Bark River Canadian Special

Bowxpress

Bowxpress

Joined
Oct 17, 2010
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284
This is a small review of the Bark River Canadian Special in 3V steel.

Fit and finish of this model was very good, handle design, although I do not like finger grooves, these seem to have a lot of different holding positions and do not interfere with any hold I am used to, its actually very comfortable, almost like shaking hands...

The Knife came razor sharp, and held its edge through my entire mini get away I took.

This design batons very very well, it bites deep, and cuts with ease, I was very pleased with the results, everything was almost effortlessly in any chore I needed to do, I own and use a lot of different models and brands, and this one has found a safe home and will be a "goto" blade for many of my uses.

The sheath design I really love, every detail of it, its called the Yukon, Derrick at KSF challenged Sharpshooter to come up with a design, and I think he nailed it in my opinion, it has a built in drop so it rides lower, something I prefer.



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I picked this up at WWW.KnivesShipFree.com currently they have 96 of these Canadian Specials, with lots of various handle colors and options.

I would highly recommend this blade, and also highly recommend Knives Ship Free, the customer service is above and beyond excellent, and super fast shipping, and tons of info and supplies for knife use and knife care.

Any other Canadian Special users, please add photos to this thread, lets see em all!
 
That's a pretty one you have there and thanks for the review. The finger grooves turn some people off to this knife but you really need to try it.
They are very subtle and quite comfortable. Here's mine in A2
 
My 3V Candian Special just arrived today frm Knives Ship Free.

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The top one is my old A2 Canadian Special with fiddleback maple burl handle.

This is a very sheeple friendly knife, with many at my place of employment refering it to as my Canadian Cheese knife - as that's what I used it for plus other food prep duties. Other's have asked if it was part of a steak knife set.

On the bottom is the new SV Canadian Special with black maple burl handle. Since this is new, I haven't had a chance to test it yet.

As to the finger grooves, they work for me on this knife. Find it very comfortable and secure in various hand positions.

The new Yukon sheath is an interesting design, but I'm a bit unsure about the stitching and two pieces of leather joined (glued) at the belt support. Also in my opinion the leather seems a bit thin around the belt loop area. I'm hoping there won't be any problems with this design, and I guess only time will tell.

I think actually prefer the old Bushcraft sheath (shown just below the A2 CS). Since I mostly carry my knives in my pack while hiking, it's smaller profile suits me better. I also like the fact when I do set up camp, I can carry my knife discreetly under a long shirt or jacket near the small of my back so as not to spook other people or park rangers.
 
I am normally not a finger groove person, but I own one of these knives (A2 version) and the finger grooves just add to the experience. It is one very nice all purpose outdoors knife.
 
Other than Grohmann Knives, I don't know of anyone else who makes these style of bow back knives.

A very handy, all purpose blade indeed.
 
Bowxpress said:
wow your maple burls are gorgeous
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Thank you. I know the pictures aren't the best as I am no photographer.

The Black Maple Burl was a pleasant surprise. When I ordered it, the picture shown was a different one that had more black and grey in it. When this one arrived, I said to myself WTH and looked on the box to confirm that it was indeed what I had ordered. Then I remembered that there were two of them and I must have received the one not pictured. I then decided to oil and wipe it down, and as I was fondling it thought to myself that this one really isn't too bad - it actually looks quite nice and has an interesting pattern to it.

The more I'm looking at my Maple Burls, the more I'm really liking them. I'm hoping they'll hold up with use; these knives I really don't plan on batoning with them.
 
Jmboz said:
My 3V Candian Special just arrived today frm Knives Ship Free.

imgp2086.jpg
[/URL]

The top one is my old A2 Canadian Special with fiddleback maple burl handle.

This is a very sheeple friendly knife, with many at my place of employment refering it to as my Canadian Cheese knife - as that's what I used it for plus other food prep duties. Other's have asked if it was part of a steak knife set.

On the bottom is the new SV Canadian Special with black maple burl handle. Since this is new, I haven't had a chance to test it yet.

As to the finger grooves, they work for me on this knife. Find it very comfortable and secure in various hand positions.

The new Yukon sheath is an interesting design, but I'm a bit unsure about the stitching and two pieces of leather joined (glued) at the belt support. Also in my opinion the leather seems a bit thin around the belt loop area. I'm hoping there won't be any problems with this design, and I guess only time will tell.

I think actually prefer the old Bushcraft sheath (shown just below the A2 CS). Since I mostly carry my knives in my pack while hiking, it's smaller profile suits me better. I also like the fact when I do set up camp, I can carry my knife discreetly under a long shirt or jacket near the small of my back so as not to spook other people or park rangers.
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Let me know if you have any issues with the sheath. We will take care of you. :)
 
The Canadian Special is my favorite fixed blade knife.

I've had this one for a couple years in black and green linen micarta, but I've been eyeing those new ones in 3v.

5718683095_83be598216_b.jpg
 
okbohn said:
Let me know if you have any issues with the sheath. We will take care of you. :)
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At this stage, I think it's more getting used to a different design. At the moment I've oiled it and giving the leather some time to absorb it. Perhaps the thinner leather was to reduced weight, so as long as strength and longevity hasn't been sacrficed, it should be fine.

I'm not opposed to this new design, and I may have an application for it later, but for now I'll keep using the Bushcraft sheaths. Unfortunately Australia has a slightly different sheeple culture than the US (maybe with the expecption of NY city), where descretion really is the better part of valor.

Besides, if it fails, I'll can just send it back to Bark River for replacement.

The more important part of the set, the 3V CS knife, is as nearly flawless and came extremely sharp. I'm looking forward to testing it soon. So far I've been very impressed with the performance of my A2 CS and my 3V lil'Canadian.

:thumbup:
 
I have my 'user' Canadian Special 3V on the way in maroon linen micarta. Should arrive tomorrow hopefully! For the time being I've been happy fondling this one. Man is it a special knife design!



 
HandofCod said:
I have my 'user' Canadian Special 3V on the way in maroon linen micarta. Should arrive tomorrow hopefully! For the time being I've been happy fondling this one. Man is it a special knife design!



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That is a VERY awesome looking Desert Ironwood handle. I'm going to assume by those patterns it's Burl. Well chosen!
 
Great looking knife, is the one in the OP a box elder burl handle? I love the colors!
 
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