Bark River Knives?

[Brisket]

BKRT fans live to compare the brand to Busse, but with Busse - and even his cheaper spin-off brands - there is a lot of evidence that the knives are exceptionally tough and failures seem very rare.

Nobody here even mentioned Busse before you did, much less started comparing them. Busse knives are awesome, but I'm pretty certain there are some idiots out there that could destroy them too.

Plus they tend to blame the users and encourage their Fan Boi Hordes to join in.

I'm well aware of the idiocy that takes place on the other forum, but this was an entirely different discussion here before your attempt to hijack the thread. There are lots of other threads about Mike Stewart's past business dealings, bank fraud conviction, bounced checks, broken promises and other accounts from respected members of the the knifemaking community.

 

[pvicenzi]

Are this guy's tests more valid than the Marine Corps tests that the Bravo did very well in? I doubt it.

 

[meanwhile]

Nobody here even mentioned Busse before you did, much less started comparing them.

You need to learn to read: I didn't say that anyone in THIS THREAD had done so. But, yes, people on this forum do make exactly this suggestion. And if you believe the ad copy for the Bravo series, there should be nothing wrong with that.

Busse knives are awesome, but I'm pretty certain there are some idiots out there that could destroy them too.

But not by cutting chopsticks or batoning with a 2x6 with their "heavy duty" "search and rescue knife" for "abusive real time situations." (Apparently Mike Stewart likes to commit crimes against the English language as well...)

I'm well aware of the idiocy that takes place on the other forum, but this was an entirely different discussion here before your attempt to hijack the thread.

How can it be hijacking a thread about BKRT's to point out that their supposedly extra-tough knife won't baton a 2x6? Don't you think a survival knife should be able to do this? In "real time" even?

Look: either you think a knife advertised the way the Bravo is should be able to baton 2x6's or not. Either you think it should be as tough as a knife the same size and thickness, costing half as much, aimed at the same "realtime abuse" niche, or not. Which is it? And then for extra points, please tell me that the point of a 6mm thick $200 survival knife is if it won't do anything more than a $40 Mora 2000 that has half the pack weight?

 

[meanwhile]

Are this guy's tests more valid than the Marine Corps tests that the Bravo did very well in? I doubt it.

WHAT Marine Corps tests? Have you ever seen a link saying what the tests are, let alone one guaranteeing that the Bravo will pass them? Strange, isn't it? Or maybe you think "Hey, Mike Stewart would never bullshit me - he's a convicted felon who ripped off Jerry Fisk, but Mike and I have a personal relationship!!!"

Really: if you don't what the tests were, then they shouldn't mean anything to you. And even if you know, they should mean much to you unless Stewart will warrant that level of performance in production Bravos.

Also: Stewart's story seems to have changed heavily with time. Read

http://www.jerzeedevil.com/forums/showthread.php/19889-Bravo-1-Sneek-Peek

and

http://www.barkriverknifetool.com/SAR-Bravo-1.htm

..The substantive claims regarding relative performance are very different.

 

[Mikael W]

You need to learn to read: I didn't say that anyone in THIS THREAD had done so. But, yes, people on this forum do make exactly this suggestion. And if you believe the ad copy for the Bravo series, there should be nothing wrong with that.



But not by cutting chopsticks or batoning with a 2x6 with their "heavy duty" "search and rescue knife" for "abusive real time situations." (Apparently Mike Stewart likes to commit crimes against the English language as well...)



How can it be hijacking a thread about BKRT's to point out that their supposedly extra-tough knife won't baton a 2x6? Don't you think a survival knife should be able to do this? In "real time" even?

Look: either you think a knife advertised the way the Bravo is should be able to baton 2x6's or not. Either you think it should be as tough as a knife the same size and thickness, costing half as much, aimed at the same "realtime abuse" niche, or not. Which is it? And then for extra points, please tell me that the point of a 6mm thick $200 survival knife is if it won't do anything more than a $40 Mora 2000 that has half the pack weight?

meanwhile I have to ask You:

Have You ever batoned a Bark River made knife?

I have and here are the pic's:
Frozen 4" Maple

I believe the pic's speak for themself regarding Bark River quality


Regards
Mikael

 

[MatthewSB]

I would put my Ratmandu up agisnt a Bravo 1 any day of the week. Both will need the edge touched up a bit the Ratmandu will need it thinned out and the Bravo will need a thicker edge but once that is done to them both I still think the Rat to be a better outdoors knife and for less money.

Comparing one knife to another really is pointless, as what people 'like' is very subjective. I only care that a knife works for me or not. My Bravo 1 works, so does my Mora. I carry the Bravo 1 because it's superior aesthetically and ergonomically. I'm sure a RMD would work too, I think I'll go order one now....

 

[Brisket]

You need to learn to read: I didn't say that anyone in THIS THREAD had done so. But, yes, people on this forum do make exactly this suggestion. And if you believe the ad copy for the Bravo series, there should be nothing wrong with that.

Really, a personal attack on my reading ability. Would you like to pull out educational transcripts and measure them? Sheesh! I can read just fine, thank you and I didn't make the claim that you are retorting in your straw man argument. You are the first in this thread to start up with the Busse comparison stuff. That is a fact and by doing so you are attempting to change the nature of this discussion. Perhaps you didn't read the original post. The OP had already decided to purchase a BRKT and was seeking information and advice about handle options. Your comments aren't relevant to that discussion at all and no, I don't believe in the ad copy for the Bravo 1 anymore than I believe in the Easter Bunny or the magical properties of a certain maker's proprietary steel.

 

[Street Samurai1978]

So if I like my barkies, use them in the outdoors, have never had any problems from, that makes me a fan boi, huh?

 

[Thomas Linton]

WHAT Marine Corps tests? Have you ever seen a link saying what the tests are, let alone one guaranteeing that the Bravo will pass them? Strange, isn't it? Or maybe you think "Hey, Mike Stewart would never bullshit me - he's a convicted felon who ripped off Jerry Fisk, but Mike and I have a personal relationship!!!"

Really: if you don't what the tests were, then they shouldn't mean anything to you. And even if you know, they should mean much to you unless Stewart will warrant that level of performance in production Bravos.

Also: Stewart's story seems to have changed heavily with time. Read

http://www.jerzeedevil.com/forums/showthread.php/19889-Bravo-1-Sneek-Peek

and

http://www.barkriverknifetool.com/SAR-Bravo-1.htm

..The substantive claims regarding relative performance are very different.

The words I read are different but not inconsistent. Would you be so kind as to point out any direct conflicts? Thank you.

 

[Carbonsteeljunkie]

Woah this thing went down the crap shoot with a vengeance! To those of you who don't like the Barkies, I am the OP, the guys here were helping me decide on handle materials. I had already made the decision to purchase a Bark River and it had nothing to do with anything I had read on the internet. I wanted one because my uncle has one, loves it, and talks about it almost every time we speak. The man has been around for a long long long time, sold knives professionally for a time, and knows (at least the "older" ones) knife steels inside and out. If he likes it, I trust him. Im fairly young, I have quite a few more decades of knife buying ahead of me. Maybe my next knife will be a Busse or a Mora? I don't know? If you have a preference or suggestion by all means let me know! I just ask that you tell me why a knife is awesome, as opposed to why it is or isn't better than something else, that is a bit too subjective an argument.

 

[MatthewSB]

The words I read are different but not inconsistent. Would you be so kind as to point out any direct conflicts? Thank you.

I agree, there was nothing different between the two summaries of events.

 

[Street Samurai1978]

The problem here, carbon, is that someone took the time to hijack your thread so they could stand on their soapbox instead of answering your question. If they want to PMC about bark river or whatever, thats fine if that was the original purpose of the thread. Since this was clearly not the case, they need to start a thread of their own where they can bitch till their fingers break. It's as easy as that, and doesn't leave them looking like a smacked ass.

 

[meanwhile]

meanwhile I have to ask You:

Have You ever batoned a Bark River made knife?

I have and here are the pic's

Yes: your pictures clearly show that one BRKT knife was able to do a job I'd expect of a $10 MTech. Well done! Btw, the Taiter Hukaris that Finns use as standard for cold weather wood splitting, day after day, year after year, are about $50 and would do the job a hell of a lot faster and with less effort.

However, I have to point out that my claim was NOT "Every BKRT is made out of cardboard" but "The maker does seem to produce a lot of lemons; the performance of Bravo when tested was pretty pitiful given its price, the maker's bs-strewn sales pitch, and the performance of much cheaper competitors; and it's pretty bloody alarming that in a reasonable size sample of knives a quarter were missing scale epoxy and others seemed to have been epoxied in a rubbish tip."

 

[meanwhile]

The problem here, carbon, is that someone took the time to hijack your thread so they could stand on their soapbox instead of answering your question. If they want to PMC about bark river or whatever, thats fine if that was the original purpose of the thread. Since this was clearly not the case, they need to start a thread of their own where they can bitch till their fingers break. It's as easy as that, and doesn't leave them looking like a smacked ass.

Someone made a statement - something like "I can't see that buying a Barkie is ever a mistake": I made an apposite answer. If the person who made the statement wasn't offtopic, then I'm not. If he was, then go whine at him, not me.

 

[Translash]

I just want to say that as a user of both companies busse and bark river, I have no qualms about them both. Busse happens to be my favorite company for knives in the large blade category due to their toughness and reliability in the field to do large knife tasks. I've used my cgfbm multiple times chopping and batonned and it performs phenomenally. Bark river knives happens to be one of my favorite companies for small knives, the other being fallkniven. I've used the aurora, bravo 1, and north star in the field making feathersticks, carving, and light batonning with no issues such as damage to the Blade. I find the convex edges are so fluid and smooth when carving, it's a great feeling.

Given this, I think every company has their lemons. Even busse users have noticed some mild denting in their blades and of course the bark river issues. There's really no such thing as consistent perfection in this world and I think the arguments presented in previous posts are really moot. Not everyone will have the same experience with each company. But just because a knife fails for one person doesn't mean it's a garbage knife. Just my 2 cents. I think everyone should at least try the knives they are bashing first beforehand.

 

[Street Samurai1978]

Someone made a statement - something like "I can't see that buying a Barkie is ever a mistake": I made an apposite answer. If the person who made the statement wasn't offtopic, then I'm not. If he was, then go whine at him, not me.

And you couldn't just say "How about we help the OP and keep it on topic" instead of your apposite?

 

[Street Samurai1978]

I just want to say that as a user of both companies busse and bark river, I have no qualms about them both. Busse happens to be my favorite company for knives in the large blade category due to their toughness and reliability in the field to do large knife tasks. I've used my cgfbm multiple times chopping and batonned and it performs phenomenally. Bark river knives happens to be one of my favorite companies for small knives, the other being fallkniven. I've used the aurora, bravo 1, and north star in the field making feathersticks, carving, and light batonning with no issues such as damage to the Blade. I find the convex edges are so fluid and smooth when carving, it's a great feeling.

Given this, I think every company has their lemons. Even busse users have noticed some mild denting in their blades and of course the bark river issues. There's really no such thing as consistent perfection in this world and I think the arguments presented in previous posts are really moot. Not everyone will have the same experience with each company. But just because a knife fails for one person doesn't mean it's a garbage knife. Just my 2 cents. I think everyone should at least try the knives they are bashing first beforehand.

Agreed 100%. To the OP, I say give BRK a call and ask. Nothing like getting the info straight from the horse's mouth. They seem to be pretty amicable to most request.

 

[Carbonsteeljunkie]

Street, Ive talked to Mike already actually. He was really helpful and took the time to shed some light on the "natural vs. synthetic" scale material issue. Ive been really impressed with the customer service some of these knife companies like Bark River and Emerson have provided me with. In the past month Ive talked to both Ernest Emerson and Mike Stewart themselves. I thought that was really noteworthy from such major manufactures. I ordered an A2 Bravo 1 with smooth and contoured big horn sheep scales. It will be a few months since they just finished a run of A2 bravos but Im looking forward to it.

 

[Street Samurai1978]

Street, Ive talked to Mike already actually. He was really helpful and took the time to shed some light on the "natural vs. synthetic" scale material issue. Ive been really impressed with the customer service some of these knife companies like Bark River and Emerson have provided me with. In the past month Ive talked to both Ernest Emerson and Mike Stewart themselves. I thought that was really noteworthy from such major manufactures. I ordered an A2 Bravo 1 with smooth and contoured big horn sheep scales. It will be a few months since they just finished a run of A2 bravos but Im looking forward to it.

Well looks like you got all the answers you need. And I'm looking forward to the Bravo 2.5 later this year.

 

[Carbonsteeljunkie]

Anyone on here have any experience with the pinecone scales? I saw some the other day and they were really cool! It says they're made with resign mostly so in theory they should be tough as nails like the micarta right?