[John in AR]

Well I was at AG's today.

They didn't have too much of the older style big bowies out on display.

No Marbles 8" Ideal out; just the Russel 1861 Bowie and the OVB Fisk Southwest Bowie...

I was planning to drive up there this coming Saturday, and the Marbles 8” was one of the exact knives I wanted to check out so I called them earlier this morning. Apparently they don’t have them on display, but they do have them in stock in the warehouse. (Makes very little sense to me, but they didn’t ask my opinion of their marketing strategy...)

The Marbles Trailmaker, the 1861, the Fox Gold Rush, and the Bagwell Plainsman were others I hoped to check out, but they don’t carry the Trailmaker for some reason, and they’re out of stock on the Plainsman. (I really wanted to try the Plainsman, as it has a 5/16” thick blade, like the cold steel Trailmaster does.) The 1861 was out of my price range anyway, and the Gold Rush has only a 3/16" thick blade, so they weren't serious considerations.

I’ve looked for a couple weeks now, since before posting here, and have discovered that Little Rock, North Little Rock, Benton, Alexander, Sherwood (including their new Gander Mountain store), Jacksonville, Cabot, Beebe, and Searcy all have one thing in common: they have not one grown-up knife anywhere in the city except for two of the "Western" brand Bowie knives I've found.

Regardless, I figure to head up that way this Saturday and probably pick up the 8” Marbles “Ideal” version. It’s not perfect, but it seems awfully good. (Odds are, someday I’ll order a Trailmaster as well. :dgrin: ) Just have to decide whether to go with the stag or burl maple handle on the Marbles...

They don’t look overly large, but the smaller knife in the picture is a 6” blade, same length as the Buck 119 I’m using now.

(So what'cha doin' Saturday, Mabu...? If you're going to be around Rogers, I'll buy you a cup of coffee.)

 

[John in AR]

Correction: the smaller knife in the burl handle the same size as the Buck 119; in the stag-handle picture, it's a smaller version.

It’s surprising how much information you can pick up in a short time as well. I’ve learned more about steel types in the past couple weeks than I had ever known before.

That’s another thing that’s leaning me toward the Marbles Ideal; the fact that its ¼” thick blade is 0170-6 steel. Though there’s no way to confirm absolutely due to Cold Steel’s trademark and naming practices, most references I’ve found say that their “Carbon V” steel, which has shown for years to have very good strength and sharpening characteristics (at the cost of decreased corrosion resistance), is almost certainly 0170-6 steel as well.

 

[BigEd63]

John I might be up that way. IM me about what time you'll be up there. I have some stuff going on Friday not sure if it will overlap into Sat though.

 

[krept]

can't find a composition chart for that steel, but if the couple google references are right, it's basically 50100-B. Should be a fine steel with around 1% carbon and added vanadium. Won't be rust resistant with the low amount of chromium, but if heat treated right it should hold a wicked edge.

 

[John in AR]

Yes, that’s pretty much what I’ve read about it. One thing I’ve admired about the Trailmaster is the steel. A friend in Texas has had one for years and it’s strong, fairly easy to sharpen, and yet still holds an edge for a long time. But it’s definitely prone to corrosion. (If I lived on or near a coast, it would probably be a poor choice.)

Just something to be accepted and dealt with; that’s why God created sharpening oil...

 

[John in AR]

Mabu - check PM's.

 

[John in AR]

Well, question answered. I picked up a Marbles "Ideal" in 8" blade on Saturday. (Apparently the 8" is ONLY available thru A.G. Russell; some limited run for them.)

I like it. The blade's a quarter-inch thick; thicker than a field knife generally needs to be, but I'm kind of rough on things sometimes so I like it. The steel is 0170-6, which is 'probably' the same as the Cold Steel Trailmaster. It was fairly sharp when I got it, but just a few minutes with a couple EZ-Laps (thanks, MRostov) and it's paper-shaving sharp.

This is a big knife. The picture is with my normal field knife; a Gerber Freeman Skinner, and my old Cold Steel Tanto, for comparison. (The round thing in the pic is an oil lamp. The power was out when I got home Saturday evening.)

The Gerber is a very handy knife in the field; adequate for quite a few things and still thin-bladed enough for smaller things. Looking at it and the Marbles side-by-side has me wondering about a double-sheath for the two of them along with one or both of the little EZ-Laps. That'd be a great combination in the woods.

 

[RIKA]

That Marble's 'Ideal' is a fine looking knife. Looks like it has a burl wood handle. Now, John, are you going to put it to any kind of test? Looking forward to your thoughts after you have used it for a while.

RIKA

 

[John in AR]

I haven’t done much of anything with it yet, as I just got it home Saturday night. Definitely need to get or make a new, left-handed, sheath; maybe a combo sheath with the Gerber like I mentioned.

I wore it while weed-eating around the property on Sunday afternoon, but alas, no wolves jumped out of the weeds at me so no chance to test it properly... Seriously, I figure I’ll hack on some 2x4’s or 4x4’s with it to check out its potential. Real use will have to wait until our next outing to the really rural area we spend a lot of time in.

With its heft, it should be good for heavier camp use; chopping, etc. If it holds an edge as well as it takes an edge, I’ll be very impressed. Man, that thing sharpened up well.

 

[BigEd63]

Hey John glad you like it so far. With the grind it had on that edge it looked like it would sharpen up pretty slick.

And I'll add that pics don't do justice to the depth and color of the wood on the handle.

 

[John in AR]

(Mabu - your mailbox is full. Since I can't respond that way, regarding your message... )


As long as I don't have to wrestle you. Dang you're big.

I enjoyed it. My wife & kids are out of town, otherwise I couldn't burn up an entire Saturday that way; it was good.

Got home to find we'd had some pretty bad storms down here & the power was out. Don't know when it got knocked out, but it had to have been not too long after I left, since the emergency lights were even dead, and some of them last over 6 hours.

Now if I could just find time to play with (I mean "try out") the stupid knife...

 

[BigEd63]

Sorry to hear your power was out.

I know we had a few storms blow through both Fri. afternoon & Sat. night also.

BTW- That Friday I was at the range with my girlfriend when one blew over quick and we ended up looking like drowned rats before we got all my gear back into the car.