Since I was a teen, I have had an interest in military survival bowies. I had a USMC Bolo and Ka-Bar, but always wanted a Marine Raider Bowie. These Bowies were actually issued to the Army Air Corps as pilot survival knives in the 1930s. They were made by Collins and were called by Collins the #18 Machete. We might call them "Bowies".

In fact, the Case presentation bowies that we have all seen were patterned after the Collins, as was the Western Bowie. Carlson's Raiders were issued these knives, made by various manufacturers in the Pacific campaign during during WWII, but after the battle of Guadalcanal, the famous Mk2 or "Ka-Bar" became more widely used. Here you can see the family resemblence between the Collins #18 machete and the Case and Western Bowies.


By the 1980s, a thicker, more rugged combat bowie style was being sold by Gerber, Ontario, Cold Steel and others. The RTAK is huge.

Bear with me, I'm still having a time posting these, but trust me, it is Scrap Yard related.
Here we see the Becker Combat Bowie, Ranger RD-9, and the big bad Busse Fat Fusion Battle Mistress.

The "jungle knife" or military survival bowie had gotten thicker, tougher, and heavier. No longer as useful for using as a machete, it became commonly called the chopper.
But last year, something happened. A new lighter breed of chopper came out. Still a bit heavy to use on light vegetation, it was a great all-around bush knife and chopper. It was heading back in the direction of the original survival bowie. That great knife was the Scrap Yard Dog Father.

But that knife has now reached jungle knife perfection in the new Limited Edition. At just one pound, with its .25" thick SR77 10" blade and cushy Res C handle, the DFLE can do all the original can do, and whole lot more. This is the new standard in survival bowies! I love it. A worthy succesor to those famous Raider Bowies of the past.

Great history, great collection and a great assessment of the DFLE HD. Thanks for your post!

I like how you worked your way up to the present.

I was always puzzled as to why it was called a 'machete', when it seems so obviously a bowie variation to me.

Nice knives and pictures H/D ! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" /> I carried the Case Bowie like the one in the second picture, bottom knife. The DogFather LE is definitely the best of the bunch, although I still like my Gerber Bowie. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

excellant post HD!

it was worth the wait

Thanks, Vance. I had some better pics, but was unable to show them. I still can't load new pictures to any of the various services.

This is a test of the Horn Dog Random Try Anything To Post A Picture Operating System. This is only a test.

Great post HD <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" />

Thanks for the historical perspective Vic.

HD,

Excellent post! Thank you for the history and the pics. I almost bought a Western Bowie at a truck stop, years ago when I was in college. I have the stag handled Gerber and stag handled CS Trailmaster bowies, but they are way too thick to do anything with.