Anyone have experience with Bark River Knifr and Tool?

I used to have a bunch, only a few left. For the price, the fit and finish is nothing to write home about. Performance-wise, I experienced a wide range. Some of mine did very well as a bushcraft knife, including batoning, and one had a complete, catastrophic edge failure when whittling wood (and it was a model touted by BRKT as well-suited for whittling).

I figure for the same price range I can get a custom from someone like Ray Laconico, whose knives are superior in every way.

Like others here, I have other strongly-held "reasons" why I won't be buying one again, and it has nothing to do with the knives themselves.
 
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Warning-you will get hooked on them. Consider the BRK&T Gunny. Just a somewhat smaller version of the Bravo-1. Actually makes more sense in my opinion for general all around bushwork.
 
Along with the experiences of using the knives what are your experiences with the owner. It seems people have "reasons" as to why they won't buy BRKT anymore but its not because of the knives. If the owner is doing or has done something wrong I do not want to give him my business. Thanks
 
I stopped once at the actual Bark River shop in Escanaba, MI while driving thru the area. At this point I had only purchased one of their knives. While I was browsing around the store lobby a man came out of an office area and we started talking about my knife. For over 30 minutes he stood and explained the history behind my knife. He showed me future "top secret" Bark River knives that were just ideas on paper. We talked about a small batch of Woodland Specials that had just been finished. I was able to handle knives that were under glass. It was incredible. I have never been back, but I have bought many Bark River knives on account of that stop. Remember, these are handmade and there may be small differences from knife to knife. I don't find them particularly expensive either, considering you can pick most of them up for $100 and change. A few go over $200 and some are under $100. That is cheap for what you are getting. A made in the USA handcrafted knife.
 
Bali-Flipper32 said:
Along with the experiences of using the knives what are your experiences with the owner. It seems people have "reasons" as to why they won't buy BRKT anymore but its not because of the knives. If the owner is doing or has done something wrong I do not want to give him my business. Thanks
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Until you can cite specific examples, this is purely unfounded sh!t-talking. Mike is a stand-up guy, proven for years, and I know I certainly have never heard or read about any negative behavior on his part. You're probably confusing him with someone else. Then again, once you've spent a little more time around the forums, you'll start to learn who the good guys are.
 
I have three BRKT knives...a Bravo 1 and two Bravo Neckers, one in stainless and one in 3v. I find the Bravo Necker to be an astoundingly handy and useful knife...probably the knife I'd choose if I had to pick one knife for a year.

The Bravo 1 has the best ergonomics and general size/shape/style of any utility knife I've tried yet. When I see pictures of it I'm always stopping and thinking "now that's a knife I want...oh wait, I already have it". Also, it has a kydex sheath which is substandard but which I still prefer to leather.

I was on the way to buying more BRKT knives when the edge on my Bravo 1 suffered massive chipping while doing very light work. I spent half a day grinding the chips out and gingerly used it again, with the same results. I suspected the heat treatment and contacted BRKT. They told me to send it back for regrinding, saying that the edge was probably ground too thin at the factory.

They make a lot of really great styles and it's one of the nicer knives you can find in stock, but for the price I'm a little disappointed. I mean, if every knife is ground by hand, then how exactly did my knife make it out the door with an edge too thin to use? From what I've heard, it's not an uncommon problem with BRKT knives.

I'm not giving up on BRKT knives, but in general I'll make my purchases from other makers rather than just massing more BRKT's. Part of that is wanting to sample other makers, and part of it is a general disappointment with the Bravo 1.
 
puukkoman said:
Until you can cite specific examples, this is purely unfounded sh!t-talking. Mike is a stand-up guy, proven for years, and I know I certainly have never heard or read about any negative behavior on his part. You're probably confusing him with someone else. Then again, once you've spent a little more time around the forums, you'll start to learn who the good guys are.
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I am unable to cite specific examples. I want to know what other peoples reasons are so I know and am able to make a purchasing decision later on.
 
puukkoman said:
Until you can cite specific examples, this is purely unfounded sh!t-talking. Mike is a stand-up guy, proven for years, and I know I certainly have never heard or read about any negative behavior on his part. You're probably confusing him with someone else. Then again, once you've spent a little more time around the forums, you'll start to learn who the good guys are.
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I agree with a lot of this, but I will not go so far as to say it is unfounded trash talk. However I am very annoyed by the people who say they have their "reasons" without elaborating. I can understand not wanting to start a flame war but many of these same people will quickly say why they don't like Lynn Thompson or Mick Strider etc.. I would like to hear more info other than the owner did something.
 
I've been using mine for a couple of days now and I dig Bark River. I really like how they blend the modern with the traditional. The closest thing that I can compare them to is Fallkniven, and I think Bark River has a few advantages over them. Like upgraded steel, USA made, lifetime warranty, wider variety of knives and handle materials. But all is good, any quality knife will last for years.
 
puukkoman said:
Until you can cite specific examples, this is purely unfounded sh!t-talking. Mike is a stand-up guy, proven for years, and I know I certainly have never heard or read about any negative behavior on his part. You're probably confusing him with someone else. Then again, once you've spent a little more time around the forums, you'll start to learn who the good guys are.
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AMEN, too many tell 'storys' about him and they are too quick to judge him and no others.

I owm many makers blades and as one said,he LOVES Ray Laconico blades.

I own one and I dont like it and price wise its WAY higher than the Barkies I own and use.

Dont get me wrong either,I dont like all that BRK&T make,but the ones I have I wont get rid of.

Mike is a gentleman,and a fun guy to hang with.

And after seeing his skills as to making and handling a blade,ask me if he knows his stuff !!.
 
puukkoman said:
Until you can cite specific examples, this is purely unfounded sh!t-talking. Mike is a stand-up guy, proven for years, and I know I certainly have never heard or read about any negative behavior on his part. You're probably confusing him with someone else. Then again, once you've spent a little more time around the forums, you'll start to learn who the good guys are.
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I do not want to start a flame war with the fanboys, been there, done that. But I have a specific example involving myself, and an egregious example involving another person. I will only share such information privately. If you search the forums back a few years there was a thread with some specifics, too. Just because you have had a positive experience does not preclude someone else having a negative experience. Some people refuse to believe that their favorite "nice" person could do anything wrong, and choose instead to make personal attacks on the person who brought up a negative issue. This happened to me before with BRKT fans.
 
lambertiana could you message me your experience? I want to know what some of the problems with BRKT are. Thanks
 
lambertiana said:
I do not want to start a flame war with the fanboys, been there, done that. But I have a specific example involving myself, and an egregious example involving another person. I will only share such information privately. If you search the forums back a few years there was a thread with some specifics, too. Just because you have had a positive experience does not preclude someone else having a negative experience. Some people refuse to believe that their favorite "nice" person could do anything wrong, and choose instead to make personal attacks on the person who brought up a negative issue. This happened to me before with BRKT fans.
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I too had more than a few words with 'some' there.

But I spoke to them and it was settled mano a mano.

And then a face to face was amazing as to the whole incident,totally laughable as a look back told us all.

I see that all men can get their balls in a fuzzy over many things.

AND,it often turns out to be not much more than a mispoken word or inflection that online wording can do.

Sorry that you still are not on terms with them.

I am not their 'fan club' but I like Mike and Reid they can both be men,as such I see that I too can be "difficult" at times.

Least so says my wife .
 
have 4 and had a few more
used them all, took the heck out of them, still fine and a couple are still shaving after tons of wood
batoned through thick seasoned wood with all of them (all 4") and they came out with no damage or edge loss even being thin at spine and edge

cannot go wrong with them, they cut for a long time, are well made, hell sharp
definitively worth
Maxx
 
puukkoman said:
Until you can cite specific examples, this is purely unfounded sh!t-talking. Mike is a stand-up guy, proven for years, and I know I certainly have never heard or read about any negative behavior on his part. You're probably confusing him with someone else. Then again, once you've spent a little more time around the forums, you'll start to learn who the good guys are.
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I don't know about that. My personal experiences with the guy were certainly rather negative, with pretty much nothing positive to balance them out. I started out over on knifeforums, where he seems to spend most of his time, and the guy was not the most pleasant. Downright rude, in fact, and spent a lot of time attacking me and making fun of the noob. I'll grant you that he's a knowledgeable guy, but he was unpleasant enough that I decided it wasnt worth my time to stay on what appears to be his personal fiefdom, and came to this forum instead. Never regretted that decision.

There's also been several allegations of shady business practices on his part. I don't know that we need to get into details, because I think the deal in this thread is the knives, which are great, and he does stand behind them most of the time. And I don't think it's profitable to get into personal things. But as for him being a "stand-up guy, proven for years," I haven't seen any evidence of that. He's nice to people he likes, and an unmitigated jerk if you somehow manage to get on his wrong side.

You want to know how I ended up on his wrong side? I made the mistake of mentioning that I'd thrown my Ka-bar kukri machete, and that I thought it did surprisingly well at that, considering that it's by no means a throwing knife. Evidently that's the next best thing to cardinal sin, in his book. You're never going to convince me that he's a stand-up guy. I tried taking it to PM with him and everything, and the hazing just kept going until I left. He was still sending me mocking PM's after I had stopped posting for a month.

For all that though, I still own a couple of his knives, and would probably buy more, especially from my favorite shop that sells them. Got my Bravo Necker 2 on me right now, and when I ordered that one, regular shipping, it got there somehow the very next day. I was blown away by that. I don't like the guy personally, and never will, but as you may have noticed, I've got no problems recommending his knives. Just because I wouldn't want to go drinking with him doesn't mean he doesn't make a superb product.
 
crimsonfalcon07 said:
I started out over on knifeforums, where he seems to spend most of his time, and the guy was not the most pleasant. Downright rude, in fact, and spent a lot of time attacking me and making fun of the noob.
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My experience with Mike, over on KF, has been exactly the opposite. I chimed-in on a thread about a ~4" fixed blade for day-hiking in the woods, and he's been exceedingly helpful and informative. He's contributed positively to other threads there, in which I've commented, in the past.

I'm in the market for a ~4" sheath knife, suitable for day-hiking in the woods and general camp use. I want it to be American-made, preferably Michigan-made, and BRKT makes some damn fine blades.

Jim
 
I own 5, of them one came with an acceptable edge in my opinion. Shipped 2 back, returned with a bill in worse condition. Was told it would not happen with the third of the set of 3 I had ordered ~1.5 years prior. When last knife received was the worst out of the three. I dropped all support for the company then and there. Still tempted by 2-3 models, but would not pay money for them new, and am not sure I would trade for them either.

My Lil' Bird and Trout keeps getting displayed and used, but I no longer endorse the company based on my experience. 1/5 in good shape (mostly edge problems) when each was over $100 is too much in my book, especially when expressly promised that problems would not occur again.

Sad too, they have solid designs in a great array of materials.
 
All in I've had great experiences with BRKT.

The knives are well designed and made. The pricing on the blades I chose is very reasonable for what you get, the warranty is outstanding also.

I've been lucky enough to have spoken with Mike by email a fair bit over the last few years. He's knows his stuff and puts that into his designs. Their stockists, or at least knivesshipfree, are excellent to deal with. Great customer service.

Bottom line for me is: "would I recommend them to a friend?"
The answer has always been a resounding yes.
 
Bark River. They're my favorite knives. Here are a few:
Bravo-Camp-Northstar.jpg

BRKT-02.jpg


These are old pics. There're a couple more in the queue now. The convex edge is THE most efficient cutting edge for meat, raw or cooked, in my opinion. Fair to midland at woodworking, not anything near like a scandi blade for that. Good for field dressing, but a good v-grind equals or betters the convex depending on the particular chore.

Like others said - you can;t buy just one.
 
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