Bark River K&T what's best for bushcraft

molly's survival

molly's survival

BANNED
Joined
Aug 28, 2009
Messages
1,091
I've been looking at the barkies for awhile but have no idea what I want without seeing one in person so some advice would be nice.

looking for a knife that can handle average bush chores (nothing extream). blade from 3-4.5 and overall around 8-8.5 or less as long as it's comfortable in the hand.

few that i like; northstar & the mini northstar and the colonial patch knife

ideas? opinions! personal experiance with the knife:D

thanx
 
The Northstar is a good choice. Also consider the Fox River and Canadian Special models. The colonial patch may be a bit smallish for your needs.
 
Just about any knife will work for whatever you want to do. The bigger questions are which knife feels good in YOUR hand? and do you want carbon or stainless?
 
mollyssurvival.com said:
I've been looking at the barkies for awhile but have no idea what I want without seeing one in person so some advice would be nice.

looking for a knife that can handle average bush chores (nothing extream). blade from 3-4.5 and overall around 8-8.5 or less as long as it's comfortable in the hand.

few that i like; northstar & the mini northstar and the colonial patch knife

ideas? opinions! personal experiance with the knife:D

thanx
Click to expand...

The Bark River Aurora is a dedicated, designed bushcraft knife and i've had great experience with it. It's comfortable and the right size for all of my tasks.

For my bushcraft/camping needs i'll either carry my Aurora, or my Big Sky Camp knife and my Lil Canadian 3v.

I love all of my bark rivers, but these end up with me most of the time. If you're looking for one bushcraft knife that will do just about anything and you'll surely love, buy the aurora, but sometimes youll need a bigger knife.
I'm a big fan of my lil canadian, and i really only end up needing my big sky camp for chopping and batoning.

The aurora will do anything the lil canadian will and then some, it will just come up short in heft for any task that requires it. I've used the aurora for hours on end without any real hotspots, and it's light and balanced so it's barely feels like a knife is in your hand and won't tire you out.
It's also tough as nails and keeps its edge like any bark river. :D
 
I would suggest handling them if at all possible. I bought a Northstar and sold it pretty quick as the handle was far to small for me. I've also read a number of other complaints about the size of the handle. I wear a size large glove so it's not like I have huge hands.
 
The Aurora is the cream of the crop as far as bushcraft but maybe a bit long for what you listed. The Northstar is good but the handle ergos are bad for drilling if you do that with any regularity. The Highland Special is a great knife that fits your size range though
 
the aurora is nice but maybe a little big for what i need...no drilling for me

i have a crk mountaineer II that i never carry it's a great knife and not to big with a 5.5 blade but i try to keep down the bulk & weight, i know the aurora is smaller and lighter than the crk but i'm also trying to keep the price point down (trying).

not a big fan of the ramp on the bravo
 
mollyssurvival.com said:
the aurora is nice but maybe a little big for what i need...no drilling for me

i have a crk mountaineer II that i never carry it's a great knife and not to big with a 5.5 blade but i try to keep down the bulk & weight, i know the aurora is smaller and lighter than the crk but i'm also trying to keep the price point down (trying).

not a big fan of the ramp on the bravo
Click to expand...


If you get a Bark River with a ramp and don't like it, you can send it to them and they will remove it.

The HighLand is a great knife IMO. Another choice would be the Gunny. Its similar to the Bravo 1, but its a little smaller :thumbup:
 
I've had an Aurora and it was pretty big overall so I sold it.

There is a mini Aurora coming out soon in 3V (3.8" blade) - that might just be the one! For me anyway. :cool:
 
VG10 said:
The Bark River Aurora is a dedicated, designed bushcraft knife and i've had great experience with it. It's comfortable and the right size for all of my tasks.

For my bushcraft/camping needs i'll either carry my Aurora, or my Big Sky Camp knife and my Lil Canadian 3v.

I love all of my bark rivers, but these end up with me most of the time. If you're looking for one bushcraft knife that will do just about anything and you'll surely love, buy the aurora, but sometimes youll need a bigger knife.
I'm a big fan of my lil canadian, and i really only end up needing my big sky camp for chopping and batoning.

The aurora will do anything the lil canadian will and then some, it will just come up short in heft for any task that requires it. I've used the aurora for hours on end without any real hotspots, and it's light and balanced so it's barely feels like a knife is in your hand and won't tire you out.
It's also tough as nails and keeps its edge like any bark river. :D
Click to expand...

This gets my vote too,as well as the Wet Enviro Recon,very simular but I like the Aurora for the full tang.
 
I had a Northstar for awhile. It was a beautiful, high quality knife, but I realized that the small handle was not working for me. Unless you have small hands, I'd recommend the Canadian Special.
 
A Woodland might do, if you are looking for a compact knife that has a thick spine.
 
With due respect, Mollyssurvival, the question the title of your thread poses is backwards. The correct way to pose the questions is:

Bark River - which one isn't best for bushcraft?
 
It also depends if you desire hunting qualities in your bushcraft knife.
A more bellied Highland or Kephart would outperform a narrower Northstar or Aurora for skinning....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top