Bark River has taken $16,000 of My Money

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nick-nack said:
No-one took into consideration the facts SS put forward and just kept stating "Mike is a man of his word", "Mike was very nice when I sent in a knife for warranty", "Mike gives a lot to the forum". As nice as these acts are I cant see the relevance they have to the issue.
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Well they aren't relevant to what SS's complaint is about for sure.

However when SS apparently decided to just post his complaints on internet forums and let the court of public opinion judge- then those offering an opinion have to take into consideration the allegations SS put out and then their personal experience with Bark River and Mike Stewart.

In a lawsuit only the issue would be considered and anyone who was "the jury" that had either a good or bad personal experience with BRKT would be struck from the jury.

When you post something like this on the forum versus getting an attorney you have to be willing to expect people with both good and bad experiences to chime in. IMO
 
This thread was an adventure. I've been waiting to see how long it would take before the steel in Bark River's blades became an issue. I was told about it several years ago and quit doing business there.
I've done business with Oupa and I've done business with Mike. Dirk trusts me to send him money in Australia and I trust him to send a product that meets my expectations. Neither of us have ever been disappoointed.
I don't do business with Mike anymore.
I know enough about the court system to know that SS will be lucky if he ever sees a dime of his money. The court has better things to do than worry about a small businees owner (at least as far as they are concerned). The "Court of Public Opinion" is just that but sometimes it is more powerful. The "Dubai Ports deal" is one example.
EvB is a great moderator to follow all this and I'll quit here.
 
I had my heart set on the Rogue.This may be the wrong place to post this,but do you think I can find a custom maker to make this exact same knife with 3V & curly maple handles & WITH PINS no glue.Think I'm gonna talk to Butch aka butcher_block about this.
 
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3Guardsmen said:
I've brought it up in a couple of threads, yet have never seen a definitive answer. The question I've posed has been about Bark River's Bravo 1 model, about which Mike Stewart stated:

http://www.jerzeedevil.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19889
"As some of You know We have been working on a knife with the Training Unit of the Recon Marines.

About a Year ago--These Fellows--without saying anything to anyone -- Bought about $5,000.00 Worth of knives for Testing.

They Bought a pretty Wide selection of knives by a lot of makers. Mostly Higher End Stuff and some issue level Models.

What they wanted was a real Survival knife--It had to be strong--Compact and able to withstand all the rigors of real time Hard use.

The knife is not a Fighter--It is a Survival Knife. They said they have Zero Use for a Fighter.

They maintain that Guns and Bullets are for Fighting and knives are Tools.

They Set about Testing and When all the Tests were complete the Bark River Gameskeeper was the Winner.

They said the Gameskeeper was the only knife that was still in one piece after the Test and still sharp.

I was contacted after the Testing was Complete. I was just as much in the Dark on the Whole process as all the other makers.

They liked everything about the Gameskeeper but wanted a Few Changes.

1.--Eliminate the Choil (More Cutting Edge)

2. Make the Guard a-Self Guard (Built In--Not Attached)

3. Add a Small Ramp to the Spine (to be Able to put more Direct Pressure on the Blade at the Plunge Line for Notching)

I sent them a Drawing of the Gameskeeper with their Modifications."



"I actually don't know all of the Tests but they were all in the Field in Training Exercises and some in actual Ops.

They did give me a list of the other knives but I'm just not going to release that stuff.

They were Less the Diplomatic in their Descriptions of what they thought about some of the other knives and I would never repeat it.

I never criticize other knife companies.

All I'll say is that some of the names on the list did surprise me.

If--at some point--they want to release the list I'll have Clean hands.

I'm very happy that they chose Our knife.

They did say that they never heard of Bark River and one of the guys in the unit suggested that they add one to the group.

Can't wait till you see the Fully Rigged out Set they Actually Want.

Bravo-1
Mikro-Canadian
Custom Firesteel

All on the Same Modular Sheath.

Reid will make one up later this Week.

Mike"

My question was, and still is, if the Training Unit of the Recon Division of the United States Marine Corps has offically commissioned Bark River Knife and Tool to make this knife for them, what is the associated NSN (National Stock Number)? Does anybody happen to know?

Regards,
3G
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This is interesting to me. I just searched the CCR registry, and a couple others. As far as I can accertain BRKT does not have a CCR registration, They do not have a DUNS number, no cage code, no NSN number for any product, and no NAICS code. What does this mean. It means that the Government has never done business with Bark river. No Force recon group commissined them to make anything. If anyone can find something I missed, Please put it up. I am sick of lies!
 
Having followed this thread from its beginning there is one thing that I can take away from it with some amount of certainty.

If everyone that canceled their order, changed their minds regarding future orders, and those who are no longer putting in that big holiday order had actually made their purchases, BRK&T would have to open another manufacturing facility in order to meet the demand.
 
George Orwell once wrote ( I paraphrase)

That if democracy means anything,it means sometimes telling people what they don't want to hear.

That's the strength of this thread and a rebuke to all fanboys of any knife company.
 
cody1 said:
This is interesting to me. I just searched the CCR registry, and a couple others. As far as I can accertain BRKT does not have a CCR registration, They do not have a DUNS number, no cage code, no NSN number for any product, and no NAICS code. What does this mean. It means that the Government has never done business with Bark river. No Force recon group commissined them to make anything. If anyone can find something I missed, Please put it up. I am sick of lies!
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Yup. The government doesn't often buy knives from convicted felons in my experience.
 
I actually work in Effingham, IL. I moved to the area after Blackjack had already folded and left. I have asked several people that I have met here about Mike Stewart, his real name is of Italian descent (or at least sounded like it) but I am not sure of the spelling so I will not try to write it here, and the best that I have heard is that he is a really good cook.
 
leatherman said:
Who are you talking about?
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4:01-cr-40013-GPM USA v. Stewart filed 03/01/01 closed 10/01/02
4:01-cr-40013-GPM-1 Michael R Stewart filed 03/01/01 closed 09/30/02


4:99-cr-40100-GPM USA v. Stewart filed 12/15/99 closed 03/07/01
4:99-cr-40100-GPM-1 Michael R Stewart filed 12/15/99 closed 03/07/01


These are the citations relating to the federal bank fraud arrest and conviction of Mr. "Stewart".
 
oupa said:
Esav,
Relax mate - I suspect that this thread will not get very much older.
Mike may just start to realize that he has stepped on a rattlesnake, so Mr. Youell may just get his money back sooner rather than later.
If not, stand back and watch the fireworks......
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I guess I will wade into this one last time.

This is the catch 22 for BRKT. If he were to come here to defend himself, we would call him a liar. If he stays away, we call him a coward.

If he doesn't refund the money we call him a thief. If he does refund the money we say he is just responding the the rattlesnake.

We look at a few snapshots in the very dicey history of the knife industry as a whole and we brand Mike Stewart a crook. We do so without the full story. Even if we think we have the full story from whatever "evidence" we dig up, unless we give a fair hearing, we cannot ever even have the tools with which to make such a judgment.

I will speak of what I know. I know that over a month ago, Mike told me that he had decided to change the plan on the Kepharts and refund Steve's money. So I know that if Mike refunds the money, it was planned way before this rattlesnake even came out.

I can second guess the stream of events that happened with the SS/MS deal. I would have done some things differently. But in the end, from what I have seen, Mike is trying to do the right thing and settle the accounts. I know he already had the money tied up in the components for the Kephart, so he wanted to complete the project and get them to his distributors so he could have the money to refund.

As I said before, I believe Mike will refund the money. I know from my discussions with him that he had no intention to defraud SS. If Mike doesn't refund the money, I'll shove my way to the front of the line to voice my protest. But I will withhold my judgment until the outcome is clear.

I know Steve did what he thought he needed to do. I don't fault him for that. I don't think he had an agenda other than he didn't trust Mike to follow through (for obvious reasons like the missed deadlines, etc) and he wanted to get Mike's assurance in public. He did that.

I don't think the same can be said for some posters on this thread. it has become a free-for-all to dump on Mike and BRKT. Some of it certainly has a grain of truth to it, but all of it lacks the context to make it very helpful.

BRKT make good knives. They are a small company that employs 15 (+ or -) people and have been a valuable part of the Knife industry. I have dealt with them for a couple years and have spent several hundred thousand dollars with them. I have no complaints.

It is frustrating, but we cannot judge the hand until the final cards are played. Let's wait and see how they fall.
 
cody1 said:
This is interesting to me. I just searched the CCR registry, and a couple others. As far as I can accertain BRKT does not have a CCR registration, They do not have a DUNS number, no cage code, no NSN number for any product, and no NAICS code. What does this mean. It means that the Government has never done business with Bark river. No Force recon group commissined them to make anything. If anyone can find something I missed, Please put it up. I am sick of lies!
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I don't have time to research it, but Mike has said of this that it was not a government buy. It was a single group (don't know the proper term) who took it upon themselves to test and design the knife. They purchased them, not the government.
 
okbohn said:
I have dealt with them for a couple years and have spent several hundred thousand dollars with them.
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Vested interest.

okbohn said:
.....Mike has said of this that it was not a government buy.
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How convenient. Tests of his and other knives that only he has the results of and a hyped (used for ad copy on forums & dealer sites) purchase by an elite unit that only he has proof of.

Regards,
3G
 
Once Mike told me he was secret operative for the government. Guess he never got the "get out of jail free card".

That kind of stuff worked for the gullible employees back at the plant for a while.
 
3Guardsmen said:
How convenient. Tests of his and other knives that only he has the results of and a hyped (used for ad copy on forums & dealer sites) purchase by an elite unit that only he has proof of.

Regards,
3G
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To be fair, if even one platoon of a Force Recon company, for instance, pooled their money and ordered a knife, custom or not, he could say that "an elite unit in the armed forces uses [X] knife". It doesn't mean it's an issue item or has an NSN number.

There's been entire units that bought Randall knives and such on their own dime, not the government's, so it's not unheard of.
 
I will speak of what I know. I know that over a month ago, Mike told me that he had decided to change the plan on the Kepharts and refund Steve's money. So I know that if Mike refunds the money, it was planned way before this rattlesnake even came out.
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This is the part I do not understand... A month ago would be August. Which would be 3 months after the knives were due. That is quite a long time to make a decision on a refund on a product already due to the buyer
 
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