Linder BOWIE KNIFE 
MADE IN SOLINGEN GERMANY

Linder Rehwappen Platterl 8" Bowie knife

Expertly heavily stitched leather scabbard.

REHWAPPEN PLATTERL  8" BOWIE KNIFE


SUPERB GERMAN CONSTRUCTION!

Superb finish.

Mirror polished brass guard. 440A martensitic stainless alloy. The brass guard is press fit onto the tang and held in place by the handle scales

Comes with a very nice well-stitched leather scabbard.

I can't keep away from Linder Knives of Germany!
Over a 100 year tradition of knife making.

This knife, the Rehwappen Platterl 8" Bowie knife made in a traditional style, is a full tang beast. Beautifully polished finish on the brass guard and blade, with a very nice satin finish on the blade. The blade thickness is approximately 4.8mm at the spine.

"Rehwappen" is Linder's old Trademark and literally means "Deer Brand". They use this for their Traditional style knives such as the Rehwappen Platterl 8" Bowie knife.

The Rehwappen Platterl 8" Bowie knife features a Plum wood handle. NOW I know Plum wood is extremely hard-that's the stuff I was using to make fish spear heads from! It's like steel. Linder are making a responsible effort to not have to use potentially endangered tropical hardwoods. This "locally" sourced Plum wood is pretty damn good.

Construction also features brass rivets to secure the handle. The Rehwappen Platterl 8" Bowie knife really looks like what a proper knife should look like!

The use of Plum wood (a very hard wood) and brass rivets add a touch of "Real knife" to this classic design.

Now to the knife steel. Linder are using High carbon 440A for this model. Now before any of you start saying, "that's a crap steel". Stop right there and check yourself against marketing hype and reality. 440A has between 0.60% MINIMUM to 0.75% maximum Carbon content, that puts it in the typical "High carbon" range of 0.6-1.0% carbon. 440A can be hardened to between 57-59 dependent upon the "quality/technique, ie science" of the heat treatment. Linder have told me that they harden this 440A blade to HRC 56-HRC 57, using a vacuum furnace and cryogenic tempering techniques. My experience with blades hardened to anywhere from HRC55/56/57 is that they actually in real terms perform just fine and enable easy resharpening in the field. Unskilled hands and low end sharpening devices will work here on such a steel. We are led to believe that our blades must have comparable hardness to metal working files, this is rubbish. Sure HRC's of 60 plus will require less sharpening (methinks there are many out there- who can not sharpen for sh*t and therefore a high HRC knife blade will be fine for  1 or 2 times camping trips per year. Like all those who slag AUS8. I mean I have AUS8 knives which have long stood the test of the Australian hard as steel Eucalyptus wood tests. That's because they have been expertly heat treated. Carl Linder Nachf. e.K. know what they are doing when it comes to making knives. (at least the ones I've had in my hands up until now!). Anyway I digress, let's move on.

How is the Linder Rehwappen Platterl 8" Bowie knife made?

The blanks of the Rehwappen Platterl 8" Bowie knife are LASER cut, machine ground and then hand finished (you can definitely tell the latter here-as I indicated in the title and intro). The Linder Rehwappen Platterl 8" Bowie knife came deadly sharp out of the box.



Who What and Where is such a large blade as the Rehwappen Platterl 8" Bowie knife useful?? If at all??
 Let's start by saying "big knives are best BUT only if one knows how to get the most from their big knife"*, otherwise, it's simply a large chunk of metal best left behind or hanging up in the lounge-room (if the wife permits it- please no comments about sexism here!). Secondly, one can always carry a small knife too. Taking this Linder Rehwappen Platterl 8" Bowie knife out to eat your dinner in a hut might start scaring a few people and wind you up in trouble! 

The Linder Rehwappen Platterl 8" Bowie knife has a Satin finish, this knife is also offered for a limited time in C60 High carbon steel

Like I've said many times, big knives are great for serious wild adventures way way out of mobile phone range, way way, away from any vehicle and civilization. YES, there are still places like this left. I know, I've been there plenty of times. There you can whip out such a knife as the Rehwappen Platterl 8" Bowie knife and no one will bother you and it can be very useful*. Making tools with this knife, cutting up big chunks of meat with it etc etc.

440A has good corrosion resistance so coastal camping shouldn't be a problem. Such a blade design lends itself well to gutting and processing fish. See my trusty (and sometimes rusty LOL) Ontario Spec Plus clip point.

I really like the wood handle as it feels and looks like a "real knife" Check out the movie The Most Dangerous Game" if you want to see an early model bird beak Bowie knife, which featured in all the publicity stills movie.

BUT wait let me really test this out and not rely upon what I say here:
I'll be cutting the usual stuff like seasoned hardwoods, ropes both synthetic and natural, both of which can easily blunt a soft edge. Hard vines, testing the temper of the tip. WHY because such a large knife should be able to handle the pace of the wilds.

Linder Rehwappen Platterl 8" Bowie knife, stick around and i'll show you what I get up to with this knife.

Stay tuned to BushCampingTools YouTube Channel for more on this newly acquired blade.