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

So I checked the 3 that I bought from 2017 through early 2019. Kephart Four in 3V, Fox River In S45VN, And Bravo EDC in CPM-154. There’s an industrial metal firm (close to my house) that has an XRF analyzer…going to call them to see if I can pay for composition testing. Just curious and if I can add another data point to this boondoggle!
At least I can find out if I’ve got 3 new throwing knives to play with. 😳😏
 
I feel bad for dlt. I havnt bought a bark river in at least 5 years or more and I always wondered about their massive BR selection. I saw that they were always available like no one was buying any then id be surprised one day when one after another would sell out. The buy/sell forum here might be flooded with BR soon, we'll see.
 
This will be interesting! Supposedly some of the models effected were marked 154cm or CPM154.

Mention of the Bark River Club 2019 and newer Club Knives that are premade blades, but I know they were a few years behind on those, so the 2019 knives may have been made much more recently.

I believe BRK had blades roughly machine ground before they grind them at BRK, so the bevels were already started and roughed in, so employees may not have noticed a lot of difference in the premade blades versus the real blades. Or those were premade blanks too? Who knows at this point?

I guess with the amount of knives sold, most people had no clue, so either they don't use them much, or it's true when people say that most people often can't tell between steels!

I was into BRK just before COVID and it's what got me back into knife making. I only have 1 left at this point, but it sucks for the people who have them and use them or collect them. Their value is going to take a huge hit, even if they are one of the true Bark Rivers!

Interested in seeing Mike's statement tomorrow and it really sucks for the suppliers/dealers who are out a bunch of money ☹️
 
Intentionally mislabeling steels and even going so far as to buy Chinese knife kits and mis-label those at an attempt to deceive and trick customers into buying a knife thats not what its marked. thats fraud, and he should be sued into oblivion
 
I agree, suppliers should get compensated, people should be refunded for the fraudulent knives. I would not be surprised to hear of lawsuits, but the money may not be there if they do a bankruptcy and people may never get fully compensated. Truly a 💩💩💩 situation!
 
ShaiHulud said:
Intentionally mislabeling steels and even going so far as to buy Chinese knife kits and mis-label those at an attempt to deceive and trick customers into buying a knife thats not what its marked. thats fraud, and he should be sued into oblivion
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We've had more than one on this site that I've personally escorted out over the years.
 
What I wonder is dealers that have recently acquired Bark River Knives, with steel labeled as CPM 154 or whatever, will pull those knives from sale as looks like a good chance they may be some lesser quality Chinese steel? Eat those that have mis-labeled steel and sell it with the correct steel labeled or just bite the bullet and get rid of them? John
 
John A. Larsen said:
What I wonder is dealers that have recently acquired Bark River Knives, with steel labeled as CPM 154 or whatever, will pull those knives from sale as looks like a good chance they may be some lesser quality Chinese steel? Eat those that have mis-labeled steel and sell it with the correct steel labeled or just bite the bullet and get rid of them? John
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Or, will those dealers independently verify that certain products they received were counterfeit steel, and use that as evidence in a fraud suit?
 
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DA170 said:
So I checked the 3 that I bought from 2017 through early 2019. Kephart Four in 3V, Fox River In S45VN, And Bravo EDC in CPM-154. There’s an industrial metal firm (close to my house) that has an XRF analyzer…going to call them to see if I can pay for composition testing. Just curious and if I can add another data point to this boondoggle!
At least I can find out if I’ve got 3 new throwing knives to play with. 😳😏
Click to expand...
I really hope they are what they’re supposed to be but there’s a small part of me that wants to see some knives thrown lol
 
I have one. When I started to move from folders to fixed blades I bought a Bravo 1 in Cruwear, must have been in 2020 (?). I picked Cruwear because I had fallen in love with Spyderco Cruwear, with thin, tough, and non-chipping blades.

It was pretty obvious after some use that this was not Cruwear. I forgot what I did with it, but I don't pry with my knives:

i-HTRrZZ4-XL.jpg



i-QsxSr2z-XL.jpg


i-7S74Whh-XL.jpg


Pretty obviously not Cruwear. Or A2 for that matter; I like a good A2.

That was my first and last BR, afterwards I mostly focused buying from our knife makers instead.

There were several BR threads since then on them using the wrong steel, cracks in the handles, etc. And there were always fanboys in these threads strongly supporting BR, some offended by reports of bad quality, nasty/no product support, etc.

I am very sorry for the customers who got conned.

I am not sorry for Mike, the above defending fanboys, or the BR employees who knew.

Roland.
 
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Hammer67 said:
Or, will those dealers independently verify that certain products they received were counterfeit steel, and use that as evidence in a fraud suit?
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From what I have been told by people who as we used to say in the intelligence world "whose jobs give them access to this type of information" no one has ever gotten any money out of suing Mike Stewart, even after winning in court. Another case, IMO, that they only ones who will make any money if this goes to court are the lawyers involved. John
 
John A. Larsen said:
From what I have been told by people who as we used to say in the intelligence world "whose jobs give them access to this type of information" no one has ever gotten any money out of suing Mike Stewart, even after winning in court. Another case, IMO, that they only ones who will make any money if this goes to court are the lawyers involved. John
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Unfortunately, you're probably right.
 
ferider said:
I have one. When I started to move from folders to fixed blades I bought a Bravo 1 in Cruwear, must have been in 2020 (?). I picked Cruwear because I had fallen in love with Spyderco Cruwear, with thin, tough, and non-chipping blades.

It was pretty obvious after some use that this was not Cruwear. I forgot what I did with it, but I don't pry with my knives:

i-HTRrZZ4-XL.jpg



i-QsxSr2z-XL.jpg


i-7S74Whh-XL.jpg


Pretty obviously not Cruwear. Or A2 for that matter; I like a good A2.

That was my first and last BR, afterwards I mostly focused buying from our knife makers instead.

There were several BR threads since then on them using the wrong steel, cracks in the handles, etc. And there were always fanboys in these threads strongly supporting BR, some offended by reports of bad quality, nasty/no product support, etc.

I am very sorry for the customers who got conned.

I am not sorry for Mike, the above defending fanboys, or the BR employees who knew.

Roland.
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Sorry about your knife Roland. Every company ends up with these fans, the survive ones were voracious, brk are well known for decades, i didn't encounter a ton over Jake hoback but he has them.
 
Collected for many decades. Typically I carry the same pocket knife for years, changing only if there is an anticipated issue, need for more knife or a jurisdiction where blade length can be a legal problem. Belt knife more of the same - of all, there are 3 or 4 folders, and about the same number of fixed blades I reach for when need is anticipated. Except for those few, antiques, or pocket knives carried over previous years, many of my knives have never been used. They are simply collectables. Had I gotten the BRK 225Q copy, I would likely never have used it or discovered a problem - I'd have grabbed an original to use. Not to take away from the issue, I wonder how common that behaviour is?
 
ferider said:
There were several BR threads since then on them using the wrong steel, cracks in the handles, etc. And there were always fanboys in these threads strongly supporting BR, some offended by reports of bad quality, nasty/no product support, etc.
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Same thing went on (and on and on and on) with Survive!. Clear evidence that the company and its owner were basically a scam, but people kept buying their crap and going on record defending them right up to the very end.
 
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