The main competition to the Bowie knife from the late 1830’s to the period just after the Civil War was the Arkansas Toothpick. The Arkansas Toothpick 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. Traveling 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. The Cold Steel 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 compliment the handle.