Bear and Sons

B

bocephus21

Joined
Jul 27, 2010
Messages
56
Hey guys,

I have heard a lot of bad things about Bear and Sons, but i have not understood the criticism. I bought a one hand opener for 30.00 online and it is one of my favorite knives. I have Kershaws, Bucks, Cold Steels, and Spydercos. Bear knives are better than all of them.I just couldnt understand why they got such a bad rap. Plus all of thier knives are USA made:) Give em a chance, you'll be glad you did
 
So, if I understand you correctly, Bear & son knives are better than Bucks, Spyderco's and Kershaws based on the one Bear & Sons knife that you bought? I had a Bear and Son slippie, which while it was an okay knife, I wouldn't say it was better than my other knives. Which include Buck, Spyderco, and Kershaws....Just sayin'
 
I have not tried any of their one hand openers, but I have tried a couple slip joints from them. The worst one was a Sodbuster. The blade came BENT, the finish rough, and one of the scales started falling off after a day. Repeatedly bad construction, I'll not br buying from them for a long time.
 
I've tried to find a Bear & Son that was free of major cosmetic and even fit and function flaws for years, just because they are American made. Their quality control is not even on the same continent as most other knife companies IMO.
 
Bear Claw Chris Lappe said:
I've tried to find a Bear & Son that was free of major cosmetic and even fit and function flaws for years, just because they are American made. Their quality control is not even on the same continent as most other knife companies IMO.
Click to expand...

Ditto. They're not even as good as some of the Chinese junk out there, IMO. Pity.
 
I have to Respectfully disagree with you. I have bought a spyderco tenacious and comparing it to this blade, thier is none. My bear is muchhhhh sharper, and more reliable than all my other blades.(including a Kershaw Skyline) My skyline's liner lock broke about 1 month after buying it. I have had this blade for about a year and have not had one issue with it.
 
Hey, you got lucky. Be happy. Just don't expect it to happen a second time.
 
No I didn't...you got unlucky. My father has a Bear Skinner and my brother has a Bear guthook. Both are extremly nice, sharp and well made
 
Yeah, I've got to wonder. I'm in a pretty good mood and not really trying to push anybody's buttons here tonight, but when I see a guy who thinks Bear knives are good, my first thought has to be "would this guy even know the difference?"

Oh well.
 
I will ask the OP this one, though: What other knives are you comparing them to? What else do you own? OK, a Kershaw Skyline. Anything else?
 
bocephus21 said:
Hey guys,

I have heard a lot of bad things about Bear and Sons, but i have not understood the criticism. I bought a one hand opener for 30.00 online and it is one of my favorite knives. I have Kershaws, Bucks, Cold Steels, and Spydercos. Bear knives are better than all of them.I just couldnt understand why they got such a bad rap. Plus all of thier knives are USA made:) Give em a chance, you'll be glad you did
Click to expand...

So the purpose of your post is to tell everyone here that bear and sons knives are good and in a bid to add validity to your opinion, you're claiming that knives made by some of the most reputable and best production knife companies in the world are inferior products?
 
Last edited:
pics would be nice preferably alongside the other contenders that have failed in your eyes
 
personally i think the OP slipped into that .0001% who have multiple bad representations for the companies we know and love
 
Personally, with 17 posts, I wonder if the guy isn't a shill. But maybe that's just me. I'm skeptical that way.
 
There was a time I was shopping for a Bowie. I was considering a Bear & Sons Gold Rush among others. Then during my web research I noticed something... the s-shaped guard was installed backwards on some knives. There was even a backwards guard in the company's own catalog! I started counting the occurences of backwards guards... it was almost exactly HALF of all B&S Gold Rushes. That means they were just pulling guards out of a box and shoving them onto the knife TOTALLY AT RANDOM, WITH NO REGARD FOR WORKMANSHIP. IIRC I sent the company an email. Many of the photos got fixed. I HOPE their Bowie assembly staff got some retraining or some blueprints or maybe even an inspector. Crikey.

example:
bcchb00.jpg
 
I haven't inspected a Bear knife in many years, so I have no idea about their quality today. However I do have a fixed blade and a stockman from twenty plus years ago, and both have given good service.
 
There was a time I was shopping for a Bowie. I was considering a Bear & Sons Gold Rush among others. Then during my web research I noticed something... the s-shaped guard was installed backwards on some knives. There was even a backwards guard in the company's own catalog! I started counting the occurences of backwards guards... it was almost exactly HALF of all B&S Gold Rushes. That means they were just pulling guards out of a box and shoving them onto the knife TOTALLY AT RANDOM, WITH NO REGARD FOR WORKMANSHIP. IIRC I sent the company an email. Many of the photos got fixed. I HOPE their Bowie assembly staff got some retraining or some blueprints or maybe even an inspector. Crikey.
Click to expand...

No, That's perfect for carry in your second, lower left hand. You have to make exceptions for carrying it tucked under your wing. :)

joe
 
Years ago, I bought a 97 Pattern lockback folder in oak - #297, I think - on closeout from Academy Sports (~$29). When I got home with it, I found that it was pretty hard to unlock, so I took it back and swapped it, the other four all functioning fine. If I had kept that first one, my opinion of Bear would be less than it is now. I bought several more Bears afterwards - checking them first - oddly, they were all functionally fine. The HC SS blades take and lose their edge pretty easily - definitely not up to Buck's 420HC standards. It could just be the heat treatment. I have bought one off evil-bay - from a store. It is another 97 Pattern - a #597D. It came as a high quality knife - works perfectly. The stag is a little yellow, but still is nicely executed. The Damascus is interesting - the same 'Alabama Damascus', a subsidiary of Bear also from Jacksonville, AL (~70 miles from my home!), as used on Kershaws - like the Leek below. I 'won' it for <$50 shipped - the Leek was more - and the Buck Custom Shop 110 in teardrop Damascus was a lot more.

IMG_0616.jpg


I also have a few fixed knives from Bear - including a Damascus Bowie. They are all decent knives, if pedestrian in design and fit. They were bought mail order - sight unseen - and all arrived as decent examples. You won't mistake them for Bark River knives, to be sure, but they aren't as expensive, either... and they were made here in Alabama! I think the OP is just excited - and proud - of his example of a knife most don't have as good of an experience with these days - and wanted to share. I didn't find anything sinister there... maybe some less than kind remarks by a few of our number - certainly not the norm for this forum. Maybe we should just give the OP some slack - take him for his words - his experiences.

Oh - with all of the bad press re Bear, I can see where I will only buy from a store - where I can fondle them first. Of course, I do that with Benchmade, too - and I love them!

Stainz
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top