La dague Cold Steel Arkansas Toothpick 88GTP 33cm

The main competition to the Bowie knife from the late 1830's to the period just after the Civil War was the Cold Steel Arkansas Toothpick 88GTP. The model got its namesake as an ironic reference to the coarse, rough and tumble culture that populated the lowlands of Arkansas and the Mississippi delta in the mid 19th century. Travelling journalists from Europe often made up stories about how they commonly saw men and old boys picking their teeth with giant knives that they dubbed Arkansas Toothpicks. Like the Bowie it was frequently a large knife almost always double edged with a sharp acute point. The knife almost always had a double quillon guard and many were fancy and some imitated the Bowies of the day in size and appearance. Sure, some were plain, but most were elaborately decorated. This version has a substantial double edge spear point blade, with a Malaysian Sal wood handle and a fancy pommel with an alligator motif. The scabbard is equally stunning, it's finely made and decoratively enhanced to complement the handle.