Atlanta Cutlery 1850 Coffin Hilt Bowie Knife
Sept 16, 2010 1:01:50 GMT
Post by Sébastien on Sept 16, 2010 1:01:50 GMT
Atlanta Cutlery 1850 Coffin Hilt Bowie Knife Test Review
by
Sébastien B., Montréal, Québec
Hello all, here's one quick review to test the new forum interface, hope you will enjoy it. Although this is officially a knife, I decided to put it in the swords review section because of its massive size.
First impressions
I wanted to buy this blade because I have always been a big fan of bowie blades, especially big ones.
I bought this knife directly from Atlanta Cutlery, which was a long and irritating thing to do for me. Beeing a non-american customer, I had to fill my order by phone (beeing French-Canadian it was some trouble to do so, and the fact that the guy from AC seemed to have better things to do didn't help making the experience any better). Shipping was okay in speed, but terrible in cost ; 40 $ initially followed by another 65 $ when UPS arrived with the box at my door...
On a side-note, I discovered that AC doesn't backorder items for international buyers. These buyers have to call and hope that their item hasn't sold out (because AC doesn't remove a sold-out item from their website, if that item isn't discontinued).
Anyway, what follows will be happier to read than my dealings with AC and UPS
Here are a few numbers ;
Overall Length: 18 3/8'' Blade: 12 5/8''
Weight: 1 lb 2.6 oz
Edge: Sharp
P.O.B.: 1 7/8''
Thickness: 4.3 mm - 3.3 mm
Width: 31.6 mm - 52.1 mm
Grip Length: 4 1/4''
Pommel: Peened
Fittings
Man, this thing's blade is awesome. It is an impressive-looking business end, in my honest opinio. The blade has a large curved belly. The point has a long false edge, which isn't sharp. Making it sharp would require some work, including removing some metal. The blade has a long blood groove. Overall, the blade looks like one big, ferocious chopper. One important thing : I have ordered this knife with Atlanta Cutlery's sharpening service. The edge isn't paper-cutting sharp, but can cut water bottles. More on that edge performance later ...
The grip is made of wood. The hilt is made of what seems like carbon steel (after owning this knife for a few months I noticed some small rust spots forming there). Personnaly, I am not very comfortable with the grip. It looks great and enhance the visual impact of the big blade, but when handling this weapon, I had a hard time finding a fully satisfying way to wrap my hand around the grip.
The scabbard is made of brown stitched leather. It looks okay and holds the knife well. It has a leather strap to secure the blade insidde the sheath. A nice plus that doesn't come in all Atlanta Cutlery's and Windlass products. However, that strap is a bit tight and always strokes the edge when drawing the blade (unless you use your finger or hand to keep the strap back). A small annoyance, but it might damage and even cut off this strap with time.
Before holding this knife in my hand, I expected a top heavy weapon which would've felt like it could easily chop someone's arm off. I was surprised when the knife didn't felt like that once in my hand. The knife feels light for its size (about 20 oz. for a 18 1/4'' knife, 12 3/4'' blade). Also, the point of balance is very close to the hilt. The combination of these two characteristics make this knife feel very light in the cut. I was a bit disappointed, expecting to feel more power in my swings. Rather than feeling like the weight of the weapon was strenghtening my strikes, I felt like the majority of my swing's power came from my strenght and techniquel. It is a weird sensation, with a large curved blade like this one.
I haven't done much cutting with this blade. I have cut about 10 water-filled plastic bottles. The first cuts were frustrating, doing little else than batting the bottles away. After some practice and helpful hints from a friend, I changed my technique (putting more strenght and weight in my swings), I started properly those bottles. These cuts were clean and the blade gave a musical metallic ''ping'' with most of my succesful swings. For now, I ahve trouble deciding if my first fumbled cuts were due to my handling of the blade, the blade weight and/or the quality of the blade's edge.
Overall, this knife doesn't handle as I expected and wasn't, at first, the mean chopper that I expected it to be. However, I will eagerly test it again, in the future, to have a better view of its capabilities.
Conclusion
Pros
-Big, mean, cool-looking blade
-Decent sheath
-Good-looking, sturdy fittings
Cons
-Atlanta Cutlery mediocre customer service and ordering procedure for international buyers*
-Costly shipping from AC*
-Mediocre cutting performance**
*Reviewer's personnal experience, your mileage may vary,
**Might be due to the reviewer's backyard cuttign skills... or lack of ... :oops:
Overall, I am, for now, a bit disappointed by this knife as a backyard cutter. However, I am happy to have bought it because it is one big, awesome looking knife to add to my collection. Buying or not buying this blade depends on the shopper's taste. In my opinion, the backyard cutter might be disappointed, but the collector of big knives might be happy with it.
On a side-note, I personnaly don't intend to buy again from Atlanta Cutlery and will probably go through Kult of Athena if I ever want one of their blades.
by
Sébastien B., Montréal, Québec
Hello all, here's one quick review to test the new forum interface, hope you will enjoy it. Although this is officially a knife, I decided to put it in the swords review section because of its massive size.
First impressions
I wanted to buy this blade because I have always been a big fan of bowie blades, especially big ones.
I bought this knife directly from Atlanta Cutlery, which was a long and irritating thing to do for me. Beeing a non-american customer, I had to fill my order by phone (beeing French-Canadian it was some trouble to do so, and the fact that the guy from AC seemed to have better things to do didn't help making the experience any better). Shipping was okay in speed, but terrible in cost ; 40 $ initially followed by another 65 $ when UPS arrived with the box at my door...
On a side-note, I discovered that AC doesn't backorder items for international buyers. These buyers have to call and hope that their item hasn't sold out (because AC doesn't remove a sold-out item from their website, if that item isn't discontinued).
Anyway, what follows will be happier to read than my dealings with AC and UPS
Here are a few numbers ;
Overall Length: 18 3/8'' Blade: 12 5/8''
Weight: 1 lb 2.6 oz
Edge: Sharp
P.O.B.: 1 7/8''
Thickness: 4.3 mm - 3.3 mm
Width: 31.6 mm - 52.1 mm
Grip Length: 4 1/4''
Pommel: Peened
Fittings
Man, this thing's blade is awesome. It is an impressive-looking business end, in my honest opinio. The blade has a large curved belly. The point has a long false edge, which isn't sharp. Making it sharp would require some work, including removing some metal. The blade has a long blood groove. Overall, the blade looks like one big, ferocious chopper. One important thing : I have ordered this knife with Atlanta Cutlery's sharpening service. The edge isn't paper-cutting sharp, but can cut water bottles. More on that edge performance later ...
The grip is made of wood. The hilt is made of what seems like carbon steel (after owning this knife for a few months I noticed some small rust spots forming there). Personnaly, I am not very comfortable with the grip. It looks great and enhance the visual impact of the big blade, but when handling this weapon, I had a hard time finding a fully satisfying way to wrap my hand around the grip.
The scabbard is made of brown stitched leather. It looks okay and holds the knife well. It has a leather strap to secure the blade insidde the sheath. A nice plus that doesn't come in all Atlanta Cutlery's and Windlass products. However, that strap is a bit tight and always strokes the edge when drawing the blade (unless you use your finger or hand to keep the strap back). A small annoyance, but it might damage and even cut off this strap with time.
Before holding this knife in my hand, I expected a top heavy weapon which would've felt like it could easily chop someone's arm off. I was surprised when the knife didn't felt like that once in my hand. The knife feels light for its size (about 20 oz. for a 18 1/4'' knife, 12 3/4'' blade). Also, the point of balance is very close to the hilt. The combination of these two characteristics make this knife feel very light in the cut. I was a bit disappointed, expecting to feel more power in my swings. Rather than feeling like the weight of the weapon was strenghtening my strikes, I felt like the majority of my swing's power came from my strenght and techniquel. It is a weird sensation, with a large curved blade like this one.
I haven't done much cutting with this blade. I have cut about 10 water-filled plastic bottles. The first cuts were frustrating, doing little else than batting the bottles away. After some practice and helpful hints from a friend, I changed my technique (putting more strenght and weight in my swings), I started properly those bottles. These cuts were clean and the blade gave a musical metallic ''ping'' with most of my succesful swings. For now, I ahve trouble deciding if my first fumbled cuts were due to my handling of the blade, the blade weight and/or the quality of the blade's edge.
Overall, this knife doesn't handle as I expected and wasn't, at first, the mean chopper that I expected it to be. However, I will eagerly test it again, in the future, to have a better view of its capabilities.
Conclusion
Pros
-Big, mean, cool-looking blade
-Decent sheath
-Good-looking, sturdy fittings
Cons
-Atlanta Cutlery mediocre customer service and ordering procedure for international buyers*
-Costly shipping from AC*
-Mediocre cutting performance**
*Reviewer's personnal experience, your mileage may vary,
**Might be due to the reviewer's backyard cuttign skills... or lack of ... :oops:
Overall, I am, for now, a bit disappointed by this knife as a backyard cutter. However, I am happy to have bought it because it is one big, awesome looking knife to add to my collection. Buying or not buying this blade depends on the shopper's taste. In my opinion, the backyard cutter might be disappointed, but the collector of big knives might be happy with it.
On a side-note, I personnaly don't intend to buy again from Atlanta Cutlery and will probably go through Kult of Athena if I ever want one of their blades.