Bark River Bravo 1 ... Good/Bad ??

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P3NTTI

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Aug 25, 2011
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Greetings knife freaks! :D

I've had my eye on a Bark River Bravo 1 for a while now. While searching the internet, I've come across a lot of reviews and videos of the knife.
Some bad, some good.
Some how I feel that B1 would work for me, but there's just too much bad feedback on Bark River products out there. I'm still in between should I get one or not.

The main uses for the B1 would be a utility/camp/soldier -knife. For the last three years in all those roles I've been using Fällkniven A1. A1 has served me well, but I'm looking for a bit smaller knife that can handle most of the same tasks than A1. I know S1 from Fällkniven would be an easy way to go, but B1 has that something that just feels right.

Help me out guys. I'd like to hear what you have to say about the Bravo 1!

Cheers!
 
The Bravo 1 was the first high-end knife I purchased. I feel the qaulity is great including the micarta handles and the A2 steel. I'm a city boy so I havent used it much in the way of camping.
 
It's one of my favorite knives. I use it mostly for camp stuff (not sure how it would do at solidering-type stuff). The feel of the knife is what does it for me. It just feels incredible in the hand.
 
IMHO it's a great knife! The handle has great ergonomics and I love the convex edge. Don't have to buy aftermarket micarta handles (I also like that the handles are not screwed on), don't have to remove any blade coatings (just not a fan of coatings, though I understand why some knives have them), and no hassle warranty. It's a jack of all trades knife, not perfect for any specific task, but a great if "I could only have one knife" blade.
 
Thanks for the input.

My main concers is the thin-ish convex grind. I've seen some vids on youtube, where the edge of B1 has twisted and chiped just from some hard wood batoning.

My "soldering use" is mostly prying crates, opening boxes, cutting rope, zip ties, wire, cord, hammering small nails, carving wood, firewood / food prep. etc. Sometimes some of the tasks might be a bit abusive for a knife...
 
I couldn't tell you about or recommend prying and hammering with it, as I don't do that with ANY knife. As for the thin edge, if you are comfortable with sharpening a convex edge you can re-profile it or Bark River will do it for you for the price of shipping.
 
I'm very happy with my BRKT Aurora. I'd planned to get a Bravo, but stumbled upon a good deal.
The Bravo is designed as a solid camp/survival knife. DLT Trading just ordered a bunch of modified Bravo's, rampless, some with spear points. They look interesting and I'd expect them to be tougher than my bushcraft centric Aurora.

Like I said, I don't have a Bravo...yet.

Mark
 
I like my Bravo 1. I have used it a lot in the outdoors, with great success.
I did resharpen it as soon as I got it. Although it came out of the box sharp, I like to resharpen to get rid of factory edges and get to the good steel.
I also sent it back to Bark River to have the ramp removed on mine as I could not stand it.

Here's a picture of it before the ramp was fully removed:

DSC_1614.jpg
 
Mountain Mike said:
I couldn't tell you about or recommend prying and hammering with it, as I don't do that with ANY knife.
Click to expand...

That is so true.
But sometimes the knife is the only thing at hand for the task. Then you just have to go with it and hope it'll still be functional after you're done.
 
There's alot of feedback on the net (good and bad) for most popular knives and their makers. My vote would be "good" for the B1.
 
I was lucky enough to try one in a passaround. It's a great knife. I put it through it's paces doing 'normal' field tasks including feather sticks, batoning, notching etc. It handled all the tasks easily and the edge neither chipped or rolled. In fact over the 2 days I used it I never had to resharpen it. I stropped it when I got home and the edge was sharp as new after a minute on each side.
 
So anyway just to plug the Bravo again. BRKT's production schedule shows that they're close to completing 1000+ Bravo-1's. Hook up with one of the BRKT dealers and you can order EXACTLY the handle material you want and you shouldn't have to wait long at all.
 
RoyalM said:
I was lucky enough to try one in a passaround. It's a great knife. I put it through it's paces doing 'normal' field tasks including feather sticks, batoning, notching etc. It handled all the tasks easily and the edge neither chipped or rolled. In fact over the 2 days I used it I never had to resharpen it. I stropped it when I got home and the edge was sharp as new after a minute on each side.
Click to expand...

That's good to hear!

Badhammer - What kind(color) of handle is that? It looks great!


One of the vids that got me woried of the quality of the Bark Rivers was this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4ss8NtqEkw
I know in the video, it's not a Bravo 1, but it kinda makes me wonder about the quality control of the company.

BTW that vid is funny as hell too. I can see my self bitching about a rolled edge just as much, after using/abusing B1 as a prybar :D
 
I have one in black micarta, the handle is very comfortable, and I actually like the ramp. Even though its a pretty thick blade .22" it cuts really well, A2 is actually tougher than 1095 which is a standard for hard use knives like ESEE and TOPS. If you want to see a very in-depth video review of things you can do and are much more likely to do that the destruction tests http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-R7-Ww03t8&feature=related (unless of course you actually do plan on battoning through concrete and metal with a steel sledge hammer ;)) I think its like a 2 or 3 part review, the next part is titled BRKT Bravo 1 & debris shelter, part 1.
 
michaelm466 said:
I have one in black micarta, the handle is very comfortable, and I actually like the ramp. Even though its a pretty thick blade .22" it cuts really well, A2 is actually tougher than 1095 which is a standard for hard use knives like ESEE and TOPS. If you want to see a very in-depth video review of things you can do and are much more likely to do that the destruction tests http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-R7-Ww03t8&feature=related (unless of course you actually do plan on battoning through concrete and metal with a steel sledge hammer ;)) I think its like a 2 or 3 part review, the next part is titled BRKT Bravo 1 & debris shelter, part 1.
Click to expand...


Those were some good videos of the Bravo 1. Thanks michaelm466! I think I'll click the order button for B1. ...I think :)

Cheers dudes!
 
I am impressed with mine, I like the ramp. I have skinned with it, batoned, you name it. It holds an edge and sharpens up easy. I wish I had one when I was in the Corp.(1980-84).
 
Which one you planning to buy ? Comes in five different steels now.

A2
CPM-154
CPM-3V
CPM-S35VN
Titanium - Limited Run

I'd recommend the 3V version for you. It's in heat treat. Expect it soon.
 
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