Cowboy's and their knives Every cowpoke carried one, and to a traditional cowboy of the 19th century the most important thing about his knife was it's functionality. Most cowboys weren't too flashy - oh they might have a bright colored shirt, bandana or two - but their work-a-day tools needed to be made well, and stand up to robust use. Their knives were usually made from worn out files - they already had the tang for the handle, and with some time and sweat the narrow blade could be sharpened to a fine edge, and point. But if a blacksmith in a particular area had a reputation (Like James Black of Bowie Knife fame) for making a good knife - and the cowboy had the money - he'd buy one.
Traditional Bowie The knife shown was made to the legendary Blacksmith James Black's original specifications from 1830. This is his modified version of Jim Bowie's original hand-carved knife model. The sharpened edge on the curved top edge of the blade was Black's noteworthy addition. As Crocodile Dundee would say, "Now that's a knife!" Because of Bowie's fame and his fighting skill with this design, most men heading west or into the mountains, after 1830, wanted a knife like his. By the 1840s, large knife factories, like Sheffield's in England, were mass producing these Bowie blades. By the 1870s not as many were seen around the western frontier - as the blade is too large for a cowboy when mounted - although some would have been seen as saddle knives.
NEW OCTOBER 2008 Executive Saddle Bags Load these oversized saddle bags with all your business gear; throw them over your shoulder and walk a city block or two. You'll never go back to carrying a briefcase. The heavy leather bags can easily hold most anything, including your lap top, legal size folders, binders, note books, and cables. Inside you will find sleeves to hold your wallet, pens, or even a memory stick. We've even put a cell phone sleeve on the outside neck, and a heavy duty handle for easy carrying. Cowboy Action Shooters will find these oversized saddle bags just the thing to carry all your cowboy action tools. You can easily store a gunbelt; two holsters; spurs, wild rags and ammo. And that's just in one side. On the other side you can carry a two pistol case and more ammo, and in most cases when the flaps are locked the bags are legal for firearm transport.  Further customization of the bags is possible, and is only limited by your imagination. Click for our Executive Saddle Bag page.
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	Knives 6-7" blade length.
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Custom Old West Designs We take our western heritage seriously and work hard at preserving the qualities that made it great. Our custom hats are made the old west way - one at a time, and believe if you want a Tom Mix Hat - you should be able to get the same looking hat that Mix wore. We start with the best fur-felt hat body available - made in the USA - and with the skill of our master hatter fashion as fine a custom western hat as you can find. You won't find these western hats at your nearest mall - so don't follow the herd - strike out on your own with a custom western hat from The Last Best West. See our new hat design - the Rocky Mountain Ranger Traditional Cowboy Hats - Authentic Designs Longfellow researched the designs based on historical photos and original mail order catalogues from the late 1800's and the early decades of the 20th Century. Of particular help was the Smithsonian Website, the Library, and the archives of the Glenbow Museum in Calgary. And of course those great Hollywood Westerns.  Cowboy Hat Home :: Western Movie Hats :: Cowboy Hat Facts :: Old West Cowboy Hats
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