Bowie with frame handle

Brad Lilly

Moderator and Awards Boss
Bowie with frame handle, Hunt story added CAUTION Blood and guts

I just finished up this one for my brother. This is the first frame handle I have tried. What do you think?
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Brass liners, Ziricote handle scales, 5160 blade steel, triple edge quenched.
 
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Do you have any pics of the frame handle before the scales were put on?
I have a few. I filed the liner so it fit into the gaurd. I'm sure there is a better way to make this type of handle.

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Nice looking knife... what are specs on it? Again, nice knife.
Sorry I frogot to include the important stuff. Forged 5160 blade triple edge quenched, gaurd and frame are mild steel, brass liners and ziricote handle slabs. The blade is around 10"x2".
Thanks for the comments

Brad
 
Here is what my crazy brother did with it!!! We may be Canadian but we are still REDNECKS!!

I am Brads brother John, The lucky recipient of a cool knife. Pig hunting in Hawaii is awesome, no other words to describe it.
So, here is the run down on how things went. I was booked to hunt on Feb 18th, (Sat) My buddy and I headed out at 5:30 to meet up with the guides. We went to about 2500ft (above sea level) on a mountain called Haulalai. We hunted hard up to 4100 ft but the dogs were skunked, at one point we saw three small hogs run across in front of us but the dogs were above us about 300yds, all we could do is watch. We ran into a herd of wild cattle, with 7 very intimidating looking bulls. That was very cool.
After lunch we hunted our way out to the trucks and the guides felt bad that we hadn't been "on a pig" all morning, and that it was one of there worst days in years. I was a little disappointed but I tried to no let it show. They looked at me and said "what are you doing Monday?" I smiled!
After much begging (to our wives to allow us to go hunting again and leaving them with the kids) we were off again on Monday, again at 5:30am
This time we drove a little further to a huge mountain called Mauna Loa, headed up to 4100 ft (breaking a side by side in the process) And at about 7am we released the dogs. With in 5 minutes we heard barking and the chase was on! Running up hill for several hundred yards at over 4000ft will suck the wind out of you in a hurry! We came onto a beautiful scene, three dogs on a plateau with a huge female pig. The guide and I rushed in to grab her back legs. She swiftly shook the dogs off and chased me and the guide up a tree. The dogs diverted her attention and we ran in and grabbed her, flipping her on her side and holding her down. Now here is where I had to make a huge decision, kill her and end the day, or let her go and keep hunting the day. After a quick discussion (she was hard to hold down) we decided to let her go and see what the day brought. After tying up the dogs my buddy and the guide climbed trees and I let her go. It was better then killing her. She was healthy and the guides don't use "holding dogs" that tear the pig up, so there was no harm done to her other then her pride.
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After much hand shaking we released the dogs and they were instantly on another pig, this time a boar, which we cornered but after looking at his poor appearance we took the dogs off him and moved on. So two pigs in 20 minutes, great start.
Heading further down the mountain about an hour later the other guides showed up with the two back up dogs, we released them and had two different groups hunting at once.
Now they have gps collars on the dogs, with tracking devices, this allows you to see how far away and in what direction they are. Plus it tells us if they are moving, or not. No movement is a good thing. I also learned the loss of signal was bad, it means they are in a cave. And that was what happened to the two back up dogs. We raced down the mountain, in a frenzy run which led me to a very small dark hole which the guide threw off his backpack put a flashlight in his teeth and said "come on". I have to admit that was probably the only time in the hunt where I hesitated and thought this could go bad. Anyhow, we crawled in this lava tube which brought us to a small boar that was luckily back to us fighting the dogs, and allowing us to grab him and pull him out.
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By this time my buddy and the other two guides showed up. But that is where things got hectic. Instantly we heard the main three dogs barking, so I handed off the little boar (too small to kill according to the guides, 120lbs) to my buddy (who swore he was just the camera man) while I and the two guides took off down the mountain at an even faster pace. After crawling through pig holes in brush and jumping over logs we all came on another female pig in a dry creek bed. one guide and I grabbed the pig and the other guide grabbed the dogs. We quickly decided to take the pig at which time I used my trusty knife to do the deed. Now I will not get into gory details, but myself and guides were amazed at the lethality of the wound. The pig just went stiff and then relaxed. On inspection after I sliced the heart practically in two. (good knife Brad)
After the other guides showed up and we all shook hands and took pictures, the guides boned out the pig, bagged up the meat and we made the 3/4 mile hike up the mountain to the side by sides. The guides then said it was one of there best hunts in years, a 4 pig day (in 3 hours actually).
Due to the size of the knife I was dubbed "John Dundee" by the guides, and after I shaved the hair off my arm before and after the hunt with it they were all truly amazed at the durability and strength of the knife (kudos Brad again)
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The guides were awesome, ethical and great all around regular guys.
When I started this hunt I thought I would grab the pig on my own, and do all the work. I learned (quickly) that hunting pigs with dogs in Hawaii is a team effort, and as the situation changes so does your role. The guides were top notch, and they always were concerned about the dogs being safe and that us novices didn't get hurt.
The bbq that followed that evening was a great ending to a exciting two day hunt.
And quiet yummy too.
 
I think that's the way Bruce Bump does it,The frame handle, I don't know if he hunts pigs. how could you go wrong.
That's a handful, I like it.
Great story and pics. I'm pretty tired after reading that, gotta go take a nap.
 
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