I THINK IT'S A MUST HAVE! Anyone gone hands on with it?

B

Beroya

Joined
Aug 17, 2007
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196
Was browsing Knivesshipfree.com this afternoon and came across this Machete. Looks like BRKT did it right! Anyone got one yet?

KSF_Machete_with_Script.jpg
 
Nice, but probally expensive. You can buy very good 1095 machettes for $20 that will last a long time.
 
I personally haven't had my hands on the new machette from Bark River but I have had several Ontario machettes redone by Bark River and believe me there is no comparison. They can take a decent machette and turn it into a fantastic machette. You get what you pay for. I will have one of their new machettes very soon.
Oldman/Marty Simon
 
Ontario machete cut down & polished for $150+ , awesome but alittle costly........i like'em but cost vs what it is ....
 
I have had mine for several days now. Think a shortened Ontario Machete that cuts like a laser beam with better, more durable handle. I have had several regular Ontario Machetes over the years and if you can get one kinda sharp it still chops like a sharpened bar due to the grind. My last one wore blisters on my hands and required constant sharpening.
Bark River convexed these jewels from spine to edge and mine will slice free hanging newsprint with zero drag the full length of the blade. I am nursing a bad shoulder and I cleared about 1/4 acre of blackberry canes, weeds and wisteria vines in about an hour. At the end the blade would still slice paper and I was hardly tired. It was like you would swing your arm at the canes an they would fall. Bigger saplings and limbs of course give more resistance but if you use proper technique one stoke cutting is easy.

WARNING; These tools are RAZOR sharp. The potential for serious injury is very real if you should hit any part of your body with this machete.
 
jll346 said:
You can buy very good 1095 machettes for $20 that will last a long time.
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That's what this one is, a $20, 1095, Ontario machette with a major overhaul from Bark River. I think, if the sheath is included in the price, this is a pretty good deal. If you break it down by the modifications done, and subtract the price of the original knife, I think the price is right on, but only if the leather sheath they mentioned is included.

Regards,
3G
 
ilbruche said:
They are cool.

But I'm not about to pay $150 for something I can do myself.
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It's more like $125, if you subtract the price of the knife itself. How much would it cost you for materials and labor if you were to do all that work yourself, and if I sent you an Ontario Machette, could you beat $125 (including free shipping) to do all that work for me?;)

Regards,
3G
 
I've had mine for a week and have taken down a lemon tree and a bunch of vines and weeds it cuts like a laser and is comfortable the whole time your using it.
 
3Guardsmen said:
That's what this one is, a $20, 1095, Ontario machette with a major overhaul from Bark River. I think, if the sheath is included in the price, this is a pretty good deal. If you break it down by the modifications done, and subtract the price of the original knife, I think the price is right on, but only if the leather sheath they mentioned is included.

Regards,
3G
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This is the sheath that comes with it if I'm not mistaken. Not bad!

KSF_Mach_in_Sheath.sized.jpg
 
Beroya,
You can say that again! If that sheath comes with it, I'm all over it.:thumbup:

Regards,
3G
 
I agree if I had the power tools set up and the skills ilbruche has it would not make much sense. However I have zero leather working skills and my knife sharpening and re profiling skills are limited to diamond hones and wet dry sand paper. For regular shmo's like me it is not a great deal but a pretty good one. What you are mostly paying for is Bark River rework. Prices on work I have had done at Bark River on other knives;

Micarta or G-10 handle 70.00
Re profile and sharpen 32.00
Leather sheath 45.00
________
147.00

This does not even cover the cost of the original Ontario Blade.

They do come with the pictured sheath and it seem pretty good. I don't think I will trust the friction fit to hold it in if I strap it to my pack though. It's THAT SHARP. I could see me bending over and losing an ear or worse.

LOL
 
siguy said:
i was under the impression that these were totally made by bark river from scratch...

but based on this thread it seems like these are actually just ontarios with a major overhaul?

either way very cool...

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=561670
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Yes they are! Thought you were kidding.

I don't know, using this beautiful machete, to me it's sort of like running a Ferrari out on back dirt roads...
 
Got mine this morning, took it to work and left it there. I'm irritated that I can remember shyte these days. You will here the screams emmininating from Dallas if by some chance it is gone in the morning.

From the little i held it, it was awesome and well worth the money. It is a major improvement over the original, but still from the original, so Ontario is putting out some good stuff. When you go to sleep tonight guys say a prayer that my blade is safe and waiting for me on the morning :)

Cerberus
 
since the blade blank is an Ontario, and Bark river did a major profile who covers the warranty issues? Hopefuly Bark river will still give it their lifetime coverage as they do with their other blades.
 
My thoughts and prayers are with you Cerberus! :D

I was checking this machete out a few days ago and couldn't get past the fact that I would be paying $150 for a $20 machete, but seeing Riddleofsteel's breakdown of BRKT's services it is starting to make more sense. With it being made of 1095 and knowing what a machete is meant to be used for, I would give pause into using a leather sheath for it. Sharpshooter has created one beautiful sheath there, but I would much rather have a kydex sheath to keep it from rusting. I've used machetes in the jungle and wouldn't clean it until the end of the day because you're using it so much. Wet 1095 machete in a sheath that's going to get soaked and will be slow to dry = a heartbreaking rusted machete to me.

For me personally, I don't have much use of a machete any more. I don't live in an area where a machete is that useful. I swore by them while in Panama and other tropical locales, but Stateside I haven't needed one much. And one of the beauties of owning a machete was that it was an inexpensive beater that I didn't have a problem really using. Although I don't have a problem dropping $150 on a good knife and have done so all too often, spending that much on a machete would give me pause to use it and it would probably end up sitting on a shelf instead of being used.

Is this going to be a regular item or is it a limited run? As much as I don't think I need it, it doesn't change the fact that I want it. I've looked at it on the knivesshipfree website more than a dozen times in the last week and felt drawn to that machete.

Now I have heard that BRKT is releasing another round of their Goloks next week. That's something I might be really interested in. It seems more useful for Stateside use and pretty much everywhere else. I've been eyeballing one of those for over a year now. I need to get one of those trees that grows money. Then I could use that beautiful machete or golok to cut it down and harvest it's fruit!
 
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Ventilated Kydex would be good here in tropical climates especially. I agree that the Golok has more uses in a hardwood/pine environment than a machete and BRK&T Goloks are top notch.
But don't think of taking an expensive Ferrari out on the back roads. Think of it as an expensive Land Rover.

LOL

;)
 
I'm posting a full review tomorrow afternoon. Just putting the finishing touches on the write up now.
 
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