard-core to make an issue of that.  The overall quality of these is comparable to the Dexter-Russell Green River knives.

 

Sheaths are another topic, but we can discuss those if you want to.

 

Good luck, pard!  I hope you find what you need.

 

Crooked River Bob

SASS#26199L

Edited March 8 by Crooked River Bob, SASS#26199

[Sawhorse Kid]

Every style of knife has a purpose.

Cowboys, Frontiersman's and Mountain Men all carried knives in one form or another. ...... Some multiple forms.

Knives of the day ranged from 2 inches up to 12 inches. ..... possible a bit larger.

The average cowboy likely carried a pocket knife of some kind.

On the big end, the average cowboy might have possessed a knife with a blade of 5-7 inches.

 

 

[Rip Snorter]

Wild Bill and the Bear.

[watab kid]

this has been educational , i think those moving west after the civil war might have been more inclined to carry the sheath knives in those days but im not educated in this era , would be interesting to know , 

[Sawhorse Kid]

18 hours ago, watab kid said:

this has been educational , i think those moving west after the civil war might have been more inclined to carry the sheath knives in those days but im not educated in this era , would be interesting to know , 

For the average person...........The more efficient guns became, the smaller knives got.

[Griff]

These are 3 of my favorite 4 knives.  Not necessarily for cowboy work, but for hunting.

Top:  Old Timer "SharpFinger" with 2 nearly matching Brownings, a swept point & drop point.

The fourth is a Blackjack made version of a #7 Randall.  This is the knife worn on my gunbelt.

 

[watab kid]

6 hours ago, Sawhorse Kid said:

For the average person...........The more efficient guns became, the smaller knives got.

that makes perfect sense , i suspect the knife fights were more prevalent when guns were less efficient , it does beg the question as to why we hang big knives on our belts - but then bling jumps to mind as well as style points and my best reason when i had one was vanity- it was really cool and looked really nifty on my belt , as i got older and experienced our game more , i decided to carry less , not just on my belt but also on my cart ................le6t the younguns carry all the extras , 

[John Ray Davis]

Purchased this off of Etsy for $30. Yeah, the Damascus blade probably isn't authentic, but it is a simple style. It will go into an existing sheath.

 

And thanks for the input. It's all being bookmarked.

 

 

[watab kid]

8 hours ago, John Ray Davis said:

Purchased this off of Etsy for $30. Yeah, the Damascus blade probably isn't authentic, but it is a simple style. It will go into an existing sheath.

 

And thanks for the input. It's all being bookmarked.

 

 

that looks a bit like the one i won , basic , simple . effective 

[Rip Snorter]

9 hours ago, John Ray Davis said:

Purchased this off of Etsy for $30. Yeah, the Damascus blade probably isn't authentic, but it is a simple style. It will go into an existing sheath.

 

And thanks for the input. It's all being bookmarked.

 

 

Authentic.... or something.

[J-BAR #18287]

The 20th century cowboys I knew carried folders with "spey" blades for castrating calves.  I think the 19th century cowboys probably did too.

 

Spey blade on the left:

 

Edited March 12 by J-BAR #18287