Cold Steel Bowie Blade Bushman Durable Resistant 7" SK-5 High Carbon Fixed Blade Outdoor Survival Hunting Knife, 5.25" Hollow Handle, Secure-Ex Sheath with Ferrocerium Fire Steel

…is buying and modifying Cold Steel products for bushcraft and warfare.what we have here is the Cold Steel Bowie Bushman, and I’ve got to say there is probably nothing easier modify to your personal standards in the Cold Steel line- up.First of all, it’s dirt cheap. I got this bad boy for $16. I spent more than that for chicken biscuits at Hardee’s this AM. Those are gone. This is here to stay.Second…it’s customizable to the Nth degree. You can do handle wraps. You can add storage to the secure-x sheath with bike tubing. You can store items in the handle. You can make it into a spear. What you have here is a strong, SHARP, reliable blade for PENNIES.And it’s LIGHTWEIGHT. I can wear a sword of a knife into town without changing out of my PJ’s. Totally confident that nobody’s gonna mess with me just by popping this into my elastic waistband. Easy peasy.The first thing I did was pop a wine cork into the end of the handle. Now I can store survival items in the hollow. I’ll probably do a minimal fishing kit.Next, I wrapped the handle with hockey tape to improve the grip. You can also do paracord wraps. YouTube goes into great detail on how to do a functional and aesthetically pleasing job.Finally I sawed the gimmicky ferrocerium rod holder off of the side of the sheath and sanded the surface smooth. You may like that kind of thing, but I find the sheath much more streamlined and easy to index without it.The possibilities are limitless. There is no greater tool to a man than a good knife. This is one of those and much more.

Extremely sharp out of the box. Cut myself taking it out of the sheath. Great value!

Quality Cold steel Product, Knife and Scabbard.......BUT....the ferro rod works on other carbon steel knives I have but does not work on these Bushman blades. My other Ferro rods work on the Bushman.

I bought this one after buying the spear point. These things are awesome for the price, I actually attached the spear point to a long handle and threw it and it actually held up! This one I just put in a smaller handle like a machete. Buy one!

Smaller than I thought. 4 stars because of 5 is because I searched spear. This has a hollow handle you could use a stick in to make a spear. Would be a small stick though. My walking sticks broom sticks are too thick. It's a tuff line to walk to have staff thickness vs hand comfort. Can't make handle to big because it's more a survival knife than spear. No survival gear other than fire starter but you could stuff some line hocks matches in hollow handle. 5 star product cause I am nice and it is a nice simple knife. But could be 4 because it's only fair value and would need a thin walking staff for a real handy spear.

This knife is truly amazing! I'm so glad I pulled the trigger.Super solid construction, classic bowie lines, uber tough steel (watch the testing vids, unreal), nice solid sheath, paper slicing sharp out of the box, Plus a little ferro rod, for $20!?!? Yesss!This knife fulfills all the ridiculous knife fantasies you didn't even know you had lol. Cold Steel backs it's badass look and cool minimal design with truly tough, durable construction. You can throw it, chop wood with it, use it in the kitchen, store stuff in the handle, and also turn it into a freaking spear!! Maybe do a little wild boar hunting next weekend, huh? ;) Very fun to throw, both as a knife and a spear. So cool..I also really like how it is designed to be modified. It allows the owner to customize it to their liking, and encourages you to make it your own. I'm going to carve a curved wooden knob for the end to extend the reach, and to have a heel for chopping brush better. Over time I'll probably whittle up 3 or 4 different handle versions that I can swap out, depending on what I want it for that day.**(That said- If you don't feel like doing any mods and just want a blade ready to go, you might not like this knife as much. The handle, as is, is a little slick, and the end is a little rough/edgy for stabbing. Hand can slide forward if not careful.)Conclusion- This is one of the best, most solid, durable, functional and straight up FUN (and large!) all round use knives I've ever gotten for $20 bucks. Totally worth it. I'm very pleased with my purchase, to say the least.

Right out of the box this knife was sharp not like a razor, but sharp enough to cut paper, I felt no need to get it any sharper as that would only weaken the edge. It has great balance when held in the hand. The handle did not feel slippery at all. The knife locks securely in the sheath. The knife feels like a tool, when you hold it, you want to use it. It is not a showpiece you put on display, this is a work knife.I had a backpacking trip coming up, so I figured I decided to get the knife ready. My main concern was safety as there is no hilt on this knife and accidents happen too easily. I tried several paracord wrapping techniques and encountered a few problems. The first wrap I did was pretty but it did would not stay tight on the handle. The second problem was the wrap interfered with the correct function of the locking mechanics on the sheath. If you make the wrap too thick, it would not lock in the sheath. If you start the wrap too high up the handle, it would not lock. It took a while but I finally got a workable configuration that allowed the 1) sheath to lock, 2) provide a better grip. I added a handguard made out of paracord and now I had a survival/fighting knife.Testing the knife was a lot of fun. I have limited experience throwing knives, It struck my target tree every time sticking in blade first every throw. I cut a 4ft stave, inserted it in the handle and used it as a spear. It worked just as advertised. This knife is a keeper.UpdateHad the knife for a few years now. The fire starter fell out of the plastic grip first time I used it. A little glue fixed that but a new problem developed after a couple of uses. The rod split down the middle. Any I have posted pictures.