First higher end bushcraft knife?

Go with bark river.. you really can't go wrong and I see too many negative things about them from things other people have read.. first off if u buy a knife from knives ship free then you can turn the knife back in after 30 days if you don't like it and it's unused.. they are an awesome company and will do anything to help their customers. Second off if you do have a problem with the knife bark river will do everything they can to make it right. I've read several post about there awesome customer service and even seen a couple where they made brand new knives for people who were unhappy and one person who ended up getting two new knives for a knife being ground too thin. They have an awesome heat treat and a lot of new supersteels if your in to that. If you buy one and want it modified or anything done to it just send it to bark river and they'll fix it. They have a strict no questions asked warranty all you have to do is pay for shipping. Sorry for the rant I just don't understand all the negative post on the quality of their knives. Happy fourth!

What do you think of the Bark River Bushcrafter. Found one pretty cheap in 3v. Buy?
 
I haven't tried the Bushcrafter but if that's your thing you can't go wrong. You can find the rc hardness on their knives on kniveship free or dltrading.. and if you do buy it you also get a lifetime warranty even if it's secondhand. Their 3v is tough and there are many reviews and videos to prove it.. before buying that check out the gunny or the aurora if you haven't already. That's there number 2 and 3 top sellers.
 
Take a look at Gollik knives. He is in Europe and makes great knives. I just put an order in for a knife of his, Elmax blade. He uses a couple different steels though. Great prices for what you get. He is also a member here, and has Facebook.

As for flat grind performing out in the woods. My favorite is either a full convex, or a full flat grind with a convex edge. Those are the two that hold up the best to high impact, and are easy to touch up with some freehand sharpening. So with a knife with a full flat grind, I usually do a V edge, and it slowly convex's as I freehand sharpen. I am sure others have experienced different, those are just my experiences. Good luck on the knife choice.

Bradford knives are really good too. If you get one of his 3V knives, he is putting out some 3V knives recently with a good heat treat from PHT, peter's heat treat. His M390 knives are awesome as well.
 
Last edited:
What do you think of the Bark River Bushcrafter. Found one pretty cheap in 3v. Buy?
Excellent knife imo , if you can find a gunny in scandi that would be awesome for what you are looking for . Check out dutchbushcraft knives on youtube they do really helpful reviews
 
What do you think of the Bark River Bushcrafter. Found one pretty cheap in 3v. Buy?
Don't be confused with the mint bushcrafter.. also unless your sure of the knife you can't go wrong paying extra at kniveshipfree. Meant to tell u that earlier
 
bark river doesn't have the greatest heat treatment of any steel.
They don't do their own heat treat, they have it sent out. The heat treat specifications have changed over time because some of their knives had issues from being too hard, etc. I have owned more than a few Bark Rivers and didn't have any issues with the heat treat. I have had issues with their handles and one knife was not even ground symmetrically on both sides. To be fair, overall they are decent and seem to have better consistency these days, despite their long history of shenanigans.
Why does everyone compare N690 to VG10? Its composition looks alot closer to 440c with a little cobalt added.
I have read that N690 is a copy of VG10 on more than one thread.
 
Here in Finland Bark Rivers cost about 310-400€ for the 3V versions and they would take 3 months to ship, though if they really are great knives i could get one in the future.
OT, but there is a finnish site that sells Bark River (and benchmade, spyderco, emerson etc etc) for less than that. They also have free shipping if you buy anything thats costs more than an Endura:)
 
Take a look at Gollik knives. He is in Europe and makes great knives. I just put an order in for a knife of his, Elmax blade. He uses a couple different steels though. Great prices for what you get. He is also a member here, and has Facebook.

As for flat grind performing out in the woods. My favorite is either a full convex, or a full flat grind with a convex edge. Those are the two that hold up the best to high impact, and are easy to touch up with some freehand sharpening. So with a knife with a full flat grind, I usually do a V edge, and it slowly convex's as I freehand sharpen. I am sure others have experienced different, those are just my experiences. Good luck on the knife choice.

Bradford knives are really good too. If you get one of his 3V knives, he is putting out some 3V knives recently with a good heat treat from PHT, peter's heat treat. His M390 knives are awesome as well.

I trust in full convex blades but i've never tried a flat grind with a secondery convex. Except i just did. I quickly reprofiled one of my dad's swiss army knives into a secondery convex and damn. It sliced a small knife sized piece of wood in half. Though this is just one instance and the wood could have been a shitty piece.

How does a flat ground secondery convex work with batoning. Aint it harder since all of the blade is in contact with the wood? What have your experiences been with it batoning wise?
 
I've bought a number of knives that came from Mike Stewart's shops: an original Blackjack Campanion in 1095, a Marble’s Fieldcraft and two Campcrafts in 52100 from his era there, and a Bark River Woodland in A2. All are superbly done. His design and heat treat puts him my top five knifemakers, as far as I'm concerned.
 
I trust in full convex blades but i've never tried a flat grind with a secondery convex. Except i just did. I quickly reprofiled one of my dad's swiss army knives into a secondery convex and damn. It sliced a small knife sized piece of wood in half. Though this is just one instance and the wood could have been a shitty piece.

How does a flat ground secondery convex work with batoning. Aint it harder since all of the blade is in contact with the wood? What have your experiences been with it batoning wise?

I do prefer a full convex when batoning, but the difference is VERY minimal. A full flat grind with a convex edge is very though for batoning, and when you need it to be slicey for cutting, it does really well. You will be very happy with either! Can't go wrong with either of those.
 
Why does everyone compare N690 to VG10? Its composition looks alot closer to 440c with a little cobalt added.

To be honest VG10, 440C and N690 are very similar but all a bit different. N690 has more similarities to VG10 than 440C. It's like N690 and VG10 are brothers and 440C is their cousin.
Ef8HOxp.png


What do you think of the Trapper blade size. 95mm/3.8 inches vs 115mm/4.5 inches.
Not sure which one i'd get.

Depending on what you already have and the intended use of the blade. If you are looking at 115mm, take a look at Enzo Badger as well. Also, if you are looking for all-rounder FFG is a better choice. If it will be dedicated bushcraft in a "real" sense of this word, get a scandi.
 
To be honest VG10, 440C and N690 are very similar but all a bit different. N690 has more similarities to VG10 than 440C. It's like N690 and VG10 are brothers and 440C is their cousin.
Ef8HOxp.png




Depending on what you already have and the intended use of the blade. If you are looking at 115mm, take a look at Enzo Badger as well. Also, if you are looking for all-rounder FFG is a better choice. If it will be dedicated bushcraft in a "real" sense of this word, get a scandi.

I love that program from Zknives.

I guess the little bit of cobalt makes all the difference. I feel like steels with cobalt in them want to get screaming sharp fairly easily. I wonder why that is, or am I imagining it?
 
I've got a BM 162 on the way. I had a 119 but it was just too much knife. It handled really well for the size, but it was big for my needs and I have hatchets and machetes to do that task. If I wanted just one bush blade it would be a dandy though. I'm not a steel geek, so I do not have any advice in that realm.
 
Last edited:
I'm looking for a higher end bushcraft knife for about 200€. I've always used scandi grind blades that i have modified into convex style blades.

Right now i have my eyes on the Benchmade 162 S30V and the
EnZo Trapper 115 Flat grind ELMAX.
Suggestions for other knives in this price range/steel?
Does the flat grind perform as well as the scandi-vex for bushcrafting?

ps. I'm also eyeing the EnZo 115 S n690. Steel is shittier than ELMAX but it has a scandi grind instead of a flat one.


I think the ideas for an LT Wright or custom are great ideas...and I would add to browse what Fiddleback Forge has to offer.
 
I've got a BM 162 on the way. I had a 119 but it was just too much knife. It handled really well for the size, but it was big for my needs and I have hatchets and machetes to do that task. If I wanted just one bush blade it would be a dandy though. I'm not a steel geek, so I do not have any advice in that realm.
Let us know what you think of it . I've always wanted one but haven't pulled the trigger. It's looks like the perfect bushcrafter
 
Lt wright > battle horse knives > bark river

My highest recommendation if you are looking for a knife that will be used is a lt wright Genesis or GNS.
 
Depending on how quickly you're looking to get one, having a custom one made should be an option in that price range. That's the route I took and it is about that in American dollars though the maker I'm working with is in the US. I'm really excited about the design and that it will be unique but it will be a month or two before it's completed.

Fiddleback is the way I would've gone had I been buying something more production level, the bushfinger or duke specifically. I just like the slightly wider blade for looks and cooking. LT Wright was close behind.
 
Back
Top