DeLorean ride 2011 Tell Me About Bark River Knives, Please.

shane45-1911 said:
DUDE, I am getting emotional for a very good reason. Perhaps you would like to compensate me for the money that Mike stole from me, and several other well-known forum members here over the years??? And again, it was NOT 10-20 years ago.

Not malicious or on purpose? LMAO. Did you ever talk to Mike? It was completely and knowingly malicious the way he lied and misled people about his products, and continues to do so to this day. He knows very well about his lies, deception and theft. Those things are not "accidents".
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Could you please clarify how he stole money from you and other "well known forum members" over the years? Its 100% possible I'm missing something. I don't have a dog in the fight, yes I like bark river knives but Mike Stewart can come off as fiercely defensive at best and needlessly abrasive at worst so it's not like I'm trying to defend the guy.
 
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kafolarbear said:
Could you please clarify how he stole money from you and other "well known forum members" over the years? Its 100% possible I'm missing something. I don't have a dog in the fight, yes I like bark river knives but Mike Stewart can come off as fiercely defensive at best and needlessly abrasive at worst so it's not like I'm trying to defend the guy.
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A simple google search for Bark River Knives, Mike Stewart will bring you a laundry list of complaints. Hell, the second most popular result when searching google is "Bark River Knives Controversy". One not need to try and seek out the bad stuff either, it's so overwhelming that it's hard to believe there are actually people defending them.
 
First guy in this thread is Tom Maringer, famous swordsmith and Kydex maker - https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/blackjack-knives.124519/ . Scroll down to #6, it's Will Fennell, who was in charge of Camillus. Post #12, a very nasty story, is Schuyler Lovestrand, longtime knifemaker. Post #35 is another nasty story of Stewart.

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The time Mike was indicted on Bank Fraud - https://www.bladeforums.com/threads...knives-i-could-not-talk-about-til-now.132141/ , Post #18 is knifemaker Jerry Fisk relating how Mike did him dirty.

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The guy that had to chase Mike around for months for his $16,000 - https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/bark-river-has-taken-16-000-of-my-money.585934/ .

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Another dealer that had to chase Stewart around -

https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/mike-stewart-the-brk-t-gang.394517/ .

https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/ripped-off-by-bark-river.403520/

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Another guy that had to chase Stewart around for decent money -

https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/general-update.1436280 .

https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/general-update-2.1482621 .

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Also other makers / designers alive and dead that haven't had nice things to say about him over the years - Ethan Becker (KaBar/Becker Knives), Pat Crawford, Rex Applegate, Chris Reeve (Stewart was a very early importer), Randall knives, etc..... Those are just the known guys.
 
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GPyro said:
I don't like the fact that they do not have a store front in Escanaba where they make them.
There's other knife makers in the area that do.

There's a lot of knife making history in that area of Escanaba & Gladstone, MI.
Hess and Marbles, just to name a few.
Embrace your local community. At least in the summer months. It's a beautiful area.

I like to support local business, but if you don't welcome your customers, I'm not interested.

I've spoke with them on the phone.... They're not interested in being friendly.

That combined with the negative history....... You couldn't give me a Bark River knife.
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I used to travel through this area years ago when Marbles was still around. They had a store in Gladstone, I think and I actually bought a knife there. Unfortunately, it broke when I was prying something, my fault. I have one Bark River kephart with black Micarta and 3V. I like the knife but find the sheath rather cheap. I simply love the UP of Michigan for all outdoor activities and enjoy the fact this area has such a history of knife making. Sorry to hear Bark River has muddled this situation.
 
kafolarbear said:
Could you please clarify how he stole money from you and other "well known forum members" over the years?
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It is a long sordid story that I am just going to highlight the key points here. Suffice it to say that he misrepresented several knives over several years with regards to type of steel he claimed he used, as has been mentioned more than once here. Once it was proven by independent analysis to not be the steel he claimed it was, I asked for a full refund for all the knives (a dozen). He lost his shit and ceased to answer any further phone calls or emails. I sued him and won, but was not able to recoup the total loss due to a number of "legalities". And this was not 10-20 years ago. This started around the end of 2015, and went on until the end of 2017.

The scumbag tried to counter-sue me for "defamation of character" which was eventually dismissed as he had no proof that I did or said anything libelous or slanderous (which I never did). I never posted anything on social media or this forum, until long after the shitstorm settled.

After speaking to several other members on this site as well as a few others I knew to have purchased Bark River knives, they too took action again Stewart when it was confirmed they had also bought knives under false pretenses. He then sent me several threatening emails that he would "find me and beat the shit out of me" (or words to that effect) if I didn't tell "all my friends who don't know what the f%$k they are talking about" to cease and desist with their own law suits. I called the police with this hard evidence he stupidly provided to me via email. He was charged and convicted of uttering threats of bodily harm.

This is just MY story. There are many others of poor quality work and broken knives that "supposedly" had warranty to cover them, as well as highly inflated shipping costs to ship his knives. Then there is the BIG story how scammed someone out of tens of thousands of dollars to go "partners" with him and finance his increase of shop space and productivity. That NEVER happened, and I don't recall how that ended. The details may very well be on this forum somewhere.
 
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shane45-1911 said:
It is a long sordid story that I am just going to highlight the key points here. Suffice it to say that he misrepresented several knives over several years with regards to type of steel he claimed he used, as has been mentioned more than once here. Once it was proven by independent analysis to not be the steel he claimed it was, I asked for a full refund for all the knives (a dozen). He lost his shit and ceased to answer any further phone calls or emails. I sued him and won, but was not able to recoup the total loss due to a number of "legalities". And this was not 10-20 years ago. This started around the end of 2015, and went on until the end of 2017.

The scumbag tried to counter-sue me for "defamation of character" which was eventually dismissed as he had no proof that I did or said anything libelous or slanderous (which I never did). I never posted anything on social media or this forum, until long after the shitstorm settled.

After speaking to several other members on this site as well as a few others I knew to have purchased Bark River knives, they too took action again Stewart when it was confirmed they had also bought knives under false pretenses. He then sent me several threatening emails that he would "find me and beat the shit out of me" (or words to that effect) if I didn't tell "all my friends who don't know what the f%$k they are talking about" to cease and desist with their own law suits. I called the police with this hard evidence he stupidly provided to me via email. He was charged and convicted of uttering threats of bodily harm.

This is just MY story. There are many others of poor quality work and broken knives that supposedly had warranty to cover them, as well as highly inflated shipping costs to ship his knives. Then there is the BIG story how scammed someone out of tens of thousands of dollars to go "partners" with him and finance his increase of shop space and productivity. That NEVER happened, and I don't recall how that ended. The details may very well be on this forum somewhere.
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Sounds like an awful experience, sorry you had that
 
This thread may seem like just an old rehash for some, but I definitely appreciate folks who have detailed their poor experiences. While I have admired some bark river knives, have thought a tad overpriced, and will now for sure avoid them.
 
After reading this and some of the other threads posted I’m actually kinda shocked that nobody has done him any physical harm.

I don’t advocate that happening, just wondering how people get away with overtly scamming others out of large sums of money while keeping all of their teeth.
 
Insipid Moniker said:
I bought one before I knew anything about anything. It's okay, pricey for what it is. Then I found out about Mike Stewart's history and made very sure that I would never give him another dime.
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I'm in the same boat. I knew he was a scumbag, I just didn't know he'd defrauded a bunch of people. I have one Bark River, and it was bought as a wall-hanger, because let's face it, who knows what steel it's actually made of. I'll never own another.
 
shane45-1911 said:
DUDE, I am getting emotional for a very good reason. Perhaps you would like to compensate me for the money that Mike stole from me, and several other well-known forum members here over the years??? And again, it was NOT 10-20 years ago.

Not malicious or on purpose? LMAO. Did you ever talk to Mike? It was completely and knowingly malicious the way he lied and misled people about his products, and continues to do so to this day. He knows very well about his lies, deception and theft. Those things are not "accidents".
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I had an exchange with Mike. You speak the truth.
 
A lot of people really hate Mike Stewart, and that is fine, but if you are in that camp I have a question. How many Chinese knives do you/have you owned? The Chinese build a lot of knives, and they treat people far worse than Mike Stewart ever has. As bad as he may be, he doesn't have "re-education camps" full of Muslims and he pays his workers a fair wage to work in OSHA approved conditions. I'm not trying to attack anyone or turn the thread political, I was just thinking about this a little bit. Hating Mike Stewart is fine, but there are other perspectives out there and as bad as he may be there is a lot worse out there. Personally, I have never interacted with the guy and I do not really care if he is a jerk or not. My Bark Rivers have been just great over the years.
 
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