fake bark river knife?

T

tfinch

Joined
Jan 9, 2009
Messages
32
I ordered a bark river canadian special from one of the dealers listed on the bark river site, I suppose it would be against the rules to name which one. The package arrived today, and it contained a knife that resembles a (shrunk?) Canadian special. The blade is about 3 1/4 inches, has bark river knives logo laser marked on one side and "CPM 3 V" on the other side. I'd heard by reputation that bark river knives were flawlessly made, and this blade has a very ugly grind and is butter knife dull. My invoice from the dealer indicates Canadian Special knife, and the price is about right. I checked Bark River's site, and I can't find any knife they ever made in CPM3V, I suspect it's fake. Sorry for the lack of pics, I am technologically challenged. I would love to hear some opinions. Should I try to get the dealer to make it right and send me the real thing? If they're the kind of dealer that sells counterfeits I really dread having to go through the hassle with them. Should I just toss this thing in a drawer and count my losses?
 
Don't count your losses. You purchased a knife from a dynamite company, paid a premium from an official dealer and they should honor a return no questions asked. That does NOT sound like Bark River.
 
It's a fake. Because I'm so generous I'll buy it from you for $20 just as a novelty.



Kidding, of course.

tfinch said:
I ordered a bark river canadian special
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What you got was a Bark River "Lil' Canadian" which is a different model than the "Canadian Special". It is extremely new to the lineup and it is made with CPM 3V. It is a smaller version of the Canadian Special. The final grinding was done with a rougher grit than usual to keep the cost of the knife down- working with hardened CPM 3V isn't easy. It should have been sharper but that's life.
 
I can pretty much assure you that it is no fake.
This, the lil' Canadian, is their first attempt at using CPM3V and you aren't the first person to note the less than refined nature of the grind. Kyley (aka Knivesandstuff) over on YouTube (the CKC Hiker guy) has two of them now and has been making a number of videos featuring them as of late. With each one, among the first of his comments was that it lacked the usual Bark River level of refinement.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8v6kMOKMtlM
 
Oh, I feel like a dummy now. I had overlooked the lil canadian model when I was taking a look. I think I was distracted by that particular frenzy that comes over us when we get a highly anticipated package and something isn't right :foot:
It's reassuring to know that the dealer just made an honest mistake in shipping the wrong item. That makes me feel better about contacting the dealer and going through the process of returning it. The less than perfect finish is totally understandable since it actually is CPM3V, heck in a way it's almost a good selling point, the steel is so tough it'd be too much work! Thanks for pointing out my oversight guys, and for the reassurance. Now to go get some clp on it and box it up for return. Everyone tells me you can't stop with one barkie and I guess this will just make the start of the addiction more memorable. :D
 
I am a bit surprised by the fact that your knife was dull out of the box. In my experience Bark Rivers do not have the sharpest factory edge but they are still decently sharp. I wonder if this problem is a fluke on your knife or a common issue with this newly released CPM-3V model...
 
I received my Little Canadian today and it is razor sharp with typical very good Bark River fit and finish.
 
I like the looks of that knife. Once in a while one slips past the QC boys. The first Barkie that I bought was a mini skinner and it was dull as hell, Trouble is, I didn't know how to sharpen the convex yet then and I made it even worse.:thumbdn:

I now have quite a few and have been really happy with them. I find the Highland to be about the most useful to me because I am mainly a hunter and fisherman when it comes to knife use. I find the Highland about perfect for a hunter.
 
tfinch,
i have a Canadian special, green canvas micarta

i might trade you you for your Lil Canadian

let me know what handle material is the Lil Canadian

send me an email.
bluetoad2001 at gmail dot com
 
Keep it its the best EDC ive found this is the perfect small fixed blade.And it fits all four fingers unlike some other Barkie knives.Infact even though i have big hands it moulds to them perfectly.
Ive tried a Busse Bad in INFI i thought it would be the one perfect EDC.I rember asking in the Busse forum how INFI compared to S30v in edge holding the abuse i took for daring to use the words INFI and S30v in the same sentence was crazy. I thined out the edge to much and the steel rolled too easy for me.
I remeber waiting on that knife and id never been so keen on any steel ever after all id been told.All i can say was that it wasnt the magical steel i dreamed of because it just doesnt exist.
Ive still got a Rat 3 but it doesnt compare to this.
All i can say about its fit and finish is it was perfect better than my PSK the same as my Bravo.
I was worried when Mike said they may not have a great fit and finish but in my case not true.
I cant tell it was finished using a 320 grit rather than 600.
The only bad barkie i got was my PSK it was blunt as they come but it made me learn how easy mouse pad sandpaper method was and within days it was wittling hair.
And that was from someone that had always been to scared to put his knife to the sharpener before hand.It was a blessing as i gave me the drive to really try sharpening out.
 
Personally I think the Lil' Canadian is much more desirable; BRKT's first use with this awesome steel that might not be available much longer since Crucible filed for chapter 11.

Definitely check out some of Kyley's vids on youtube. He goes through refining the rougher than usual finish and it looks devilishly sharp.

I was gonna pick one up as well, but decided to go with a Bravo-1 for my first BRKT. :thumbup:
 
Mine arrived today as a trade and I've only given it a quick look over. Seems fine, a decent all round size that fits most hands and it was sharp. The only hesitation I may have is how difficult is this ultra hard supersteel going to be to sharpen ? Could be a problems there as I'm not that good at convex sharpening without scratching up the blade hideously......
 
willgoy said:
Mine arrived today as a trade and I've only given it a quick look over. Seems fine, a decent all round size that fits most hands and it was sharp. The only hesitation I may have is how difficult is this ultra hard supersteel going to be to sharpen ? Could be a problems there as I'm not that good at convex sharpening without scratching up the blade hideously......
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Just found this post.. Guys.. The Lil Canadian in 3V is my favourite Bark River.. and I have a lot of them.. if you want EDC and you like 3V.. this is a super duper knife.. Of course... I love my cKc Hiker.. but these are 2 completely different styles of knife.. dont worry about sharpening the 3V if you can sharpen a normal A2 Bark River knife.. then you will have no issue on these blades..

I did a video demonstrating how little effort it takes to get the Lil Canadians 320Grit Edge up to a hair popping blistering edge and wickedly sharp..

I cannot reccomend the LiL canadian highly enough ( i bought a 2nd one an hour after the first arrived).. but if you want something a heck of a lot cheaper.. my knife is good ;)

Refining Lil Candian
 
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