Just saw this.....Bark River is no more?

The term MADE in the USA DOES NOT MEAN THE SAME THING as Assembled in the USA!! The apology seems only half-hearted and regrets come from being caught, not from a contrite heart. Rather than trying to set things right years ago with honesty, the decision was made to sweep it under the rug.
 
“…they meet the criteria of Made in the USA.”

Except for the most basic of those criteria, which is actually effing being made in the USA. How does anyone actually say that with a straight face?!?
 
ShaiHulud said:
I thought some of you might enjoy this information
****the following is copied and pasted from Dlt's "Bark River Knives" search result ****

"Bark River Knives closed its doors as of Friday, March 20, 2026. DLT Trading is a dealer of Bark River Knives products and is not a partner, affiliate, or stakeholder in the Bark River Knives business. We are not involved in their day-to-day decision-making, operations, or manufacturing processes. DLT Trading learned of the closure at the same time as the general public, with no advance notice.

[Which Bark River Knives models have been identified as deceptively labeled?]

Three Bark River Knives models have been identified as Chinese-manufactured blanks that were labeled and sold as "Made in the USA." Employees at the Bark River Knives facility have confirmed that foreign-origin markings were removed from these blanks and that the knives were finished and presented as if they were fully manufactured at the BRK facility in Michigan. The affected models and their stated steels are as follows:

Fox River Trailing Point — stated as 154CM
Mini Manitou — stated as CPM-154
Camp Bolo — stated as CPM-154

DLT Trading did not manufacture, source, or inspect the raw materials used in these Bark River Knives products. We relied on the representations made by Bark River Knives regarding steel type and country of origin, as did every other authorized retailer. Please note that DLT Trading is considering sending all three knife batches for independent testing at Niagara Steel. We will keep you posted.

[What is DLT Trading doing with its remaining Bark River Knives inventory?]

DLT Trading currently holds a large inventory of Bark River Knives. We are actively evaluating how to handle this inventory and will communicate any decisions publicly as they are made.

[What about Bark River Knives' warranty claims?]

DLT Trading has no further information at this time. We are not a direct warranty partner of Bark River Knives and have no affiliation with their warranty, steel, or manufacturing processes. Once we become aware of information that may benefit knife owners, we will update this page accordingly.

[Did DLT Trading know about the steel or labeling issues before the closure?]

No. DLT Trading had no knowledge of any deceptive steel sourcing or mislabeling practices by Bark River Knives prior to this information becoming public. We are an American company, and we like to support local American businesses to the best of our ability across our platform."


There's more, but i copied what I think is extremely relevant to the recent post direction
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DLT identified 3 models which appear to be models they sold, but 3 others sold by KSF were not listed by DLT, including the Highwayman 4. KSF appears to have pulled their identified models from their available models.
 
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Here’s the what their social media manager had to say regarding the situation:

Hey there! Most of you may know me as bark River knives social media manager, or the girl at the front desk answering your phone calls for the last two years. I’m here to say my piece now that my money I was owed has been paid, and all my belongings are cleared from my desk, so here it goes: I worked in the office next to mikes the last two years. I’ve been asked and refused to do many scandalous business practices over my time, including but not limited to fraudulent tax write offs, skipping out on paying vendors, and being told to lie to every single debt collector or person we’ve owed money to the last 6 months, on the phones looking for Mike that he isn’t there. I’ve seen almost every one of my coworkers been asked to do similar tasks. We all knew about the China steel, which was a recent thing after we had no money. We’ve been asked to hold off on cashing paychecks, all while Mike flaunts in our face how wealthy he is. He’s told me “Walmart is for poor people. I don’t shop there because I have money. I won’t spend less than $50 on a tshirt because I can afford it” meanwhile we can’t pay our rent. Mikes personally destroyed my feelings over the years. Unprovoked he would come up to me and tell me “you’ll never be an artist. That’s not a real job.” Or “you’re a libtard. Your blue hair means you have an agenda to protest”. Not to mention when Mike made me cry during voting season when he forced me to tell him I’d vote trump (this is not about politics, just the principal). I’ve been screamed at for no good reason. Not to mention the sex scandals in the shop. Mike ran the company into the ground fully knowing what he was doing, and without so much as an “I’m sorry” to me or anyone else as far as I’ve heard. The whole family lets their pride get in the way. It’s why Mike let the company close instead of just being honest and real about what was going on. As far as warranties I was told by him there is no solid plan except to send them back (we will see). His plan now is to take to social media and try to save face. Truthfully I don’t think that’s possible at this point. He’s pulled the wool over everyone’s eyes for years. Leading the whole company on with false promises. No doubt he will try to do the same here. Almost all the machines in the shop are under repo, and when they called months ago asking to talk to Mike he told me to tell them to call back. Every day. Until the day they said they were repoing the machine. Then Mike told me to tell them to just come take them. So he can say “it came from nowhere” and he had no clue all he wants but if every one of his employees knew, and he didn’t, he’s just a bad business owner at that point. I’ll be grateful that Mike gave me a job two years ago, but it doesn’t cover for all the shitty things he did in the mean time. I put my whole creative mind into brk just to be shot down every time. I dedicated two years to them for them to stab us all in the back. So there ya have it. That’s what’s happened, and continuing to happen. I’m sure Jim will be taking over with his new LLC, like Mike said. Buy from it if you want, but know the rotten fruit doesn’t fall far from the tree. Can’t post this in any of the Brk groups because Mike is the admin and has been hiding the posts everyone’s made. Theres also a video someone else posted of the speech mike gave letting us go and telling us the paychecks Friday were worthless, and not once saying sorry just saying “all I can do is apologize, I had no idea, I’m just as screwed as you guys”
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Wow... this is sad news. I have several older models (Bravo and Gunny) and I like them a lot. I'm into convex edges and Bark River was one of the only places that made them. They used good steels too.

I know convex blades are a niche market, but I really hope someone comes along with similar models some day. Otherwise, guys like me will have to keep hand convexing knifes from other brands.
 
somber said:
Here’s the what their social media manager had to say regarding the situation:
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The fact that she is a blue haired lib with an axe to grind doesn't reflect well on her credibility. Also, if that she knew about this and waited until now to speak up, she is incriminating herself too.
 
DMG said:
The fact that she is a blue haired lib with an axe to grind doesn't reflect well on her credibility. Also, if that she knew about this and waited until now to speak up, she is incriminating herself too.
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Normally I'd agree. But Mike is a turd and it's well documented.
 
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