Bear & Son Impressed me

[Buck_Fan]

I'm not easily impressed with a company. And it happens so rarely anymore. But I have to say. Bear & Son impressed me big time. I had sent them a email about my thoughts on something and made a recommendation. I wasn't expecting anything in return. Because it just rarely happens any more. I got the typical auto response email that they got my message and someone would get back to me. Yeah okay. Well I did get a response the next day from an actual human thanking me for my email and they would pass it along to the appropriate people. Yeah okay. But then later in the day I got another email. I was surprised to say the least. I open it and started to read it. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. But I had to. I was looking right at it. It was an email from the owner. What! And it wasn't just a form type email. He wrote it. To say I was shocked would be an understatement. And in my email I even said I don't currently own any Bear & Son knives. It didn't matter. Wow! I wish more companies were like this. I just thought I would share this with you all.

 

[Campbellclanman]

That is awesome!

I have owned a few Bear and Sons Knives over the years, pretty much all of them were Stag and they were always a good knife, I hear other people knock them, but we hear others doing this with GEC as well. I always thought that the Stag Bear & Sons knife was good value for money and often a great looking knife!

 

[rbeggs]

I bought my first Bear & Son knife a few months ago, a carbon steel barlow, and I am impressed with it. A very solid knife and well done.

 

[RickHuf]

I am very happy with my large barlow and an old half congress from them.

They're killing it with those Barlows. I keep checking out the big lock backs too. Maybe someday.

Definitely nice. I did not enjoy the butterfly knife I got from them, but in their defence it was the economy version. There was nothing wrong with it, it was just very heavy and a bit awkward.

 

[Modoc ED]

Bought this one in 2010 shortly after joining BF. It was a nice, tight knife. Have since passed it on. I've had others over time and all have been serviceable. A dud here and there but have also had a dud or two or three from others - Case, Schrade, GEC, A.Wright.

 

[GPO MAN]

I got to speak with the folks from Bear & Son at Blade Show Atlanta and they were very nice.

 

[Railsplitter]

I’ve never owned one. Gonna have to take a look.

 

[knarfeng]

I have a Remington lock back made by Bear & Son. It's a well made solid knife.

 

[Hickory n steel]

My 1st B&S knife was their sharp finger copy in faux stag, it was a gift 2 christmases ago and I do find it to be a good knife.
The next was a bird and trout made for the Queen brand name that I bought from SMKW.
It's not a terrible knife but I was not very happy with it.
The fit and finish aren't bad at all, but the blade grind is kind of thick for a small knife and the bone color was very ugly.

They are trying and it seems that their QC has gone way up from what I've experienced in the past, but for me aesthetics are off on a lot of their knives.
It's not a quality concern, but the color & jigging on most of their bone is ugly and a lot of their patterns / models have that copy of a copy kind of look to them if you know what I mean.
Like somebody drew a Case or Schrade knife from memory.
They really remind me of 90's Frost cutlery knives

Some of their stuff definitely gets it right though, and I'll bet that I can find a knife or two from them that I'd want.
I wish them luck and hope they're able to continue manufacturing knives here in the USA for many more years to come.

 

[Modoc ED]

This manufactured by Bear & Son. Nicely done. No drips, runs, or errors.





This manufactured by GEC





Note that the card insert for the Bear & Son Hawkbill is titled "The One That Got Away Hawkbill" The card insert for the GEC is titled "The One That Got Away Deluxe
Hawkbill"

 

[Just Tom.]

I have 4 Bear & Son knives - 2 large stockman knives, one sheepsfoot Barlow, and an inexpensive modern.

The large stockman model is very pleasing in the pocket and in the hand, but both examples I got were very poorly executed. The spey blade on the wooden one has almost no spring tension when open, and the blades have pitting on them and wavy recurve grinds. The plastic one is much better, but still has a noticeably bent liner which rubs the main blade a little, and one scale is much thinner than the other, causing a crack at the spring pin.

The Barlow has no finish flaws, but has annoyingly little spring tension when open.

I still like them, though, warts and all, and I can’t be too harsh on them given my recent experience with a much more expensive Case.

The modern (model 778) is not at all bad for the $25 dollars I paid for it. I think it is the only all USA-made modern model they have in that price range. I noticed it goes for around $30 now - for that money you can get a much better knife from The Company That Shall Not Be Mentioned on BF, but I would definitely recommend it if you are looking for an inexpensive USA-made modern knife.

I wish them luck and hope they're able to continue manufacturing knives here in the USA for many more years to come.

Agreed. I wish they would fill the void left by the closing of Imperial and Colonial, and focus in making reliable budget fare domestically.

 

[SoansoMcMasters]

I'm not easily impressed with a company. And it happens so rarely anymore. But I have to say. Bear & Son impressed me big time. I had sent them a email about my thoughts on something and made a recommendation. I wasn't expecting anything in return. Because it just rarely happens any more. I got the typical auto response email that they got my message and someone would get back to me. Yeah okay. Well I did get a response the next day from an actual human thanking me for my email and they would pass it along to the appropriate people. Yeah okay. But then later in the day I got another email. I was surprised to say the least. I open it and started to read it. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. But I had to. I was looking right at it. It was an email from the owner. What! And it wasn't just a form type email. He wrote it. To say I was shocked would be an understatement. And in my email I even said I don't currently own any Bear & Son knives. It didn't matter. Wow! I wish more companies were like this. I just thought I would share this with you all.

Thanks for this report. I like to support companies that do things like this. I need to order a Bear and Son, I reckon.

 

[SharpBits]

I contacted them a year or two ago to inquire about country of origin of the new large barrows. The owner responded to my inquiry personally which I appreciated. My samples of the Barlow are excellent as is the modern style slip joint.

I’d like to see more single blade offerings from them. I can do without that little pen blade they like to use.

 

[sparrowj]

Today the mailman brought me an American made pocket knife. A Bear & Son small Farmhand, and I'm happy to report it has impressed me.
It was very inexpensive yet well-made. The Carbon Steel blade is centered, operates smoothly with medium pull and good snap. Nice F&F overall but with a tiny blade rap dent that easily sharpened out. The pocket clip could be improved on, but mine will be removed. Bear & Son is making it necessary for other American makers to be on their toes.

(interweb photo)