Thank you for the note on the thread in which I mentioned Bowie knives actually was Pallas' fascinating topic on Mississippi River and flatboat weapons. I mentioned the Bowie knife as one weapon which indeed was likely present in the latter part of the period mentioned in that thread, about c.1830 and later.
This 'knife' is in my opinion a handsome and sturdy example of what are well known as 'hunting knives' or sometimes in Europe 'camping knives'. It corresponds in profile and simple hilt configuration to one shown in "Knives and Daggers" ( Z. Faktor) which is a Czechoslovakian example with wood hilt of c.1930's. It is noted to be based on contemporary American examples.
I should point out that a very close friend who is of profound American Indian ancestry and very much an outdoors person, has two personal knives he uses in his constant times in various wilderness environments. The reverence in which he cares for these two knives, and uses them, clearly illustrate a man's knife is hardly ever 'just' a knife.
If I suggested otherwise to him, it would not be taken well, and he's pretty good size.
A knife was an American Indian warriors pride and joy, and among the frontiersmen and mountain men, it was crucial in matters of life and death.
In times where guns were often unreliable, the knife was essential to survival, not only in combat, but in utility matters.
While modern times seldom put individuals in insurmountable circumstances, those who frequent the outdoors, at least many of them , still regard thier knife, no matter how pedestrian, as a very personal item.
Although I cant imagine how this knife could become the stuff of a domestic ultimatum, one can seldom discount the unbelievable pettiness sometimes seen in these matters.
All the best,
Jim