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

SharpBits · 2026-03-22T18:26:37-0400

ferider said:
Not this thread, BR issue threads in the past. For example, https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/is-cpm-3v-supposed-to-rust-this-quickly.1821558/post-20862651. etc.

Understood. I thought my reading comprehension had sunk to new levels.

ferider · 2026-03-22T18:28:01-0400

SharpBits said:
Understood. I thought my reading comprehension had sunk to new levels.

Nope. My German to English translation still lags

SharpBits · 2026-03-22T18:28:30-0400

Of note, BRK had been doing work for other makers as well. No idea if they also got burned and if their steel is also to be questioned.

SharpBits · 2026-03-22T18:29:51-0400

ferider said:
Nope. My German to English translation still lags

I’m sure it is much better than my English to German. That withered on the vine years ago.

Snapinto · 2026-03-22T18:35:49-0400

Most of the ones I got were massively discounted luckily. They were from DLT. Some of those sales seemed too good to be true. I'll have to use them more to test if they are junk since I question anything BR now. Got one in A2 that was the most expensive of the bunch. What are the chances they couldn't afford A2 and used mystery steel or cut some corners with that steel?

ferider · 2026-03-22T18:41:28-0400

Snapinto said:
What are the chances they couldn't afford A2 and used mystery steel or cut some corners with that steel?

That is true. And well treated A2 is a phantastic fixed blade steel, I have quite a few.

I assume a wrong steel label means they cut corners by neither cutting nor heat treating blanks obtained somewhere else. But I don't know, of course.

gamma_nyc · 2026-03-22T18:45:23-0400

Interesting update - I checked out DLT and they have changed many of the bark river knife names to “Blade Raid”.

What’s that about?

XtianAus · 2026-03-22T18:46:11-0400

I remember when BRK started using magnacut and it started to rust easily, from steak and stuff. BRK convinced the owners that this was normal for magnacut and magnacut wasn't a true stainless steel.
Ha...so sad.

What I don't understand is how people can deceive others so readily, for what, for money? I just don't get it. How much money could Mike be making anyway?
And at his age, surely money would stop being your priority....

Why not just use legit steel and make a living that way? If BRK just used legit steel and backed their warranty, surely they'd be some of the most popular and sought after knives. It is hard to deny they have great designs.

JasonInVa · 2026-03-22T18:46:21-0400

ferider said:
That is true. And well treated A2 is a phantastic fixed blade steel, I have quite a few.

I assume a wrong steel label means they cut corners by neither cutting nor heat treating blanks obtained somewhere else. But I don't know, of course.

My understanding is some models were assembled from Chinese made knife kits.

XtianAus · 2026-03-22T18:46:43-0400

SharpBits said:
Of note, BRK had been doing work for other makers as well. No idea if they also got burned and if their steel is also to be questioned.

Good point....who do they do work for?

JasonInVa · 2026-03-22T18:47:44-0400

XtianAus said:
I remember when BRK started using magnacut and it started to rust easily, from steak and stuff. BRK convinced the owners that this was normal for magnacut and magnacut wasn't a true stainless steel.
Ha...so sad.

What I don't understand is how people can deceive others so readily, for what, for money? I just don't get it. How much money could Mike be making anyway?
And at his age, surely money would stop being your priority....

Why not just use legit steel and make a living that way? If BRK just used legit steel and backed their warranty, surely they'd be some of the most popular and sought after knives. It is hard to deny they have great designs.

I remember seeing detractors get shouted down… guess they were right.

shinyedges · 2026-03-22T18:47:47-0400

gamma_nyc said:
Interesting update - I checked out DLT and they have changed many of the bark river knife names to “Blade Raid”.

What’s that about?

View attachment 3140437

This is exactly what I was saying earlier, dlt has known they had wrong steel problems. This is going to be about them recovering money, steel type be damned.

JearBeatus48 · 2026-03-22T18:51:00-0400

XtianAus said:
I remember when BRK started using magnacut and it started to rust easily, from steak and stuff. BRK convinced the owners that this was normal for magnacut and magnacut wasn't a true stainless steel.
Ha...so sad.

What I don't understand is how people can deceive others so readily, for what, for money? I just don't get it. How much money could Mike be making anyway?
And at his age, surely money would stop being your priority....

Why not just use legit steel and make a living that way? If BRK just used legit steel and backed their warranty, surely they'd be some of the most popular and sought after knives. It is hard to deny they have great designs.

But it’s a tool steel not a stainless steel hahaha what a tool lol

Snapinto · 2026-03-22T19:00:25-0400

gamma_nyc said:
Interesting update - I checked out DLT and they have changed many of the bark river knife names to “Blade Raid”.

What’s that about?

View attachment 3140437

I am pretty sure Blade Raid is just an annual event they were doing with new knife releases each year. It is strange the knives say "Blade Raid" as the listing but they were like that a month or so ago before all this info came out so don't think this is an attempt to hide the brand name. I chalked it up to some sort of oversight with the person making the listings, perhaps to separate the Blade Raid releases from normal Bark River knives and didn't do it the right way?

DLT's single pictures for many of the Bark River knives are kinda rough. It kinda gives the appearance of hiding potential visual defects. Dealers should be showing both sides of the knife and top and bottom IMO for these prices. The single picture is bright which could be a good thing but only shows one side and many are like this example:

Blade Raid Custom Socom Model 1-7 A2 Purple Heart - IBN Spacer

Shop over 20,000 knives from Bark River, Spyderco, Microtech, Benchmade, and more. Hard-to-find knives, DLT-exclusive deals, and custom knife engraving.

www.dlttrading.com

Boru13 · 2026-03-22T19:13:40-0400

I'm unable to find the FB post to confirm the following reddit comments.

" I can confirm, i just listened to an audio recording of them telling the employees that Jim is setting up another busniess and opening a bank accoumt for it on Monday to get everyone paid but they should go ahead and file for unemployment. "

" They said everyone should file for unemployment and that can’t remember if they said Jim or Mike just filed a new llc and is going to send an invoice again to someone bc the sheriff put a hold on all of there accounts "

DeadPineKnives · 2026-03-22T19:31:01-0400

DMG said:
I get your point but the knife world has real PE problems. GSM Outdoors belongs to a PE firm, for one.

Does it really?? I had no idea, I apologize for seeming as if I was minimizing that or anything.

Arathol · 2026-03-22T19:37:57-0400

gamma_nyc said:
Interesting update - I checked out DLT and they have changed many of the bark river knife names to “Blade Raid”.

What’s that about?

View attachment 3140437

There are still many pages of BR knives that aren't under the blade raid promotion label.
Blade Raid 2026 started in February btw.

unwisefool · 2026-03-22T19:38:23-0400

1346wildcat said:
Ha

So even after multiple people telling you that you are off base with your accusation against Hinderer, that is your reply? You're a joke.

Comprehensivist · 2026-03-22T19:38:38-0400

WARNING !!!

When the original Op’s first post hit on this story, I went searching on the internet for corroborating info. I also searched the large BRKT websites (I.e. DLT, KSF, etc.) to see if there were any updates on their sites.

During the course of my searches, I discovered a website called dlttradingdeals.com . I never recall seeing a separate DLT website for “deals”. My radar went up when I saw a number of number of name brand knives like CRK Umnumzaans and Bog Oak Small Sebenza on sale for less than $100.

I would strongly suggest checking with DLT directly before buying anything there to verify if this website is real or a scammer trying to take advantage of the fear and anxiety surrounding the Bark River scandal.

Phil

ShaiHulud · 2026-03-22T19:40:06-0400

As stated by others above, because of the steel mislabel scandal, there will be no real way to know which BR is as it says and which is not, so their value will greatly plummet--- but I will assume the old(er) bark river knives, especially those made in A2 are the real deal.
I would not trust any newer pieces to be as it's advertised at all and will assume the value of those cant be ascertained. Either way MS is finished, no one in this industry will ever want to work with him on anything knife related ever again.

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

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