Bark River Bravo 1 - Very Torn Now.... HELP!

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LightGuy

LightGuy

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I was completely sold on getting a BRKT Bravo 1 in A2 steel based on all the reviews and videos. I decided on this over the Fallkniven F1 due to the much higher price for micarta handles (can't do the stock). I didn't mind the carbon steel and additional maintenance, and just though for the price it would be an awesome knife.

The awsome handle ergonomics, combined with a rampless model at a great price point made it fit my need for a 4" survival blade. So I pre-ordered one...

Until.........I saw the knifetest.com videos...:eek: :confused:

I don't care about the hits to concrete, who in their right mind would do that?? But the crazy amount of blade warping and edge folding when chopping a simple 2x4 makes me very nervous. I want a hard use knife in this size that I don't have to worry about chopping and batoning with when I need to. I don't mind sharpening it up, but I don't want to have to be straightening the blade after some chopping....

Do I cancel the pre-order and save up the extra change for an F1 in micarta? I was so looking forward to the Bravo 1, but now.........HELP!!
 
I would take anything you see there as a grain of salt. I have batoned a lot with my bravo with nothing more than a few scratches. He may have got a lemon or he majorly thinned out the edge. If this happened to your knife, BR would replace your knife for free
 
BRKT Bravo 1 was developed with help of Force Recon, no knife should warp simple 2x4 chopping like that if its designed to be survival knife suited for USMC Force Recon. However that might have been also bad sample... I wish they would have testn another Bravo 1 to eliminate change of bad sample. As empirical testing like these cannot be sure just testing one sample.
 
thejamppa said:
BRKT Bravo 1 was developed with help of Force Recon, no knife should warp simple 2x4 chopping like that if its designed to be survival knife suited for USMC Force Recon.
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That has never been proven to be true. ;)
 
Ankerson said:
That has never been proven to be true. ;)
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Indeed, though it maybe just a hype at least knife shouldn't bend like that... Not for mere chopping. I love my BRKT's though but for toughness, I wouldn't take knife that bends like that. I doubt Esee RC 4/5 wouldn't have bend like that. That could have been just very bad sample. I hope they can review Bravo 1 with another sample and see if it does the same thing.
 
I've seen a You Tube review, that guy has batoned his. I've used mine, and other BRKT knives. The Knife test results seem off to me, in this particular case.
Even if that happened to you in the field, keep using it, get home, send it back, get a new knife.
Get a KSF sharpshooter sheath as well, hangs low on the belt, and the fit is great.
 
I have seen the video as well and it is disturbing at the very least. I wish BRKT would send Knife Test.Com another knife for a second test. At this moment, a logical choice would be the F1.
 
I have used my A2 Bravo-1 HARD for years, and it has proven to be basically indestructible. I have batonned it countless times, through very tough wood, and it just laughs. That thick blade, tough steel, and convex edge makes for a brutish combination. The Bravo-1 is hands down my favorite knife in that size range. It is my #1 go-to fixed blade.
 
thejamppa said:
BRKT Bravo 1 was developed with help of Force Recon
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This is called marketing hype pure and simple... business is business...

Anyhow... it is a known fact that sometimes the bark rivers are ground to thin towards the edge and the steel will warp and fold pretty bad with even minimal wood processing. But... all you have to do when you receive the knife is to go out and baton through a couple of pieces of wood and what not.. and if your edge is too thin then send it into bark river and they will fix you up real quick.

I think there knives are incredible for the price. The A2 is very good. And their warranty is as good as it gets. So if yours comes with an edge too thin they will fix it up for you. I would go ahead and get it.. it is a nice knife. I had one and it stood up to everything I gave it with no kind of warping or anything. I sold it because I like the north star much better. Lighter weight and just as tough.
 
maybe look into the SS verison in CPM 154. I wonder if that one is a step above in toughness and edge retention. I've not been able to find a thread on the A2 vs. CPM 154 verison though.
 
ouc said:
maybe look into the SS verison in CPM 154. I wonder if that one is a step above in toughness and edge retention. I've not been able to find a thread on the A2 vs. CPM 154 verison though.
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I wouldn't count on the CPM154 version being much tougher than the A2. More corrosion resistant, yes. Tougher, probably not. I have had no problems with corrosion on the A2. I certainly wouldn't pay the ton of extra $$$$ it costs to "upgrade" to the CPM154.
 
maybe look into the SS verison in CPM 154. I wonder if that one is a step above in toughness and edge retention. I've not been able to find a thread on the A2 vs. CPM 154 verison though.
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No.. it is not tougher then the A2.. not even close to as tough. There was a thread on another forum where Mr. Stewart himself even discussed this. He said CPM-154 was a fine stainless.. but A2 had a finer grain structure and was much tougher then CPM-154.

Just an interesting side now.. I didn't know that S30V was tougher then CPM-154... always thought the opposite. Then I read a thread from a representative of Crucible and apparently S30V is tougher..

EDIT: Here is the post... quoted directly from Mr. Stewart...

STOP !

A-2 has FINER carbides that any Super Stainless.

It is WAY tougher.(only S-7 and CPM3V are tougher in use in knives)

Here it is in a nutshell.

CPM154 is as Tough as D-2.(Not A-2)

It holds it's edge longer than A-2 by about 20%

It is also much harder to sharpen because of it's abrasion resistance - not because it is harder.

(If maintained it is easy to touch up with a Convex edge)

A-2 Is Much tougher - holds and edge very very well and is easy to sharpen.

The Advantage of CPM154 is that it is a more Stain Resistant Alloy.

It will stand shoulder to shoulder with A-2 in most uses but the in more abusive use A-2 will beat it without Chipping or Breaking.

In my Experience CPM154 is the Best Stain Resistant High Carbon Blade Steel that has been developed so far.

Jon--Feel Free to paste and copy this into your Forum.


Mike...........
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BRKT Bravo 1 was developed with help of Force Recon, no knife should warp simple 2x4 chopping like that if its designed to be survival knife suited for USMC Force Recon.
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That has never been proven to be true. ;)
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You guys think what you like,

...but the B-1, the B-2, the Gunny, the STS series,

...and the Close Quarter's prototypes where developed to meet the needs of Force Recon units.


Other knifes like, the SOCOM series, the Sandstorm series and the Lil' Chute,

...where developed to meet the needs/request of all our troops heading in harms way;

... remember Bark River was formed just before that fateful day 9-11-2001,

...changing the knife market quite a bit.


No Bark River knife is Issued to Force Recon Marines,

...or any of our troops;

...they are paid for by the solder, a supporter,

...or through some of the fund raising programs Bark River has supported.


Mike Stewart and his distributors go out of there way to make these knifes availabe to the troops at the lowest possible price.







OK, on to the Bravo-1 questions.


It's an overbuilt hunting knife tweaked to meet the utility/bushcraft needs of some of our troops;

...it's designed to cut and slice and to be a sharp cutting tool;

...no 4" slicer is going to be an effecient chopping tool.


And it was not designed to be the "end all" survival knife, or for use in combat.


I've had some of my A2 Bark River choppers come with a too fine an edge for my needs,

...re-setting the edge a bit thicker always quelled any edge deformation that I was seeing,

...and those that know me know I beat on my choppers hard.


Bark River's A2 is nothing if it's not tough.


The Bravo-1 is Bark River's all tme best seller, well past 5000 made, on the way to 10,000;

...if this knife sucked I would think people would stop buying them, :confused:

...but Bark River can't make enough to meet demand.



Also, any Backyard Woodsman can take advantage of Bark River's Spa treatment and no question repair/replacement poilcy,

...meaning you will have a like new knife for a lifetime;


...for our troops, a tough tool to get the job done is what really matters.




Big Mike
 
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D R E said:
More importantly, the cooperation between Mike and some quiet folks over at Recon has never been proven to be untrue :)
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Yeah it was, the whole story fell apart when it all 1st came up awhile back.

Even Jerry Busse was involved because they said something about his knives being tested also. Jerry didn't know anything about it from what was posted. ;)
 
That's interesting. IIRC, one of Force Recon's requirements was that the knife they chose had to be available through normal retail channels. No Busse knife I'm aware of would be able to meet that criterion.
 
I have a Bravo 1 SS for quite a while. Great blade and never had any issues with it other than it was a bit wide for my liking. I just got an F1 with G10 grips that were done by Bark River and all I can say is wow! Gonna order another one or two soon. Not cheap, but this is THE perfect EDC, survival, bushcraft blade as far as I'm concerned.
 
Well whatever the reason was that the tested knife failed, it should not happen, period. Most companies have a thing called quality control. This should especially be true for a knife that is touted as "survival." Imagine you put this thing in your SHTF kit, the S REALLY Hs TF, and you're stuck with a bum knife. Oops, it was a lemon. Too bad.

I was actually pretty close to buying a Bravo 1 at one point due to the universal praise (some may say hype) it received. This was before the D-test was out. But what put me off was the tang:

2yl4vt5.jpg


So much material is removed inside the handle that it looks not much stronger than a stick tang. So I decided to get a Fallkniven A1 instead and haven't looked back.

If you really like the look, you can get BRKT customized Fallknivens at knivesshipfree. Yeah, an F1 is still more than a B1, but only 60$ or so.
 
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bld522 said:
That's interesting. IIRC, one of Force Recon's requirements was that the knife they chose had to be available through normal retail channels. No Busse knife I'm aware of would be able to meet that criterion.
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They were saying some of the knives tested and Busse was supposed to be one of them, the whole thing was odd from the beginning.
 
Here is the background information about the Bravo-1 from the man himself:

Force Recon is the Elite groups of the USMC Recon Marines.

They went out and bought $5000.00 worth of knives without telling anyone.

They tested the knives themselves and the only two knives that passed after a couple of months of abusive use.

The Two were Our Gameskeeper and a Fallkniven but I don't know the model.

The Marines are Berry Compliant so they called me instead of Peter.

They asked me if I would make some modifications to the Gameskeeper.

Eliminate the Choil.

Add the Ramp.

Eliminate the Guard and make it into a Self Guard.

Make the handle more ergonomic instead of the Gameskeepr's Taper.

It took me about 8+ Months to get it where we were ready for production and the rest is history.

We do NOT have a Government Contract on these.

I do not want one.

We make knives - Units can purchase them from our Distributors on a special program we set up for them.

My arrangements with the Actual Force Recon folks has never been for public release and it will never be.

Mike Stewart
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