Fundy Bowie Knife - 8" VG10 Damascus Blade, Micarta Handle, Forged Guard
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Description
The Fundy Bowie, VG10 Damascus
Plenty of Damascus bowies online carry a pattern that came out of an acid bath rather than a forge. The layers are printed, the steel underneath is soft, and the knife is a shelf ornament with a price tag. The Fundy in VG10 Damascus is the opposite proposition: an 8-inch blade forge-welded from VG10 and 15N20, hardened to 59-61 HRC, hung on a forged Damascus guard and a full-tang brown micarta handle. Real folded steel, real heat treat, ground one at a time in New Brunswick.
Who Makes It
Every Stag Steel blade is forged by hand by Naqash Minhas, founder and master maker, working steel since 2001. Nothing here arrives as a bought-in component. Naqash forges the billet, draws and folds it, forges the guard from the same Damascus, grinds the clip point and fuller, runs the heat treat, fits the micarta, and finishes the knife in our Fredericton shop.
The Blade: VG10 Damascus
The billet pairs VG10 with 15N20. VG10 brings a hard, keen, genuinely stainless cutting edge, which is unusual in a Damascus blade and the reason this one shrugs off a wet season better than most. The 15N20 carries enough nickel to stay bright through the etch, so the contrast between layers reads clearly rather than turning into grey mush. Eight inches is a working length: long enough for camp and quartering, short enough to keep the balance civil through a full day. A long fuller runs the spine and the clip point sits where a bowie's point belongs. Browse the full range in our Damascus bowie knives collection.
How the Pattern Gets There
Two contrasting steels are stacked into a billet and forge-welded at welding heat, a bright orange-yellow, under the press. The bar gets drawn out, folded back on itself, and welded again. Every fold doubles the layer count, climbing from a handful into the hundreds. How the bar is worked from there, drawn straight or pressed, decides the flow of the pattern along the finished blade. Only once the pattern reads right does the bar get forged down to the bowie profile. Our maker walks through the whole process in what a Damascus knife really is.
The Heat Treat
A pattern on a soft blade is wall decoration. Heat treat is what makes it a knife, and heat treat is the step nobody can photograph, which is why budget makers skip it. After grinding, the blade is hardened and tempered back to a working edge hardness of 59-61 HRC. Hard enough to take and hold a keen edge, tough enough to survive field use. The finished blade is then polished and etched in a mild acid, which darkens one steel and leaves the other bright, lifting the pattern to the surface.
The Forged Damascus Guard
The guard comes from the same forging work as the blade rather than a stamped stainless blank, so the layering carries through from tip to grip. Beyond the look, the guard gives your index finger a positive stop during hard draw cuts, which matters on a blade this size.
The Handle: Brown Micarta, Full Tang
Brown micarta is layered canvas set in resin, and it earns its place on working knives because moisture does nothing to it. No cracking, no swelling, no rot, and better grip wet than dry. The brown has a worn, field-worn look that suits a hunting bowie better than a glossy scale would. Full tang steel runs the complete handle, so there is no stick-tang joint waiting to fail. A leather lanyard runs through the butt for wrist retention or hanging in camp.
The Sheath
Hand-stitched black leather with a snap strap over the guard and a leather cord tie at the tip. Sized to carry a bowie of this weight on the belt without swinging, and finished to last as long as the blade.
Technical Specifications
| Specification | Detail |
|---|---|
| Knife Name | Fundy Bowie, VG10 Damascus |
| Blade Steel | VG10 Damascus (VG10 / 15N20) |
| Blade Hardness | 59-61 HRC |
| Blade Style | Clip Point with Fuller |
| Blade Length | 8" |
| Guard | Forged Damascus |
| Handle | Brown Micarta, Full Tang |
| Lanyard | Leather Cord |
| Sheath | Hand-Stitched Black Leather |
| Made In | Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada |
Damascus or D2?
The same frame is offered in single-steel D2, ground to a 5mm spine with a black micarta handle. Choose the D2 version if you want maximum spine thickness for batoning and a plainer, harder-working look. Choose this one if you want a stainless cutting edge and a forged pattern that no second knife will repeat.
Who It Suits
- Hunters who want a large field blade that resists rust through a wet season
- Collectors after genuine forge-welded Damascus rather than an etched surface pattern
- Campers replacing a knife and hatchet with one blade
- Gift buyers wanting a piece with a pattern that exists only once
Who It Does Not Suit
- Buyers wanting a light blade for daily pocket carry
- Anyone expecting an identical pattern to the photographs, since each billet forges differently
- Shoppers after the lowest price on a large bowie
Made by Hand in Canada
Forging at Stag Steel has run since 2001, every blade ground, heat treated, and finished by hand in New Brunswick. The Fundy sits in our wider bowie knives range and among our Damascus hunting knives as a large field blade. New to the pattern? Start with what a bowie knife is.
Carrying or shipping a blade this size in Canada? Read our plain-English guide to bowie knife laws in Canada first. The VG10 edge resists rust, though a blade like this still deserves good habits, and how to care for a Damascus knife covers keeping the pattern crisp for decades. Want the man behind the forge? Read about the makers.
One at a time means the knife you receive carries a pattern the next one will not. Free shipping across Canada, with affordable rates to the USA and worldwide.
