Bear & Son Knives

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Alnamvet68

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Mar 26, 2013
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Does anybody own one, specifically the Yellow Delrin Congress? I'm thinking about buying one since they are less than $40.00, and are 100% made in the USA using USA materials. I've never seen one in person, so I suppose I'm interested in the fit, finish, etc of this line. Post fotos if you have one.:thumbup:

 
Honestly, I think you're $40 could be better spent, from what I've seen of B&S knives.
 
I have been interested in the Bear and Son made annual Remington knives, they took over from Camillus after Camillus went belly up. Because I've heard bad things about them here, on other forums and directly from collectors, I won't send them any dollars.
 
I would advise to only purchase one that you can examine in person first.
 
I was interested in B&S, but heard about their fit and finish. I looked at a few that were in clam packs and passed because I could tell they were poorly put together. Heck even looking at that picture of the Congress you posted, it looks like the bolster isn't flush with the scale (right side, top).

It's a shame. I like to see good quality if it's coming from an American firm. In general, I'd take a Rough Rider over Bear and Sons.
 
I GOT STUNG once by this company and their trash and it was on a 4-blade knife but now I cannot remember if it was the congress which I collect or a 4-blade Stockman which I also collect. It looked pretty nice so I opened the first blade. When I closed it it snapped shut on a liner and cut it deeply enough i had a hell of a time pulling the blade out. I sat down, filled out the warrenty card, wrote a nice letter telling 'em my woes and off it all went to their factory. To the moment I write these words now i have yet to receive the courtesy of an answer. A couple of years afterwards I found the bill for it from SMKW and sent Kevin Pipes a note about it all. Never heard back from him either, but then again I did not expect to hear back from him as he is from the Jim Parker method of knife sales.
PS: I forgot to note that when I noticed A.G. russell had started to sell BEAR&SON knives i wrote him a letter asking why he would ever sink to selling such trash [ after telling him the story above] and darned if I also never got an answer from him either. A.G if I stepped over the line I apologise as we do like you, your company, anf your products very much indeed. You were always most gracious when we stopped by your business to say hello and spend a few bucks
 
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I don't own any and I haven't heard anything good about the Bear & Son brand. I think multi-bladed patterns require even greater precision to put together than single-bladed ones so I'd be extremely reluctant to try that BS Congress... ;)

-Brett
 
WIL TERRY said:
I sat down, filled out the warrenty card, wrote a nice letter telling 'em my woes and off it all went to their factory. To the moment I write these words now i have yet to receive the courtesy of an answer.
Click to expand...

I sent them an email asking them to pick up the level of QC and asking them to replace I knife I had that was just junk. I never got an email back, but the owner/president of the company called me to tell me I didn't know anything about the knife industry and that their knives were exceptional. My experience was that they were all sub-par.

I sold off my inventory to a distributor at a huge loss and will never even think of buying another.
 
I also bought 2 of their knives---both top of their line. One was a stag heritage, and both were junk. I have a friend that got one of their stag small lock backs for a Christmas present, and after 4 months of light use the blade wobble was very bad. You would think after so many reports that they would have trouble selling any products. They will never get any more of my money, and I talk to a lot of people, any make sure they know my feelings on Bear and son knives. I INMHO the only thing that keeps any sales is the made in America. I would say to any one is BUYER BEWARE.
Harold
 
I tried out a few of their knives also due to the MADE IN USA and price point.. and they are junk. I still have some that I could give away for shipping plus my time..

Fit and finish is horrible. Sharp edges, uneven lines. Ugly. I think they might fall apart if you use them. :)

Oh, horrible grinds on blades too.

Perfect knife to carry if you don't care about.. well anything :D
 
I had a stag handled Bowie that was a pretty good knife.All the folders i've had were poor quality.
 
After what I've read on every thread I've ever seen about this company, I wouldn't buy a thing from them.
 
sloth357 said:
I tried out a few of their knives also due to the MADE IN USA and price point.. and they are junk. I still have some that I could give away for shipping plus my time..

Fit and finish is horrible. Sharp edges, uneven lines. Ugly. I think they might fall apart if you use them. :)

Oh, horrible grinds on blades too.

Perfect knife to carry if you don't care about.. well anything :D
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Sloth... thanks for your feedback on these knives.
 
I have one of their large folding hunters, it's decent. I can't say there's any issues with it. I used it to field dress a deer last hunting season , it was still shaving sharp when I was done.



On the other hand I bought four Remington branded knives , 3 swing-guards and one bullet trapper. The fit and finish on one swing guard is not so good, just sloppy. Even the tang is all rough so it grinds when you open it.

After reading this I don't think I'll be sending it back anytime soon.

This one is good, Damascus and mammoth ivory.

 
They can be decent for the money IF you get a good one. I have a trapper and a stockman that I am happy with for what I paid but I looked them over in hand first. Their quality is no where near ANY other American made slipjoint IMO. The F&F is hit or miss to say the least.
 
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My experiences with Bear have been similar. I used to buy their balisongs, as a youngster (in the Bear MGC days), and when they were going for about $20 it wasn't a bad deal. The prices now have gone up, negating that appeal. My one experience with a traditional knife from B&S was a single blade lockback, and it was abysmal. The lock bar engaged the blade so weakly, that the pressure of my thumb on the spine of the blade was enough to swing it shut onto the fingers below. Good thing it came from the factory as sharp as a spoon, or else I'd have been cut. ;)

Most of the others that I've seen & handled have been equally crappy.

For the money of a Bear & Sons knife, I would instead buy something from Utica. Also made in the USA, comparably priced, yet leaps and bounds ahead of B&S in terms of quality.

B&S? More like B.S. :thumbdn:
 
I have 5 and they are all fine. Fit and finish is good and the steel is good. Their stainless is easy to get very sharp. I like all of mine and I'll buy some more.
I seem to be the only one, however.
 
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