blind horse or bark river dedicated buscraft knife

N

ny700

Joined
Mar 10, 2012
Messages
34
Ok guys I'm appealing to the collective here for all your knowledge. I'm looking for a dedicated bushcraft knife. One specific for carving, making traps, feather sticks things like that. I have an Esee5 and a gransfors small forest axeusually with me so I'm not looking for a do it all knife but something that will feel great in the hand for prelonged wood working.
I've narrowed my search down to the Blind Horse bushcrafter with a scandi grind, the Bark River Bush crafter and the Bark River Canadian special. Any thought on those and anyone with experience with them directly who can compare. I'm a little concerned about working with the scandivex grind on the Bark River line. I use an edge pro for all my sharpening so going with the Bark river would require me to start free hand sharpening.
Thanks
 
Any of the knives you listed would be great for bushcraft. Don't be nervous about sharpening the bark rivers. It is very easy to maintain them with sandpaper and a leather strop. The scandi grinds make it easy to maintain your angle when sharpening in the field but the convex grinds are a little more forgiving if you don't hold a perfect angle each time when free handing. You mentioned you have an edge pro so you could always re-profile the bark river to have a v grind. I feel the scandis "V" grind offers more bite and control when carving wood vs. Convex grinds which I feel chops better. A lot of people will have different opinions on this subject since its kind of a personal preference. Maybe pick up an Opinal folding knife and a Mora so you can compare the convex vs Scandi for yourself to see which you prefer. Both can be had for around 10 bucks each.
 
Bpiatt thank you for the reply, I was thinking worse case if I dint like the scandivex I should beable to reprofile to a true scandi with my edge pro. Anyone out there do that befre. I know convex is all the rage right now so most are going in the other direction.
Anyone out there with arthritis or similar hand isses that could comment on handle geometry and size. The photos are decieving and I can't get a good comparison between the three knives total handle thickness
 
I own all three, but I have the full flat BHK Bushcrafter not the scandi. I prefer my scandis a little thinner.

As far as size, they are all essentially the same size just around a quarter of inch or so separates edge length and both BRKs have slightly longer handles than the BHK. The BHK has a round handle whereas the BRKs have more contour to the handle. As far as handle circumference, the BHK is the thickest, then the BRK Bushcrafter, and finally the BRK Canadian Special. However it’s not like there is huge difference between the three. The BHK definitely feels fuller but this probably has more to do with the lack of contour when compared to the other two. I find all three very comfortable in my hand.

I’d be happy with any of these knives (and I am). After typing this I realize I probably haven’t helped you narrow your choices, but seriously all three are great knives, I don’t think you can lose on this one.
 
theHillshaveKnives said:
I own all three, but I have the full flat BHK Bushcrafter not the scandi. I prefer my scandis a little thinner.

As far as size, they are all essentially the same size just around a quarter of inch or so separates edge length and both BRKs have slightly longer handles than the BHK. The BHK has a round handle whereas the BRKs have more contour to the handle. As far as handle circumference, the BHK is the thickest, then the BRK Bushcrafter, and finally the BRK Canadian Special. However it’s not like there is huge difference between the three. The BHK definitely feels fuller but this probably has more to do with the lack of contour when compared to the other two. I find all three very comfortable in my hand.

I’d be happy with any of these knives (and I am). After typing this I realize I probably haven’t helped you narrow your choices, but seriously all three are great knives, I don’t think you can lose on this one.
Click to expand...

Hill, what metal did you choose for the BRK? Any pics I would love to see handle chose as well I'm torn between synthetic or wood. I have micarta on my Esee and really like the feel but am thinking a nice. High quality wood would be very nice on this one. So if you had to choose one for strictly fin woodcraft which would you choose of the three, if you wanted one for every task which would you choose?
 
I would take a Scandi ground BHK given the choice. The grind works well with wood and I like the texture and feel of their handles. I've not generated the slightest hot spot working with them. I'm admittedly biased, at last count I have a dozen or so offerings from BHK.
 
Last edited:
The BRK Bushcrafter is CPM3V, the Canadian Special is A2, and the BHK is O1. Of the three steels, A2 is my favorite but the BRK Bushcrafter is the only 3V blade I own and I've only had it a month. My BHK Bushcrafter and BRK Bushcrafter are both canvas micarta and the Canadian Special is antique stag.

If you want wood then get it. I compromised on the BRK Bushcrafter because of the price (it's the most I've spent on a knife), but in hindsight I wish I would have gotten a wood or bone handle, but the matte black is nice too and it has grown on me. You'll probably have to special order the Blind Horse if you want wood, I've seen them for sale, but they usually get snapped up pretty quick. Bark River has a large selection of handle options it just comes down to what dealers have in stock.

If I had to pick one for woodcraft (and this took awhile to decide)...I'd pick the Blind Horse. I've owned it longer than the others and due to that fact, it's seen more use. But honestly this is like asking if I prefer brunettes, blondes, or redheads...the answer is all of the above. And as I said earlier, I've only owned the Bark River Bushcrafter for a month so I haven't had time to run it through the grind yet, but I fully expect it to shake up my pecking order.
 
Rather than starting another thread, I'd like to list some options and see what people think of them, since it's relevant to the OP's topic, and I too am interested in some personal experiences for the sake of a purchase. I've found quite a few appealing knives so I'll just put them down below in all bold. Feel free to chime in if you've had/handled one. I will include the two the OP mentioned for the sake of comparison.

Mora Leuku
Fallkniven F1
BRK Bushcrafter
BHK Bushcrafter
Koster Bushcrafter
Spyderco Bushcrafter
Helle Knives
Marttiini Knives
Shing Bushcraft knife
Core Knives Corehart
Condor Bushlore

I know someone has each of these. I would love to hear some feedback.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top