Bark River Knives!!!

northend816

northend816

Joined
Aug 25, 2012
Messages
1,476
So Ive been looking into getting some fixed blade knives and have spent alot of time shopping around. Ive come across Bark River and fell in love with what they have to offer. But before I sell off some of my folder collection to found a few Bark Rivers I wanted to get some feedback, please Id like to hear both pros and cons if there is any.......Thanks
 
Well...according to some....there are no cons to a Bark River. They are the finest edged tools in the entire history of edged tooldom. :)

They are capable of making a very good, very well designed knife. But they have cranked out so many models and variants of each model that it seems their primary design concern is making the rabid collector Barkite market happy. Also, they are capable of cranking out epic fails. They will fix the epic fails they have sold, and credit it to their "great customer service"...but that doesn't quite make sense to me. Get it right the first time.

If you can get past the personalities of the primary parties involved at BRK, and the history of those personalities and their products (I cannot), or if you don't know/care about that stuff...then there are some good knives in there somewhere.

They still make the Fox River? Very good "all-around" design.
 
Love my Gunny only fixed Blade I still have can't find any faults with it whatsoever.
 
I have a few Bark River knives: Bravo 1, Canadian Special, Fox River, Wolf River, Sperati Point, Settler, Micro Canadian and I might be missing one or two. All of them are in the 4" to 5" blade length range (with the exception of the Micro Canadian which is smaller). The Fox River is the one I used the most, and I'm quite happy with it. I've had it for a few years and it went for a pretty decent price when I bought it. I like their A2 very much.

The sheaths on a couple of my older ones were flimsy and not up to the quality of the knife, the newer ones are much better (I only have leather sheaths).

I don't know how good their larger models are (I tend not to use "choppers" too often), but I'll definitely buy more of their medium sized models. I might try one of the new steels they are offering, but A2 has been good to me so far and I don't really feel the need to switch.
 
There's not a lot to hate about Bark River. There are a variety of styles, sizes, steels, and handles to choose from to customize to your needs and/or personality. I have several and each one is different from the other in almost every way. I'm in the process of purchasing a Essential to keep around in my pocket. My only complaint is that for being relatively mid-tech i find they often have unevenness to them. I expect this from customs, however when a machine is doing a lot of the work in the initial build i would think that handles would be flush, grind lines even, etc. Hasn't happened a lot, but i do have a few with some rather discernible flaws. Which Bark River are you eyeing? I highly recommend a Bravo or Fox River as your first one.
 
Try and go for their 3V blades. A2 is great and all, but 3V is a definite step up. I have a few of their blades and like them fine.
 
marcinek said:
Well...according to some....there are no cons to a Bark River. They are the finest edged tools in the entire history of edged tooldom. :)

They are capable of making a very good, very well designed knife. But they have cranked out so many models and variants of each model that it seems their primary design concern is making the rabid collector Barkite market happy. Also, they are capable of cranking out epic fails. They will fix the epic fails they have sold, and credit it to their "great customer service"...but that doesn't quite make sense to me. Get it right the first time.

If you can get past the personalities of the primary parties involved at BRK, and the history of those personalities and their products (I cannot), or if you don't know/care about that stuff...then there are some good knives in there somewhere.
Click to expand...

This.

They have some nice designs and make some good knives. They also screw things up and turn their reality distortion field on full blast. Their are numerous ethical issues surrounding the owner of the company, about five minutes on Google will uncover anything you wish to know. I won't air it here.

I don't care much for BRKT's designs, but I do like their Blackjack line quite a bit.
 
I have only purchased BRKT on the second hand market, & picked up some bargain users. They do 3V & 12C27 very well.
Some designs are very good.
 
Well Im high on alot of there models but thinking Im going to try out the Trail Buddy or North Star first. This is due to price Ive found them at and the different needs I have for one now.
 
Good knives in general; company management's history (especially with other knife ventures) and attendant history may deter some from their offerings.
 
Only one I own, and it was a recent acquisition - Bravo 3 - I'm very happy with the quality of the knife for the price point.
 
Driving me nuts that Im not in on the joke or what people are saying about company....but most seem to be happy with the product. I guess if u wanted u could find something wrong with about every brand out there or something u dont like
 
I have owned BRKT for many years. They include the Aurora, Bravo 1 (first BRKT owned), Candian Special, Bravo II and two or three more I cant recall. Never really sharpened it, just stropped them and always easy to touch up the edge when needed. What sold me on the knife was their leather sheaths. I dont mind paying alittle extra when it comes to quality sheaths.
 
Ive never seen Battle Horse Knives before.....im new to fixed blades ill have to check them out. I did come across Blind Horse Knives but seems company went under or changed???
 
I am a fan of their knives. I don't see many people who just really dislike their knives--a lot of people dislike the company, etc, but the knives are great.

I, personally, really like the people at the company. I do sell their knives--but I sell them because I like them. :)
 
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