I am done with Bark River!!

As to the time...

Bark River makes all of their knives in small runs. If someone special orders something, it has to wait until the next run. Sometimes that is years.
 
I'd be VERY surprised if Mike showed up here. He doesn't venture anywhere he can't have his peeps shout down criticism.
 
CDNWIDE said:
I'd be VERY surprised if Mike showed up here. He doesn't venture anywhere he can't have his peeps shout down criticism.
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Very true!! He has a very large koolaid crowd that follows him. If you look up the public records of the principles at BRK. You will see some pretty low, unethical charges that have been leveled against them. Sheath guy in particular. I will not support those types. Hence, no BRK's in my collection. Public records don't lie! :jerkit: I won't sacrifice my ethics. Why did the name change from Bark river knife and tool, to Bark river knife? Let's see what we can find. Who got left holding a bag?
 
I've had my fair share of issues with Bark River products and customer service, enough that I've sold off all my Barkies and won't take on another one.

The knives have always performed well for me and never failed me but I have higher expectations of the fit and finish and customer service for the price they charge.

After doing a little research into the past and present dealings of the company and Mike Stewart, my mind was made up not to bother trying again.
 
Get a Full refund... it wont make Bark Rivers issues go away, but it will make them go away for you. If more folks sent knives back, something would have to get done inhouse. Also, when will they start using corby bolt instead of pins? I have had and still have Barkies with loose slabs...I think its from over polishing??? I dont know, but thier glue dont hold, thats for sure.
 
Completely normal. The kind of fit and finish your looking for is not available at this brand level.

Phillip
 
The pins would bother me but the sheath seems perfectly acceptable for a knife in that price range.
 
notdos said:
Completely normal. The kind of fit and finish your looking for is not available at this brand level.

Phillip
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Well it may be normal for BRK.

You can find plenty of knives at Blade(among other places) in this "brand/price level". Even handmades...but I understand you have been to Blade many times and have seen them as well.

No disrespect, but I have been going to knife shows for 30 years and most of the knives in this prive range look much better than the one posted by the OP.
 
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I had a copuple of Buck knives that were defective, not causing any issues in the knife performing, but cosmetic.Although those cosmetic issues were small, I wasn't happy.I returned a 119 and 110 and told Buck I should not have to pay expenses to ship it. They issued a UPS call tag and picked it up at my door.I received my 119 and 110 new replacement. The replacemnt 110 was defective cosmeticly, I contacted Buck and CEO Chuck Buck himself contacted me, told me to keep that knife as he was sure I could find a use for it and he would personally pick out a replacement 110 himself and send it to me. He did and even personally engraved it with my name and his signature.My point??? Look what Buck did on a couple of knives that cost 30.00 and 35.00 to make it right!!!:cool:
Damn right you expect more at another companies 180.00 knife:thumbdn:
 
I wouldn't venture to interpret for Phillip Doss (notdos); he can speak for himself. I did notice he didn't say "price level" though, even if no one else noticed what he actually said. Maybe you should go back and read his post again.
 
Cougar Allen said:
I did notice he didn't say "price level" though, even if no one else noticed what he actually said. Maybe you should go back and read his post again.
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I did understand the "price level" part. Like I said, I have seen plenty of knives in this "price point" that look much better than that of the OP's.
Many handmades at Blade.
 
Alot of the makers here on BF are turning out knives with MUCH better fit and finish than BR these days and for about the same prices.

No reason that a factory operation like BR can't do what a one man gig is doing at the same price or much lower.
 
Chopper Head said:
I had a copuple of Buck knives that were defective, not causing any issues in the knife performing, but cosmetic.Although those cosmetic issues were small, I wasn't happy.I returned a 119 and 110 and told Buck I should not have to pay expenses to ship it. They issued a UPS call tag and picked it up at my door.I received my 119 and 110 new replacement. The replacemnt 110 was defective cosmeticly, I contacted Buck and CEO Chuck Buck himself contacted me, told me to keep that knife as he was sure I could find a use for it and he would personally pick out a replacement 110 himself and send it to me. He did and even personally engraved it with my name and his signature.My point??? Look what Buck did on a couple of knives that cost 30.00 and 35.00 to make it right!!!:cool:
Damn right you expect more at another companies 180.00 knife:thumbdn:
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I know its getting a little off track, but I had similar experiences with Buck...
I ordered an Elk scaled 112, and when it showed up, I was really disappointed. The scales looked terrible.
I called Buck, and the nice lady I talked to, asked me to describe what I wanted the scales to look like. She took the time to go out and look at each one and picked the one she thought I would be happy with. :thumbup:

However, another time I sent two 110's in for a spa treatment. Almost eight weeks later, the knives returned and they didn't look like they had been touched.

So I guess every company has times when for whatever reason, the service ends up being less that ideal...

I can't vouch for everything Bark River does, but I know in a couple instances they I have read, they have bent over backwards to help customers. Even when they were rude and insulting.... I can't comment on their past "problems" because I don't know anything about them. I did a search to see what people were talking about and didn't come up with much. Like some people, I'm sure there are companies have some skeletons in their closet somewhere.


I know that doesn't help your situation any though. I've been happy so far with my Bark Rivers. Are they perfect ? No. For the price point that they sell at, there is no reason for them not to be of excellent quality though.

If the workers at any company aren't capable of doing quality work, then they need to be replaced with someone that can do the work.
 
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If the workers at any company aren't capable of doing quality work, then they need to be replaced with someone that can do the work.[/QUOTE]

True enough but that should include the head of the company too whose responsibility it is to manage overall:thumbup:

My experiences with Buck and Great Eastern Cutlery's customer service have been outstanding: punctual, efficient and no quibbling at all, and I live not in the US but the EU. I can't say I've had the same experience with BR.......
 
I would suggest Tom Krein as a custom maker who could make you some very nice knives at a great price. And exactly what your looking for. Every knife Tom makes is perfection. I have never Received a knife from him that I was unhappy with. As far as a sheath goes I would suggest either Kenny Rowe leather or Paul Long who does all of my sheath work. As a memorial knife for your Mom I can see that it must be important to you. Good luck.
 
ren the devils trailboss said:
i would suggest tom krein as a custom maker who could make you some very nice knives at a great price. And exactly what your looking for. Every knife tom makes is perfection. I have never received a knife from him that i was unhappy with. As far as a sheath goes i would suggest either kenny rowe leather or paul long who does all of my sheath work. As a memorial knife for your mom i can see that it must be important to you. Good luck.
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+1..........................
 
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