Bark River Bravo 1

M

Merost

Joined
May 16, 2009
Messages
160
I have been in search of MY ideal survival knife. The Bark River Bravo 1 seems to have a lot of the characteristics I'm looking for. My only concern is the thinkness/profile of the blade and it's effectiveness in slicing tasks. I have an RAT 5, which I really like except for the profile of the blade (it sucks as a slicer).

Anyone with experience with the Bravo 1? Insight?
 
I got to hold Doc Canada's for a minute or so. They are super nice! The convex is aggressive enough that they make great slicers. Lots of reviews here on BF to demonstrate that.
 
A picture is worth a thousand words.


BR2057.JPG



The Bigger Bravo-2 cutting see-through onion slices. :thumbup: :cool: :thumbup:



Big Mike
 
The Bravo 1 I have will do nearly any cutting task. It is a great choice for bushcraft. Don't hesitate getting one.
 
Have you considered its little brother, the Gunny? It is much thinner and lighter, yet still robust enough to handle anything realistic you can throw at it. And it is a much better slicer and cutter. (Here's the part where everyone piles on me and screams that the Bravo-1 can cut and slice just fine. And you know what? It can, just nowhere near as well as the Gunny, which is almost half the thickness.) It is a bit short for batoning any serious pieces of wood, if that's a concern, and you certainly can't chop with it... but then again you can't really chop with a Bravo-1's 4.25" blade either. Anyway, if you're carrying a Bravo-1 (or Gunny) then you're probaby also carrying a saw or hatchet (or at least you oughtta be), so I think the chopping/batoning shortfalls are moot.

Good luck with your choice. Any Bark River tool is a winner in my opinion.
 
KarlMaldensNose said:
Have you considered its little brother, the Gunny? It is much thinner and lighter, yet still robust enough to handle anything realistic you can throw at it. And it is a much better slicer and cutter. (Here's the part where everyone piles on me and screams that the Bravo-1 can cut and slice just fine. And you know what? It can, just nowhere near as well as the Gunny, which is almost half the thickness.) It is a bit short for batoning any serious pieces of wood, if that's a concern, and you certainly can't chop with it... but then again you can't really chop with a Bravo-1's 4.25" blade either. Anyway, if you're carrying a Bravo-1 (or Gunny) then you're probaby also carrying a saw or hatchet (or at least you oughtta be), so I think the chopping/batoning shortfalls are moot.

Good luck with your choice. Any Bark River tool is a winner in my opinion.
Click to expand...

Everybody knows that I am a huge Bravo-1 fan, and that will be my default knife when I'm in the boonies, but otherwise I agree with KMN's post above. (I have both).

Doc
 
I've never heard of anyone complaining about not liking their Bravo-1.

You said you want it as a survival knife -- what are you wanting to slice?
In survival, I don't see a lot of use for slicing transparent slices of tomato or onion. Just about any knife will slice well enough for "survival use".

Over on the Bark River forum at the other board, guys have posted doing just about everything with the Bravo-1.

Whether or not the Gunny is a better choice depends on exactly what you are going to purpose the knife for, and what, if any, other tools are coming along.
 
Yeah, I forgot that this is to be his "Survival" knife. I suggested the Gunny with camping in mind. Good call.:thumbup:
 
In the "What knife do you wish you would have never bought" thread I was really surprised that there were several people talking about how they didn't like their Bravo 1's even though they really wanted to like it.
 
Cpl Punishment said:
I've never heard of anyone complaining about not liking their Bravo-1.

You said you want it as a survival knife -- what are you wanting to slice?
In survival, I don't see a lot of use for slicing transparent slices of tomato or onion. Just about any knife will slice well enough for "survival use".

Over on the Bark River forum at the other board, guys have posted doing just about everything with the Bravo-1.

Whether or not the Gunny is a better choice depends on exactly what you are going to purpose the knife for, and what, if any, other tools are coming along.
Click to expand...

+1 :thumbup:
 
remmmm said:
In the "What knife do you wish you would have never bought" thread I was really surprised that there were several people talking about how they didn't like their Bravo 1's even though they really wanted to like it.
Click to expand...

The ramp might be an issue for some. If you like to choke up on the blade doing feather sticks etc, then ramp might be in the way. Consider rampless version or just file off the ramp.
As far as thickness is concerned, one really needs to think about how and what he uses the knife for. Thickness might or might not be an issue depending on the usual use and individual preferences. I wouldn't be too concerned about superior slicing ability on a 'survival' knife.
 
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