A Bark River Smoke Jumper

Flatlander1963

Flatlander1963

Gold Member
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Jan 28, 2008
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I just received this knife I recently purchased from another forum member. It is my first Bark River and I will say emphatically that I'm very impressed with its weight, balance, and general feel. It is also my first knife with 51200.
So all you Bark River guys, I’d love to hear general comments about the steel and experiences with a S.J. for those that have it.


A Black and Red Carbon Fiber version. I LIKE IT!!!
Barkie.jpg
 
Well I took it to the woods on a trail maintence adventure but ended up not using it.
I did use my Cold Steel Baroong Machete quite a bit. Nothing like have a quality machete.

Anyway, I was sure hoping some of you guys would comment on 52100 steel. I've noticed it is also used in one of the Mule series from Spyderco.

I will tell you that the Smoke Jumper is scarey scarey sharp.
 
I could be wrong but I dont think its 52100, something similar but not 52100. The mule team is also at a HRC of 62, very tough with edge retention like CPM-M4. I'm sure someone will be along shortly that knows a little more.
 
Gordon I don't own a SJ, but if IIRC, the smoke jumper is 50-100B steel.

According to Mike Stewart (BRK owner), the 50-100B is actually one of the few steels that was made specifically for knives. He even went so far as to classify it as one of the super steels of the 50's and 60's...

From what I have read, it is similar to their A2 steel. It is suppose to take a lot of abuse and still keep a good edge.

I don't know if you've been there or not, but you would probably get some good responses if you went to their sub forum on "the other knife forum".

Those people really put the BRK's through some serious use
 
Yeah, it's 50100-B. What you have there is a fancy version of Cold Steel's old Carbon V SRK.

Nothing wrong with that.

I'd keep it oiled, they're supposed to rust easy.
 
I don't own a Smoke Jumper but I've a BR big Bowie made of the same steel. Good knife and steel but listen to what shunsui says. 50-100B will rust very easily without a fair bit of care.
 
Thanks for the comments. I intend to store outside the sheath and oil routinely.
I will say one thing...this is a extremely sharp knife. g
 
Talking about sharpness...I've got a Sharpmaker and have been sharpening all my knives on 40 degrees and getting really good results. Will this work well for me with this knife?
 
I've added to my fixed blade assortment with this Teddy. This was the Bark River I was initially interested in but saw the Smoke Jumper and bought it. Now I'm in love with the CF handles and the feel of that knife.

I think the Teddy absolutely nails the bowie pattern. Again, don't know much about A2 so I'll have to look into that.
Teddy.jpg
 
The best thing for any Bark River is to maintain the convex edge. If you learn how to convex and keep your maintenance regular, you may never need to drop below 1500grit. So, some stropping there followed by 2000, then a strop loaded with chromium oxide, and the edge should be as new or better.

Although: I have, a time or three, used the fine white Sharpmaker stones and about 7 or so very, very light passes on each side of the edge to bring it around. Most often, this is done on my Highland Special because, for some reason, I can never quite find the right angle when stropping that puppy.

Don;t make a habit out of the Sharpmaker, but don;t rule it out. Rather, become proficient in convex stropping. There are untold threads in this and the Maintenance forums on how to do it.
 
StretchNM said:
The best thing for any Bark River is to maintain the convex edge. If you learn how to convex and keep your maintenance regular, you may never need to drop below 1500grit. So, some stropping there followed by 2000, then a strop loaded with chromium oxide, and the edge should be as new or better.

Although: I have, a time or three, used the fine white Sharpmaker stones and about 7 or so very, very light passes on each side of the edge to bring it around. Most often, this is done on my Highland Special because, for some reason, I can never quite find the right angle when stropping that puppy.

Don;t make a habit out of the Sharpmaker, but don;t rule it out. Rather, become proficient in convex stropping. There are untold threads in this and the Maintenance forums on how to do it.
Click to expand...


Thanks for the pointers.
 
The “Jumper” is a great knife. :thumbup: :cool: :thumbup:



Light on the belt and fast in the hand, ;) ...a lot of cutting tool for its size and weight.



Big Mike

”Scaring the tree huggers.”

Forest & Stream
 
Great Smokejumper pic, Big Mike! :thumbup: I had never really seen this particular knife come to life like that (the "spirit" of the design, as Sal Glesser might say). This illustrates that well.
 
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