Man I was lucky enough to know him personally and actually was blessed enough to forge a few knives out of his forge and even ended up making a knife for his wife Sidra Bagwell. Got two of his knives and a sharps rifle his wife gave me after he passed away

Back in 2020, I was able to get ahold of Bagwell on the phone and was put on his backlog for a dogbone carbon steel piece. He told me his death was falsely reported 3 times in the past, and I was shocked when I found out he really did pass in 2021. Erik Fritz and Greg Covington are two knifemakers that were taught Bagwell's unique tempering techniques.

I am lucky enough to have a custom bagwell made just for me by him.

Truly beautiful. Bless you and may the heavens bless Mr William Bagwell.

This channel is amazing! What a gem! I’m sharing with my likeminded friends. Your stuff is right up there with Lynn Thompson, James Keating, and Bill himself. I really really appreciate the content and seamless blend of philosophical and physical form which really is the quintessence of the martial arts. This is wonderful.

I felt the same way with my Trail Master as a combat knife and you really have to practice with it if you're planning to have control moving the blade in a defensive manner, you'll need to swing and practice with the live blade and with caution. Bill Bagwell was a phenomenal knife maker with knowledge to boot. 👍📸

I've often wondered which living knife makers have mastered the art of the distal taper and unique heat treatment that Bill would speak of in his videos. He was one of a kind.

Wow! What insight and mastery! I greatly appreciate you keeping his memory alive by passing on these traditions. Keep it up and never give up.

Wow great video, thanks. And you are a lucky man with those bowies. I have one of the Ontarios and it’s a great piece but I would love to have a custom Bagwell.

Got my bowie 51 yrs ago and it has been with me in the army and in civvy st and would put this against any blade

Wow, one extremely beautiful pair of bowies! Almost too beautiful to use.

Incredible blades! Thank you for sharing.

The comment from Bill Bagwell referring to the skeletal structure is on point. Being 6’4” tall allows me to use some unique heavy weapons for kanabojistu. I’m not particularly heavy with being 175lbs at my peek. But swinging a 4’ club that weighs 7lbs is normal. I excel where shorter and stronger individuals fail. I would’ve really liked to have a knife from this man. I’m always looking for the “perfect” fighting knife for EDC. I got my first custom Bowie on trade from a lesser known knife maker who made it earlier in his career. It’s the first one I came across that has a sharpened clip point. It took a couple of years of handling to really start learning what a Bowie knife is supposed to be. Of course, it doesn’t compare to that of Bill Bagwell, but it helps me understand what I want out of a knife. Someday maybe I’ll have a good Bowie.

The videos just keep getting better. Love it. 👍

Can you recommend any currently active knife makers that can make a Bowie knife with the features of a Bagwell Bowie knife?

Looking forward to the next one!

That was really interesting. This reminds me of my own experiences as a blade collector: I purchased the Albion Kingmaker sword because I really loved the look of it, but when I picked it up and swung it around, it just didn't feel right to me. The wheel pommel dug itself into my wrist on too many occasions and it felt simultaneously heavy and too light. The prior has to do with the intended use, as there are many swords with wheel pommels but they all handle differently thanks to slight alterations to their design (some are more restrictive on purpose!). The latter is because it's a more thrust-centric sword and thus has quite a hefty counterweight making it overall heavy but taking away blade presence at the same time. I later realized, that for me, a lighter sword with more blade presence just feels better. Combine that with how difficult it can be to find the perfect grip, you can clearly understand how the idea came about that the weapon found its owner rather than vice versa...

I got a fortress off of ebay, but returned it b/c its edge alighment was a little off. Now you got me wondering if it wa supposed to be like that!

❤ wow

I collect Randall made knives, particularly the model 1 knife. And the Bagwell's blade shape sure looks real close to the model 1 Randall knife's overall blade shape!

Those are some beautiful knives. And your recollections of Mr. Bagwell and your detailed descriptions of your knives are very interesting. Thanks for sharing. I have a Damascus Bagwell similar to yours, two Hell’s Belles with coffin handles and a Devil’s Daughter. I kick myself that I never had him make one for me with the dog bone or the bird’s head handle.

so great that you keeping the old west-style knife fighting alive 👍

YES

Amazing!

they look so awesome,i love bowies

I'm new to your fascinating channel. It's excellent, subscribed!!!

Very interesting stuff.

Interesting insights and review of your Bagwell Bowie knives. They are indeed, works of art by a Master Bladesmith. He used to have a booth at the SOF conventions in the 1990's in Las Vegas, and I always enjoyed talking to him. He was knowledgeable on so many subjects. His Bowie knives were the finest and lightest that I have ever held. At the time I put my name down on the waiting list to get one, but he was so busy with previous orders, I never got far enough to send in a tracing of my hand. I look forward to more of your reviews.

Great video! Great knives! ⚔️👍🔥

Excellent video and content Rolando! As I commented on one of your earlier Bowie videos, I still kick myself for selling my Bagwell Hells Belle back in the 1990s or early 2000s, but I still have the Ontario Hells Belle Bowie.

You’re one lucky man. I’m happy I have my gambler from OKC

Thank you very much for this upload... Highly appreciated.. Awsome video 👌👌👌.... One question... Why are the frog studs on the sheath out of the middle??.... Is that for left or right carrying... And what does it do if it's in your belt???

Hi Rolando, why did you choose dogbone handles vs other options? Thanks!

Rolando are the blades totally flat grind??. Or a bit convex??... As bill liked the historical bowie knives.. Very curious what he did with his blades😉

Is that a TFW Minasbad blade I see in the background there?? 👀

How tall are you?

220 lb phillipino. Holy fuk Anyway, thanks for sharing. Definitely not the general bowie design insights i was expecting on these customs!

Your blades are beautiful. That said, and with all due respect, I am dubious in the extreme about modern Bagwell- developed-and-inspired Bowie knives and their associated assumed tactics. Bagwell-ism may be interesting and fun, but I think it probably has little to do with historic Bowie design and use. By the way, his credentials as a “Bowie combatives expert” are very questionable. He was a football player in his youth, but a big out-of-shape cutler in his maturity, and not a martial artist, as you should appreciate, being a martial artist yourself. I question the utility of “Bowie combatives” as elaborated by Bagwell and others; trying to impose anything beyond basic fencing techniques with a 12 inch blade on an opponent is mental masturbation and a recipe for disaster. Training these techniques on a similarly equipped enemy is pure fancy. Two people armed with big Bowies trying to fence with each other will almost certainly result in fingers and even limbs flying around the room and both people sliding around in gouts of blood while they bleed out. Real fights with historic Bowies were very short and brutal, because it was designed to be a heavy duty fight-stopper that yielded immediate results as a potent tool of physical assault. Think of the difference between Iaido and Kendo. Actual Bowie use would look more like Iaido, or Iaijutsu; with little back and forth and a reliance on an overwhelming and final attack. The Bowie (Bow-ee; it’s a Scottish family name and pronounced the same way musician David Bowie pronounced it, at least until French and Spanish speaking people began referencing it in Louisiana and Texas. The Bowies were fairly recent Scottish immigrants) was specifically designed to offset the advantage of swords, pistols, and other knives because James Bowie learned the hard way that he needed that. The big folder he carried almost got him killed once. The big butcher knife, or camp knife, his brother gave him worked at the Sandbar Fight, but needed improvement. So he developed the long, massive design we see in the Musso, Jesse Robinson, Neill, and Sweet knives, which he carried thereafter and gave to close associates. It was designed to instantly bash through lighter edged weapons and completely penetrate an enemy and/or dismember him. It was intended as an instant fight stopper. The question has long arisen as to what constitutes a real Bowie; the answer is that there were so few real Bowies made that people began assuming that any camp knife, especially with a clip point, qualifies. Norm Flayderman was wrong, although he collected a lot of nice Sheffield imitations and some American specimens. To call a small double edged Michael Price dagger an actual Bowie would probably have caused Jim to snort his whisky out his nose. His invention was big, heavy, meant to deliver a monster back-cut, to keep its operator’s hand off the blade, and to completely chop/stab through enemy defenses and gain 12-14 inches of lethal penetration, not unlike modern hollow point handgun ammunition. That’s my take on it, after roughly 65 years of interest in the knife and research into it, and 51 years of martial arts training. Regards to you, and thank you for sharing your collection with us.

I had Bill make me a Bowie back in 89 and that was the worst Bowie I ever handled. It was way too heavy, way too slow, and the most akward knife I have ever put in my hand.

Is this a sales add or a brag show? 😂

Short answer is no, they aren't the greatest ever made. I'm a Musso fan myself.

440 anything is unacceptable

I see this is an old video but, When you say, "The edge is thicker on this one?" Do you mean, it's a convexed ground? Beautiful Bowie's!

Very cool blades. I’ve always wanted a Bagwell Bowie , Hells Belle. I have a Cold Steel Larado Bowie and it’s a nice blade but it’s quite a bit heavier than a Bagwell but still a very effective fighter. Maybe one day the knife gods will smile on me and I’ll find a Hells Belle either an original or an Ontario.