Greetings all, First off, I'd like to share a terrific damascus bowie by Matt Roberts that landed on my doorstep a short while ago. This Matt's first effort at a coffin handle, and it gave him fits. By my count, two previous handles on this blade were demolished because Matt wasn't happy with them. His perseverance certainly paid off. This is the first knife I have owned with Curly Movingui wood. Heck, I'd never even heard of it before! It is quite stunning - the depth, shimmer and vibrancy of Koa but more dense and solid. The 1084 / 15n20 damascus is rendered in a stunning pattern. Blade length 8", overall 12.75" 416 ss guard Sheath by maker. Beautifully photographed (as always) by Coop. Now about Best Bowie - due to some personal circumstances, I will not be able to run the thread this year. I don't know if Lorien is able to take it up on his own (or at all for that matter) but if it is to be run this year it seems that someone will have to step into the breach. Past threads are there for reference - feel free to cut and paste the rules and just roll with it. Nominations traditionally open on Dec 26th and we try to select a final overall winner by Jan 1st. I will definitely try to participate, but I just won't have the time avaialable to minitor and run the contest this year. And whether or not it happens this year, I'll certainly aim to run it again in 2021. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all! Roger
I look forward to the Best Bowie event and nominate @JParanee in hopes that he will carry on the tradition this year.
my real life requires 110% of my focus and attention, and there is no extracurricular time. I will, however, be applying myself in ways which honour the spirit of this thread. Let me just say one thing about the atmosphere we all find ourselves in during a pandemic. The virus is an equal opportunity attacker. It doesn't care about humans individually, in fact it doesn't care at all. We are all susceptible which means the only way to come out on top is to band together. Which, in this case, means staying physically apart. This forum can serve as a place for us to band together, because we all need a little interaction. To support each other and recognize each other's worth. I don't think that this is a time for competition- albeit, I am not particularly competitive by nature- but more a time to come together. I'm thinking that a universal 'retrospective' thread for both makers and collectors to share their custom knife experiences would be just the ticket. No losers, only winners. A big ole KUMBAYA thread is what I think we could all use, but that's just my take. Maybe ask that each poster only take one post so nobody hogs the thing, but everyone can edit and change their own posts in order to organize their retrospective and add to it as they think of cool things they did. Roger, your long time patronage of Matt Roberts shows what I think is the best in custom knife making.
Thank you for the mention but alas I’m afraid I would not do the deed justice I do like Lorien’s idea
Hope the thread comes together this year. It’s always so fun and inspirational to see so many great makers best work all year in one place!
That's a great looking bowie Roger from an extremely talented maker. Matt is one of those humble makers who often seems to fly under the radar but turns out some stunning pieces, congrats.
Hey my friend - maybe fototime was glitching when you last checked in - hopefully you can see it now.
I got my first knife from my buddy Matt on these Forums over 20 years ago and have a couple to post myself for this year.
Matt is topping my list of consistent quality Bowies with a VARIETY of styles. We will see many when a year-end thread emerges--in ANY form. BB may evolve to a better format. We will see.
I absolutely dig Matt's work and my DevilFish. Can someone please hook me up on how to contact Matt ? Thanks. Seb
