Bark river & Chris Reeve Knives (batoning and abuse)

willgoy said:
Barkies are certainly tough knives. The Classic Lite Hunter was subjected to a lot of abuse in a vice by a large man (see another forum) and sustained no damage.

The Nebula or Aurora will both make good wilderness bushcraft knives. The Woodland I have is an incredibly tough and useful small knife :thumbup:

The sheathes all have a firesteel provision but frankly, they don't match the quality of the knife, time for a custom:thumbup:
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I have to disagree here...sorry, but JRE sheaths are top notch sheaths..I have yet to find a leather sheath for any of the HUndreds of knives Ive owned that compare. you might get a custom sheath that looks better, but these sheaths fit well are tough and have a guarantee...pretty good for $25. JMHO.
And several of my Sheaths have firesteel loops..I did just start collecting BRK&T so, if their old knives dont have loops, I wouldn't know.
All I do to my JRE sheaths is add neatsfoot oil (2-3 coats) and go from there. Gene

EDIT: pics in a minute, the wife saw me going outside earlier with my knives and said "what do you think your doing" I said "doing research for the guys" she says..."are the guys going to night school in a minute? and are they making you dinner, and..." you get the point..she just got home..so I'm gonna piss off the neighbors and do some batoning with my Barkies.
 
Here's some baton pics...I couldn't get crazy because of the late hour, but you get the idea...the board is a rough sawn 2x6 cedar I had laying around, I beat the knives down the grain, and then did some aggressive carving and drawing...my favorite slicer has to be the Nebula...if anyone wants to trade theirs, I have a nice lightly used Bravo1 to trade...I am getting a pile of these bad boys...think Puuko on steroids...the stout little knife is my Gameskeeper..what a cool knife. Traditional beauty, and one stout blade, holds a good edge, and sharpens up nicely...I've really beat on this guy lately. The antique ivory handled knife is the Aurora, and the green mycarta is the Nebula in 12C27.
I didn't take out the Bravo1 or my Slither as I have them up for trade on another forum...I really am looking for wood handled copies of the Aurora and Nebula..they are really nice! Have I mentioned I'm a fan of the Barkies? Gene






 
Thanks for the pics! I'm leaning strongly towards the Aurora. I've never had any experienve with a convex edge. How well do they hold up to abuse/sharpen up?
 
That depends what you mean by abuse, and they sharpen up on a strop just fine..I don't even use a stone, after each use, a few passes on the strop, and they are hair poppin sharp. Wow, even I'm getting sick of me telling everyone about these knives..lol. As far as carving wood in all the ways you can think of, or butchering game, food prep, they are great...get one, you won't be coming back yelling at me, I promise. Gene
 
I'm not going to be beating the snot out of it, just the usual batoning, carving, cutting.

You just used a strop after batoning it, right?

BTW thanks for all the help.
 
Excellent pictures Gunknifenut:thumbup:

The Barkie sheathes are OK but the lack of colours and square ended shape are not to my taste, some of the stitching's a bit crude too. That said, I do have a leather sheath made for me by JRE for my Blackwater Boot Knife as I don't like kydex.They did a very good job there:thumbup:

I go for the Nebula because it is stainless and I find that more practical in use.All the other Barkies I have come with first rate edge whatever the steel choice.
 
You won't go wrong with a convex edge. I have actually converted all of my users to a convex edge due to how well it performs as demonstrated by BRKT.

You won't do serious harm to a Bark River unless you try... hard...

I split a 5" diameter tree in half (it was dead already) by hammering my Bravo tip first into it and throwing my weight against it sideways. The blade, handle, and myself were unharmed. The knife was still shaving sharp. :thumbup:
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I have a mix of all of the steels Bark River offers, and you won't go wrong with any. The tool and carbon steels just need a bit more maintenance to keep them pretty, but they hold an edge longer.

David
 
simms65 said:
..............
I split a 5" diameter tree in half (it was dead already) by hammering my Bravo tip first into it and throwing my weight against it sideways. The blade, handle, and myself were unharmed. The knife was still shaving sharp. :thumbup: .................
David
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Hey David,
What are the scales on that knife? Bamboo?
 
JustinM said:
I'm not going to be beating the snot out of it, just the usual batoning, carving, cutting.

You just used a strop after batoning it, right?

BTW thanks for all the help.
Click to expand...

Justin,
The Barkies will dull like any other knife. It really depends what you batoned the blade into and how often. Sometimes just a rouge-laden leather stropping is all it takes. Other times, you may have to return to your 1500 or 2000 wet/dry, followed by the strop. You're talking about a 5 minute job at most. If you get a BRKT, you'll not only have to, but want to, learn to sharpen a convex edge.
 
StretchNM said:
Justin,
The Barkies will dull like any other knife. It really depends what you batoned the blade into and how often. Sometimes just a rouge-laden leather stropping is all it takes. Other times, you may have to return to your 1500 or 2000 wet/dry, followed by the strop. You're talking about a 5 minute job at most. If you get a BRKT, you'll not only have to, but want to, learn to sharpen a convex edge.
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I had to do this with my Gameskeeper when it came to me...it was dull from use...After about 5 minutes, as you said, it was scary sharp...My stones are just collecting dust lately.
 
Those are Bamboo with Antique Ivory micarta bolsters. I love bamboo, Looks pretty good, if plain, and is impossible to destroy. Lighter and as tough as micarta IMHO.

I have had to sharpen my Barkies plenty of times as well. Convex sharpening is so easy, and is meditative. :)

David
 
JustinM,

You can find tips for batonning and for sharpening a convex edge HERE. Follow the link in the right-hand coumn. You can also do a search here at BF.

Also, the "other forum" referred to is Knifeforums_dot_com. Bark River has a subforum there.

Cheers,

Glen
 
gunknifenut said:
I have to disagree here...sorry, but JRE sheaths are top notch sheaths..I have yet to find a leather sheath for any of the HUndreds of knives Ive owned that compare. you might get a custom sheath that looks better, but these sheaths fit well are tough and have a guarantee...pretty good for $25. JMHO.
And several of my Sheaths have firesteel loops..I did just start collecting BRK&T so, if their old knives dont have loops, I wouldn't know.
All I do to my JRE sheaths is add neatsfoot oil (2-3 coats) and go from there. Gene

EDIT: pics in a minute, the wife saw me going outside earlier with my knives and said "what do you think your doing" I said "doing research for the guys" she says..."are the guys going to night school in a minute? and are they making you dinner, and..." you get the point..she just got home..so I'm gonna piss off the neighbors and do some batoning with my Barkies.
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LMAO, I actually heard you say D'oh! when she caught you.;)
 
Yeah, I had to smile at that too.... the key is in the wording that women use: "What do you think you're doing"? hehehe

((( :D )))
 
I'm trying a new tactic this week...I reply to the "what do you THINK you are doing?" with ..a sly grin and " come on honey, you know I never think!" It got a smile out of her, but I still don't get my way very often...it sucks, but what can you do?
 
gunknifenut said:
.........it sucks, but what can you do?
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You can obey or............you can obey. That's what I do. :D

Every time my wife asks me to do something unusual for her (like pick something up at the grocery store, or help out at the school on a Staurday, or anything really), I respond with "Now, you know I'm probably going to need a new knife to accomplish that." I don;t order one, of course, but when I'm ready to, she's all prepped. What can she do? hehe

What was this thread about? Sorry about that. :)
 
I've own a BRK&T Golok and it's an effective chopper. I also have a Chris Reeve shadow. I've used it in the field for woodcraft and batoning and it does very well. I like it but prefer convex grinds.
Scott
 
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