BRK Bravo 1 or custom?

Thanks for all the responses. I just posted this late last night and found all this great info waiting for me this am. My interest in a custom knife would entail making something with similar attributes with my preference in steel choices, etc. I would never ask a knifemaker to copy another knife, it's just wrong by my standards. Next I'm going to look at some of the makers sites that were mentioned. If I go with BRK it will be the Bravo. I always prefered a knife with a little more heft as long as it is well balanced. The Bravo is less than 1.5 oz more than the Aurora which is my scond choice. Links to threads with comp pics was a great help.
thanks again
 
Fiddleback said:
I don't know a custom maker that would copy the design. I would not. And I would think it would be frowned up on also. I've heard of people copying a design for themselves to use. But to copy one to sell is shady IMO.
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I agree with you on the spirit of shadiness, to my mind it is akin to plagiarism and I despise that. And quite apart from any honorable reasons I think it would be a venture into futility on a purely commercial basis, as surely a savvy punter would just buy the no doubt much cheaper BRKT. That's why I posted that comment. If I wanted something just similar[ish], or even arguably only inspired by but made from the same stuff as the Bravo, I'd by the Bravo. I can't remember the context or thread in which I posted the original rhetorical question, but I know what motivated it. Sometimes I get the overwhelming feeling here that people believe a custom is automatically better than a production knife. I simply don't believe that is true. As with the hobby makers here in England I think many niche knife designs show up here that just aren't available as production pieces. Some of them look great and I can really see the appeal, but when we get to that point at which a custom knife is automatically better my little critical magick wand detector light flashes up. That was the motivation behind my rhetorical question. It was a kind of thought experiment to challenge dogma. I could have exaggerated it with another route and said a hand made ringer for a PHK, made from 01 is inferior to the Fallkniven PHK, true or false. My point was not that literally one might make such a thing, just that it wouldn't be worth trying to compete with it. Custom make something else in a different niche. I brought that up here because from the querent's perspective the same should hold. If you've got a hot spot for a Bravo get a Bravo, if you want a custom look for something completely different.
 
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hollowdweller said:
In my mind, no. I think the quality and certainly the edge on Bark River exceeds the majority of customs.

But keep in mine I like cutting efficiency and thin edges.

I have never ever bought a production or custom knife with a secondary bevel that cut as well as a scandi or a thin, Barkie type convex edge. I have bought very few customs that had a convex edge where I didn't have to thin it down myself.

The worst edge I have ever got from Bark River involved a little stropping with 1500 grit to bring it hair popping. On other non scandi customs and productions I have spent hours re doing the edges. :rolleyes:
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No surprises there amigo. Everything I know about Mike Stewart and the way he conducts things is top table. Well, nearly all, there is that thing with the badgers.
 
Another thread to show off my barkies!


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Close up of the grain, the pic does not do justice.
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I can tell if you are asking......you are not going to stop at one! :D

You are not going to go wrong with any of the options mentioned already.

So just get it over with. Get a Barkie, Get a Breeden, Get a Fiddleback, Get a JK, Get a Gossman. You won't regret any of them.

B
 
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