Bark River- who’s fault?

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Michaux111 said:
Again, the hate here for BRK is historical from way back . I do believe the "minority" is here on this forum and one forum doesn't make a majority despite the hatred. BRK make good knives. They just do. Some here just hate "the man". So be it. But his knives are good. So there's that.... And I'm done.
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except for the op's knife......
 
Michaux111 said:
Again, the hate here for BRK is historical from way back . I do believe the "minority" is here on this forum and one forum doesn't make a majority despite the hatred. BRK make good knives. They just do. Some here just hate "the man". So be it. But his knives are good. So there's that.... And I'm done.
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You got lucky and got 6 "good" ones. Plus, at 6 BRKs, you are invested well over a grand at this point, right? You kind of need them to be good knives, I reckon.

I had way more than that that were just fine as knife like objects. Cut paper fine and shaved arm hair and all that. How would they have held up to real use, I wasn't about to roll the dice and find out, having had a couple aforementioned edge rolls. Best to keep them mint, and I was smart to do so, as that made them much easier to get rid of.

My experiences with these knives are totally separate from any opinion I may or may not have about Mike Stewart. But I admit I was given the Hard Sell by one of his acolytes for years and I am still a bit sore about it.
 
LuckyC said:
A smooth steel might realign that edge, but I suspect the Rockwell Hardness is low and it will just do it again. The Brass Rod Test will let you know if the heat treat is in the ballpark, if you don't know someone with a Rockwell Hardness tester.
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What? How the fork is a smooth steel going to realign the edge?
 
Gil P. said:
What? How the fork is a smooth steel going to realign the edge?
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A kitchen steel MAY take those wrinkles out. If the edge wrinkled that easy when chopping wood, then it should be soft enough to straighten using a basic kitchen steel. I’ve chopped cheap kitchen knives through bone before and got similar damage as OPs. I just steel’d the edge back straight and the cutting commenced.
 
91bravo said:
A kitchen steel MAY take those wrinkles out. If the edge wrinkled that easy when chopping wood, then it should be soft enough to straighten using a basic kitchen steel. I’ve chopped cheap kitchen knives through bone before and got similar damage as OPs. I just steel’d the edge back straight and the cutting commenced.
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If a kitchen steel fixed those edge ripples on the OP's knife, I'll never buy another bark river.

Getting edge ripples doesn't necessarily mean the steel is soft. Take a look at Bluntcuts videos to see edge ripples on properly heat treated, well made knives.
 
Jonah Shorter said:
That’s where I messed up. I bought the first one through a dealer and sent it back due to grind issues, but the one I have now I got from an individual. Shoulda known better. I’ll email BRK again today. It’s been five days since my original email.
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I've been reading this thread for days and am kinda' curious why you haven't just picked-up the phone and called.
 
Gil P. said:
If a kitchen steel fixed those edge ripples on the OP's knife, I'll never buy another bark river.

Getting edge ripples doesn't necessarily mean the steel is soft. Take a look at Bluntcuts videos to see edge ripples on properly heat treated, well made knives.
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I have used many many different types of knives in many different steels, and I’ve used them hard. Chopping, twisting, batoning. The only time I’ve ever rippled an edge like that, was chopping deer bone.
 
Jonah Shorter said:
Really just curious to see if they even would reply to me. Monday I plan to call.
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The gentleman who handles their warranty/spa-type stuff is "Rob". In my limited experience, he's been very helpful.


They're in the hole right now, big time. Like a lot of companies, they seem to be dealing with the "Great Resignation" nonsense. The difference with BRKT is that Escanaba is a pretty small town, something like 10K-15K people. So, the hiring "fishing hole" is pretty small. I live in a city of 1.4 million people and see companies having problems training and retaining. So, I can't even imagine what that's like in a small-town production facility.

From my very limited experience (*minimal damage to a Teddy 2 that was totally my fault), they'll take good care of you. It may take awhile, but I'm pretty confident they'll "get 'er done".
 
91bravo said:
I have used many many different types of knives in many different steels, and I’ve used them hard. Chopping, twisting, batoning. The only time I’ve ever rippled an edge like that, was chopping deer bone.
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Were any of your knives extremely thin near the edge?

I have thin knives that don't take ripples like that, but my Bravo 1.25 was extremely thin. I don't have issues with mine now, and it measures 10-12 thou behind the edge. When it took a ripple, it was even thinner. It's tough to measure due to the convex, but I get consistent measurements with calipers.
 
Gil P. said:
Were any of your knives extremely thin near the edge?

I have thin knives that don't take ripples like that, but my Bravo 1.25 was extremely thin. I don't have issues with mine now, and it measures 10-12 thou behind the edge. When it took a ripple, it was even thinner. It's tough to measure due to the convex, but I get consistent measurements with calipers.
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It wasn’t too thin. I was able to steel it back to straight though, which says something about the steel. Most of the damage I get from hard use is chipping or edge rolling. Rippling only happened to me once.
 
91bravo said:
It wasn’t too thin. I was able to steel it back to straight though, which says something about the steel. Most of the damage I get from hard use is chipping or edge rolling. Rippling only happened to me once.
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Which knife took a ripple? You mentioned earlier it was a cheap kitchen knife.
 
Michaux111 said:
Again, the hate here for BRK is historical from way back . I do believe the "minority" is here on this forum and one forum doesn't make a majority despite the hatred. BRK make good knives. They just do. Some here just hate "the man". So be it. But his knives are good. So there's that.... And I'm done.
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Bark Rivers are probably my most used and best all around performing knives when it comes to bushcraft, those convex grinds slice through wood like noone's business, and I really like the steel choices and all around aesthetics. I've beat the shit out of my Bravo 1 with absolutely no issues and I traveled through Mongolia and the Gobi desert with my Bushcraft Scout on my belt. I don't care about defending Mike Stewart, and I have definitely gotten at least one lemon with a really fucked up grind that they tried to tell me was not covered by warranty since the knife "had clearly been put to a belt grinder". But whatever that's all been resolved, I like their knives, and though I don't plan on getting one in the near future, I would still recommend the knives to someone looking for a quality bushcraft knife.
 
Alone said:
The gentleman who handles their warranty/spa-type stuff is "Rob". In my limited experience, he's been very helpful.


They're in the hole right now, big time. Like a lot of companies, they seem to be dealing with the "Great Resignation" nonsense. The difference with BRKT is that Escanaba is a pretty small town, something like 10K-15K people. So, the hiring "fishing hole" is pretty small. I live in a city of 1.4 million people and see companies having problems training and retaining. So, I can't even imagine what that's like in a small-town production facility.

From my very limited experience (*minimal damage to a Teddy 2 that was totally my fault), they'll take good care of you. It may take awhile, but I'm pretty confident they'll "get 'er done".
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I've been there.
They don't welcome the public.
And if you are fortunate enough to contact them, they are all too happy to tell you they don't welcome visitors.
And that was BEFORE COVID.

So I can easily believe they currently have trouble getting help considering how welcoming they are.
You should also note there are not many employers in Escanaba either. So.....

There are other knife makers in the area, that are helpful and open.

A business is only as good as it's people.

I don't care about their quality, when they treat the public like they do.

The way I see it, they did me a favor.
 
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kafolarbear said:
Bark Rivers are probably my most used and best all around performing knives when it comes to bushcraft, those convex grinds slice through wood like noone's business, and I really like the steel choices and all around aesthetics. I've beat the shit out of my Bravo 1 with absolutely no issues and I traveled through Mongolia and the Gobi desert with my Bushcraft Scout on my belt. I don't care about defending Mike Stewart, and I have definitely gotten at least one lemon with a really fucked up grind that they tried to tell me was not covered by warranty since the knife "had clearly been put to a belt grinder". But whatever that's all been resolved, I like their knives, and though I don't plan on getting one in the near future, I would still recommend the knives to someone looking for a quality bushcraft knife.
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Even the big defenders of the brand can't help but spill their own horror stories.

Geez, who hasn't had to send one of these clunkers back?
 
Michaux111 said:
Some here just hate "the man".
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Everyone knows there’s a small group of malcontents with every brand, but I’ve been reading about the same stuff for years. There’s problems with this brand you wouldn’t expect for this price range. I’ve never spent BRK money on a knife, and I’ve never had BRK disappointment.

There’s also a selection of die-hards with any brand, and generally they’ll say something like, “yeah, there’s an occasional problem, but some of these people just hate ‘the man’.”
 
Michaux111 said:
Again, the hate here for BRK is historical from way back . I do believe the "minority" is here on this forum and one forum doesn't make a majority despite the hatred. BRK make good knives. They just do. Some here just hate "the man". So be it. But his knives are good. So there's that.... And I'm done.
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So mis-informed...... :rolleyes:

I refer you back to Boru's post #75.

I will take this "minority" forum's opinion any day, as the benchmark for what's what in the knife world. Since you prefer to choose "quantity" over "quality" when it comes to opinions, perhaps you believe in all the 100% positive feedback Pakistani Ebay knife vendors? They seem to have an awful lot of people that like their blades, too. :rolleyes:

Ignorance is bliss.
 
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