Bark River Wilderness Forums Knife review from CT campout!

[KiljoyKutlery]

High guys,
This morning, before I left CT for MA, Kevin was kind enough to allow me to give the new BRK&T Prototype a workout!
First, while Kevin had both prototypes, I took a liking to Proto#2 and decided to give it a try.
My first impression was that it is awesome..looks and feels great. One member here, compaired it to his Foxriver, and the knives are about the same size and the blades a close to being the same! The handle is more like an Aurora handle..so its kinda like a morphing of the 2.
Now to how it handled..I took it to the woods and looked for a small sapling that I had seen the day before, it was alive, but pinned under large blowdown, it had been damaged..I thought that this one would make a good candidate for testing. I simply applied lateral pressure to the sapling and pushed down with the edge, it easily passed more than 50% through the sapling. I leaned it the other way, and cut the sapling completely. very easy. Next was a notch, the was no problem with some batoning.
Last, I hammered the knife point first into the downed sapling and removed it, rolled the sapling and repeated...no damage to the tip or edge through the entire test. The knife was passed around, and it sliced fuzz very well.
Overall, I like this knife very much..it is like a smaller Aurora..which I believe to be a great knife in its own right. But If I had a single complaint about my Aurora, it would be the length of the blade. So this one is very cool!
Thanks Kevin, Gene

 

[bdws1975]

beautiful knife man. Was the handle real slick in the hand?

Love the look!

Brett

 

[mtnfolk mike]

lucky dog... that is a cool looking knife.. i like it... as with mose barkies...:thumbup:

 

[kgd]

That does look like a great knife that really fits your hand well! Thanks for the review and shots!

 

[Bears Breath]

Nice job Dude, looks like a great work out on the blade...I love the too I have now..the blades really fit the hand well...Very sharp...lol

 

[KiljoyKutlery]

beautiful knife man. Was the handle real slick in the hand?

Love the look!

Brett

Nope, I have never really had a problem with any of my Barky handles..great knife.

 

[j williams]

That is a great lookin knife. good review.

 

[Fiddleback]

What model is that?? Is it available at DLT?

 

[cybrok]

What are the specs?

And how much?

 

[tonym]

Heres a comparison shot of the proto barky next to the fox river. I don't believe it is available anywhere yet, Kevin might know the specs on it, maybe he'll chime in.
There was another barky prototype at the CT gathering as well. The handle was a little more narrow than this one. Sorry, I don't have any pics of that one. Both were great knives.

 

[Mikel_24]

...But If I had a single complaint about my Aurora, it would be the length of the blade...

You mean that the Aurora is too big? Mmmmm I wish it had a wider blade... so i will be a better slicer for food prep. Then it won't be such a great bushcraft knife though.... I got an Aurora instead of a Fox River because of the bigger handle and longer blade... don't want anything smaller!

Mikel

 

[KiljoyKutlery]

What are the specs?

And how much?

its just a prototype right now..its still under development as far as I know. I think its great like it is MIKE STEWART...so start poppin these bad boys out!!

 

[cybrok]

Looks to be exactly what I'm looking for at the moment.

Put some burl or ironwood on it and I'm in

 

[Big Mike]

Here are the specs on the two prototypes.

HCF Prototype 1:

Blade Steel: A2
Blade Length: 3.9”
Cutting Edge: 3.875”
Blade Width: .875”
Blade Style: Drop Point
Blade Thickness: .140”
Handle Length: 4.6”
Overall Length: 8.5”
Weight: 5 oz


HCF Prototype 2:

Blade Steel: A2
Blade Length: 4.1” from tip to handle slabs
Cutting Edge: 4”
Blade Width: 1”
Blade Style: Drop Point
Blade Thickness: .170”
Handle Length: 4.6”
Overall Length: 8.7”
Weight: 6 oz


I tend to agree.

I found the bigger one fit well in my large hand and I could hold it loosely with out fear of loosing control.

The smaller knife had a more cylindrical handle shape that wanted to rotate in my hand.

And most of the people I poled had the same reaction, #2 (the larger one) seemed to be the more popular; even people with smaller hands liked the bigger handle better.


I must add that both blades cut very well.

They seem to have very similar edge geometry, the thicker #2 has a more of a full convex grind, where the thinner #1 has more of a scandi grind.

They both are serious cutting tools.