My wife got me this knife for my birthday because I mainly use small and mid-sized knives and have so far avoided getting a taste for the huge Bowies. She wanted to see if I liked this type without spending much. The answer is yes, I like it a lot.
It's massive and nose-heavy, with the point of balance right at the big full-finger choil in front of the guard. This weight-forward configuration makes the knife very eager to chop, and I immediately complied by destroying some lemons, potatoes, corn cobs, and an old pine 2x6. The edge was shaving-sharp right out of the box, but my abuse resulted in some bright spots where the edge was visibly dinged. I restored it in under a minute with an Accusharp carbide-V sharpening gadget.
The primary bevel is a half-flat or "saber" grind, which emphasizes strength over slicing. Still, the knife excelled at the above-named kitchen tasks, as well as slicing celery, bell peppers, and meat. It was not quite optimal, however, for dicing onions. The thick, heavy blade tended to bind in such firm material and was a bit fatiguing to use. Still, it got the job done, and I found the radically clipped point very nimble and handy for piercing. I only wished I had a coconut to split.
I have my doubts about the edge-holding ability of this knife, as it is made from obviously inexpensive 420-J2 stainless steel subjected to who-knows-what heat treatment, and I have managed to ding it up a bit initially. But it certainly isn't brittle, which would spell uselessness for a knife like this. I imagine that a few sessions with the Accusharp might re-profile the edge to a more durable angle, but only time will tell.
The package says it is made for the Winchester brand by "Carolina Knife and Tool," which I hear is a cheaper label of Gerber knives-- the Ford to Gerber's Lincoln, if you will. So I would imagine that they have some idea of how to make a good knife, even if they are doing it in China.
The handle scales are Pakkawood, an engineered wood laminate that behaves much like hardwood but is inert, which is to say that it will not move or shrink or crack. It's stained to look like rosewood and finished with a tough, glossy lacquer or polyurethane. Together with the brass guard and pins, it makes for a more attractive package than other inexpensive "survival" or "tactical" knives. My only complaint is the finger ridges, a bit of over-engineering that can only detract from the knife's versatility.
The sheath is heavy, stiff Cordura nylon with plastic reinforcement at the throat and two retaining straps with snaps. It's not too fancy, just a secure, durable, weatherproof sheath that rides nicely on the belt. It does have a few nasty bits of Hide of the Nauga around the snaps, which is no big deal.
I wouldn't hesitate to carry this knife in the woods, as long as I could also carry a sharpening gadget like the Accusharp or the Meyerco Sharpen-It to allay my reservations about the blade material. If you had to choose one do-everything backwoods knife, this really would not be a bad choice, as it is capable of heavy chopping as well as more delicate tasks like slicing vegetables. To step up at all in the Bowie market would require triple the price at the very least, and so I'd say this is a great knife for seeing if you're interested, and it'll get some work done while you're at it. It has certainly whetted my appetite for more of these big knives.
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Winchester 22-41206 Large Bowie Knife with SheathProduct Description: Gerber 2241206.
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