Bark River Knives?

Carbonsteeljunkie said:
I guess what just makes absolutely no sense to me is why every other knife maker can smooth and shape bone, antler, and horn but for some reason is an enigma here (If I can have smooth bone grips on my Smith and Wessons how can it be that hard to do for a knife)? The buffalo horn scales shown on some of the other knives in the bark river line up on their website are all shaped and molded so why wouldn't the same be done for a bravo series knife? Im sorry but I guess I was born a few hundred years too late, plastic on a knife is a concept I have a very serious aversion to; it just aint natural lol. I will admit though, that the knife Mountain Wildman posted is really nice! Its just not my bag, and if Im paying in the 250 to 300 dollar frame it had best be everything my bag desires and more! I can understand not using wood since it tends to absorb moisture and decay especially around the "rivet" area but bone and horn?

Heres a gunny that I found on bark river collectors gallery in buffalo horn, it looks pretty smooth and well shaped to me? Any owners care to chip in on this one? (genuinely curious here not being sarcastic)
http://brkca.com/gallery-new/album102/Gunny_Buffalo_Horn?full=1
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What other manufacturer offers so many handlematerials as Bark River?
I have not found anyone even close!

I prefer natural materials like wood,bone or antler.
I'm very fond of Sambar Stag and I have learnt a lot of this material by studying the knives in my inventory made by BR.

I'm pretty sure You will find what You want, if You talk to one of their stocking dealers and place a pre-order.

In this pic: A few Sambar Stag Crowns made by BR and a homemade Mora inspired by Mike's work.
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As You seems to want a traditional Oldtimer, here's the BR version of a 19th century Will & Fink hunting knife with jigged bone scales, just as the originals.
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And it's availible.



Regards
Mikael
 
Carbonsteeljunkie said:
In my humble opinion - they are nothing but drawer queens that don't have the fantastic Eros of the B-1 handle.
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I believe that what he means is that the Bravo 1 is a survival knife, meant to be used as such. Buying such a useful tool, then not using it because it's too pretty, makes some people sad :grumpy: (I, personally, don't care - it's your money ;) )


Carbonsteeljunkie said:
Sooo I hate g10 and detest the looks of micarta on everything but a solid true nothing but tactical knife. I don't mind it on my Emersons because thats what I bought them for, a karambit is no utility knife, but on a knife thats supposed to be my "trekking in the woods" knife I feel like it doesn't have to look like crap. It can be asteticly appealing and still do a good job. Obviously the person making the knives doesn't feel that way (does make me wonder wtf he makes them in attractive scales for then?), so if Im going to bite the bullet and buy a knife that has g10 or micarta scales which do you guys consider the least offensive?
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BRKT offers both standard (high polished) and matte G10. The high polished G10 is really slick and shiny. The matte is very grippy and not shiny at all. Their standard, high polished micarta is my favorite. It looks beautiful, and way more natural than G10. The more you use it, the more it wears in and it looks really neat after a while, in my opinion. The canvas micarta has much more "depth" than linen or paper.

BRKT micarta and G10 is nothing like Emerson or ESEE or Chris Reeve's fixed blade knives. Emerson G10 is course and heavily textured. Chris Reeve and ESEE's micarta is soft and open and soft. BRKT starts with better material and finishes it like a custom knife. My CR and ESEE micarta handled fixed blades absorb sweat and get gross after a while. BRKT micarta does not.

I use their regular canvas micarta or G10 for my user knives and have had great experiences with both. I prefer the canvas micarta in green or black because it goes well with my Camelbak or Maxpedition backpacks that I wear while hiking or working.
 
Is there some reason Bark River's fabulous wood handles have not been mentioned here?

They only offer like a hundred different woods.

If you don't like Micarta or G10 but want the fully contoured handle, wood is the way to go.




Big Mike
 
Big Mike said:
Is there some reason Bark River's fabulous wood handles have not been mentioned here?

Big Mike
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Mike
Wood was mentioned in an above post, but that's no reason to not post a nice BR wood handle!

You have seen it before, but perhaps not every member here.
Nevertheless here's my Aurora in Scarlet & Gold Box Elder Burl.

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Regards
Mikael
 
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See Im not messed up at all about a wood handle, just seemed like any time I mentioned anything that wasn't micarta or g10 it evidently wasn't going to be worth my time. A "fact" I find interesting as most of the pics posted thus far are of wood handle knives. The desert ironwood burl is really really nice!
 
I don't have a Bravo, except on my wish list, but I do have two Bark River City Knives, one in amboyna burl and one in their laminated wood handle "Whiskey Fire." They are beautiful knives, and I have been very pleased with their fit and finish. I love the blade shape and curves. I have a Grasso Bolo III on order as a yard work chopper. I usually stick to wood handled knives, but since the Grasso Bolo will be a hard user, I ordered it in black matte micarta.
 
Im pretty sure I have made up my mind after reading a lot of what Mike had to say about natural materials. He made some very valid points and I came to a bit of a compromise. While I would LOVE to have a bravo 1 in Impala, Buffalo horn, or Elk stag, he spoke quite highly of Bighorn sheep handles. He said while he still advocates g10 and micarta, that they rarely if ever have an issue out of the new South African sheep scales they use now. He mentioned it was quite strong and springy and he had never actually seen one crack. Now, while I would love to have the natural raw unfinished bark on my scales I know that completely defeats the purpose of the knife. I do however, really like the look of the smoothed out BHS as well, that way I get my natural material and get the contours on the scales that really make the knife what it is. I will be pre-ordering from dlttrading.com tomorrow; bravo 1 in A2, ramped, looped, swedge, with smooth BHS scales and red liners, a brown eep sheath, and a smooth BHS red liner firesteel to go with it. BAM! :D
 
Carbonsteeljunkie said:
I will be pre-ordering from dlttrading.com tomorrow; bravo 1 in A2, ramped, looped, swedge, with smooth BHS scales and red liners, a brown eep sheath, and a smooth BHS red liner firesteel to go with it. BAM! :D
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That will be a slick combo, please post pictures when you get it!

DLT is great to deal with. I had a slight problem with a knife I ordered from them and they took great care of me. The Knife Connection is also a good place for locating hard to find BRKT knives.
 
You want a 'classic' wood handled Mike Stewart built CS knife?

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Yeah, the Dall DeWeese 'guide knife', made by Mike while he was still at Marbles in ~2001, was to commemorate the 1902-07 knife - and had a local outdoor TV show host, Fred Trost, signature on it. An evil-bay bargain! Great feeling in the hand - convex ground, of course. So-so sheath. Sorry - I'll crawl back under the bridge now...

Stainz
 
honestly, I never cared for many knives with bone or antler handles. I prefer a plain, black, comfortably shaped micarta or G10 handle.

I want grippy, low maintenance, and comfortable ergos.

They can make the handle out of wood for all I care, so long as it doesn't split, is comfortable and grippy.

I've been eyeballing a Bravo-1 for a while, but what attracted me to the knife was the comfort of the handle, blade shape/length/thickness, and rep of maker. The handle material is a distant 3rd to those.

Ponder this: would you rather have a beast of a knife (not size, but well made, good steel, good cutter, etc) that was comfortable to hold..............

OR

Would you rather have a nice looking knife that costs more, and is pretty..........

Most all of us would choose option 1. The steel comes first. Then comes ability to use the thing, which means handle ergos is also important.

Does color or material of handle matter past the fact that it is sturdy, grippy, and comfortable? To me, it doesn't matter one hoot.

The ONLY time I would want a specialty knife with a specialty material in the handle.......would be if I was expecting to collect and flip a knife. On a user, I personally don't care one iota, and to be honest, being easy to obtain and available is something I consider a plus........
 
Co556guy, is there some reason you feel you cant have both? I don't, all it takes is money. :D

I also tend to imagine if the strongest most durable steel around was only available on a pink leopard handled knife with scales made from recycled toilet seats and the blade was coated in purple with pink and yellow polkadots you wouldn't be sporting one even if it had great ergos lol. Then again, I could be wrong, but I doubt it.

I've talked to Mike at this point, said he could give me EXACTLY what I want right on down to the t, gave me specific things and names to mention when I ordered but also said I would have to wait. They just finished their run of Bravos for the next good little bit and now they're moving on to other knives in other steels. He said it would be a few months but if I could wait he would make me a knife to my exact specifications. That ladies and gents is some hellaciously good customer service. Can I wait a few months for a literally custom built knife made specifically for me? Ummm... yeah! Sure Id love to have one now but I can wait. Sorry guys looks like it will be a while before I can get some pictures up here but I will as soon as it comes in!
 
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South African father and son knifemaker, Arno Bernhard, Sr, top-below, and A.B., Jr, bottom-below, make similar custom knives of Bohler N690 steel with various legal African scale materials from giraffe bone to rams horn. Not shown, they also have a full but tapered thickness tang, which balances the knives more forward. They are reasonably priced - and come with a fitted leather drop sheath of water buffalo hide. The giraffe bone - bottom most - is the same base price as G10/Micarta! Tough to consider it a 'user' - but it is a super user knife!

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Making a beautiful 'user' is possible - it's usually just too expensive to be practical.

Stainz
 
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