Bark River Canadians....

Marion David Poff

Marion David Poff

Joined
Oct 8, 1998
Messages
5,403
Good Day,

How many of you all have Bark River Canadians? Any of that line?

I saw an image of one, with green micarta handles and a variable patina that just rocked me...

Beautiful. So useful looking...

What do you all think?

Marion
 
My 11 year old has a Micro that was gifted to him by Stomper (great guy!)...

He loves it, makes a perfect fixed blade for him. Ive used it a couple times, and I think its a handy model!!
 
The Canadian Series has a blade for every task (short of a big chopper) and all have similarly styled handles.


They all feature the signature finger groves,

...but the key is that the finger grooved area at the bottom of the handle is quite wide and flat,

...and the grooves are quite shallow.







This wide flat area with square corners locks naturally into the segmented sections of the fingers,

...and leads to a very relaxed grip that indexes naturally.


With the fingers locked around the bottom of the handle rotational forces are easily controlled,

...making this design easy on the hand in extended use.




The downside is that the finger groove spacing is not perfect for everybody;

...the Canadian Camp Knife works great in my large hand,

...but finger groove spacing is a little tight for me on the Canadian Special.



Big Mike

”Scaring the tree huggers.”

Forest & Stream
 
I always like the blade shape. I received a micro-CDN from Esav which is a teeny knife with a lot of heart. I think I'd really like to get a min-CDN. That one truly seems like it would be one of those little knives that could - 2.5" blade and 4" handle! I like the looks of the Cdn special, but have many knives in that size.
 
I had a green canvas micarta Mini CDN for a number of years, and it was a really useful knife. I recently traded it for a Landi PSK just to try something a little different. The Landi is a similar size and shape, but with a longer and more comfortable (for me) handle.
 
I have a Mini and 2 Canadian Specials. It's a horse race between the CS and my Fox River for which is the best all around woods knife. I will say the CS while very comfortable is a bit awkward for chopping for me because of the finger grooves. Going to try and field dress a deer with the Mini this year just for kicks and to see if it isn't faster to use that sized knife.
 
the canadian special is a great knife. classic lines and easy to sharpen because it is a relatively straight blade.
 
I have a Mikro Canadian and a Canadian Sportsman. Both are great knives and I EDC the smaller in a KSF pocket sheath from time to time and keep the latter in my tackle box to slice and dice fish.
 
I really wanted to get one of the Canadian Camp knives, but it seems they are no longer avilable as every place I check is out of stock. Looks like a great design.
 
Big Mike said:
.....The downside is that the finger groove spacing is not perfect for everybody; .....
Click to expand...
+1

The lil canadian was the first knife I have bought with finger grooves. I bought it test the 3V steel.

I like the steel and the blade shape has proven to be a useful one :thumbup:

But for my hand, the finger grooves caused hot spots in use :thumbdn:

I won't be buying a knife with finger grooves ever again :eek:



Kind regards
Mick
 
Last edited:
SouthernCross said:
+1



I like the steel and the blade shape has proven to be a useful one :thumbup:

But for my hand, the finger grooves caused hot spots in use :thumbdn:

I won't be buying a knife with finger grooves ever again :eek:

Mick
Click to expand...

Same here!
I bought a Canadian Sportsman to see if the handles would work for me, as I was seriously considering a Canadian Special, had to pass. Once it was in my hands, I knew it wouldn't work for me...
 
I got two, the Canadian Camp, and the Canadian Sportsman 2. The finger grooves fit my hand perfectly, and the Camp knife is enough of a beast to handle all the camp chores I've thrown at it.

The Sportsman 2 is wicked sharp and perfectly flexible...it really shown when processing 75# of King Salmon, and about 40# of Buffalo meat that neede to be cubed for stew meat.
 
I have a Canadian Special, the finger grooves don't bother me a bit, great knife.
 
I have the Micro and Mini Canadians and will probably expand this line, I probably already would have except that I have several Grohmann versions.
 
I have a Lil' Canadian in CPM 3V and I really like it. CPM 3V is in my top three of favorite steels. I am going to have to get a Canadian Special. The Canadian Special is Mike Stewarts favorite knife, he is the owner of Bark River.
 
I've got a Canadian Special and a Mini Canadian and I love em both. I've got pretty medium sized hands and the finger grooves don't bother me a bit. The Mini is a perfect EDC. Plenty of handle in a small package. The Special is enough knife for 90% of what you'd need one for. I brought my first Canadian Special on a survival course I took with my dad. He liked it so much I gave it to him. I'm a big fan of the line :)

Here's a pic from when I first got them:
6.jpg
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Had a Mini, and a Lil, the Mini is cool, but I didn't like the exposed front finger. I think if it was a full handle it would be great. The Lil in 3V did not work for me at all, the finger grooves and square handle gave me monster hot spots.
 
I have
Canadian Camp - one of my favorite camp knives. Quick in the hand and does well with everything from food prep to light chopping.
Canadian Sportsman 2 - it is my carver and slicer
Lil' Canadian- My current favorite EDC. I just ordered another one.

I tried a Canadian Special and found it did not fit my hand well. Others rave about this knife. It is all in your personal preferences.
 
I Bought a Micro-Canadian here in the for-sale forum.
Its well made but i just can't seem to warm up to it.
Bought an Izula and i like that much better.
Could be that i'm just more of a Flat-grind and Scandi-grind kinda guy.
Despite that i would still like to buy a bigger Barkie like the Aurora someday.
 
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