Tell Me About Bark River Knives, Please.

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Lenny said:
OK, I'll join the fun.
I purchased a used Bravo 1 about 2 months ago for a good price. I also bought a strop and black and green compounds.
Before I received it, I had the seller send it to Bark River for the full spa treatment (sharpening, polishing)
When I received it, I was blown away by the fit and finish.
The handle is absolutely the most comfy of any knife I've ever owned.
It was massive, with almost a 1/4" thick tang.
However, i wasn't blown away by the sharpness.
Everyone told me that the convex edges just don't feel sharp to the finger, but just use it and see.
Well, it worked well on wood, but could just barely slice printer paper, and forget about shaving arm hair.
So I thought I knew how to use the strop and went to work.
Well, I actually made it duller.
I asked more questions and somewhat refined my technique, but could never get it hair popping sharp.
Finally, yesterday, after trying the stropping routine again and being very careful, I just got fed up.
Out came the Edge Pro.
I sharpened it at 40 degrees inclusive, and finished up by polishing with the 6000 grit tape.
Holy s*%t!!!
The thing absolutely scares me now.
It slices through newspaper like a laser.
Forget about shaving, as soon as the edge gets close to my arm, the hairs jump off my skin out of fear.
And my arm ends up as smooth as a baby's butt.
I'll take it outside today and play around with some wood and report back.
If it loses its hair poppin' edge, a minute or 2 on the Sharpmaker will get it right back.
Lenny
What can I say, the convex edge just wasn't for me.
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I do the same thing with convex edges, they are the 1st thing I change, put a V edge on as soon as I get them.

I had a Little Canadian here awhile back that was nice and in 3V, didn't have any complaints about that one, nice little knife, alittle thicker than I would like though.

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been eying the bravo/gunny....the recluse look even better for hike/camp.
anyone own those with advice?

MtnDude said:
I'm relatively new to owning Bark River knives myself. I've owned 2 so far. A Gunny and Recluse, both in A2. The Gunny was sold to my best friend ( who still uses and enjoys it ) and the Recluse I still own. I can report that both knives have not had any performance issues ( edge chipping or rolling ) whatsoever. The fit and finish was perfect on both knives and both are very ergonomically "comfortable" to use. Based on my experience, I can't recommend them highly enough. BRKT knives are built by outdoormen for outdoorsmen. If one is looking for a sharpened prybar or tacticool knife, then BRKT knives probably aren't for you. I will continue to support Bark River until I am no longer satisfied.

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Virtuevoice was the guy on YT with the very fragile edge on the custom BRK. Yet, he has reviewed numerous Barkies and IMO, given honest reviews with fair criticism when necessary. For example, the STS-3 handle was too short, or the point on the end of the handle is uncomfortable in the palm. That was also my experience, that's why I traded it off, and so did the next guy.
It's not a bad knife, but the design is not for me, it did cut like a lazer though.
One of my knives has a very slight gap in one spot between the scale and tang, no big deal it doesn't affect performance. I have two of a same model, and there are differences in the blade and handle size, due to being hand finished.


The bad reviews vs number of knives produced is very very low. ESEE has broken knives returned to them, stupid people do stupid things, and return abused knives.
Sure, some Bark Rivers have been ground too thin, and may have improper HT, but I would trust that the vendor or BRK will make it right.
 
Recently one of my friends on Youtube suddenly deleted all the Bark River reviews he had done and sold all his Bark River knives. He was angry about something but wouldn't go into details.

[youtube]29yZ_pmpwnA[/youtube]
 
I am happy with my Bark River knives and I do not batton them. Or any high grade cutlery knife.

I do not understand why people insist on trying to cleave wood with high rockwell knife blades when froes are the appropriate tool for this.

A froe should be made from a low to medium carbon steel, so it can be bashed and twisted without breaking.

http://www.highlandwoodworking.com/shinglefroe.aspx

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Froe

Use the proper tool for the job.
 
I have seen less expensive and more compact froes in woodworking catalogs. A froe will do the job, but so will a small hatchet.
 
I've had 4 Bark River knives, and 2 of the 4 had slight asymmetries in the handles. Not really enough to feel, but noticeable enough to the eye. I see how this is something of an issue for a fairly high-dollar purchase, but to be honest, it never affected their utility, and 10 minutes with some a small sanding block straightened things out. All that being said though, with 3 of them in A2 and one in 3V, they've all handled all the use and abuse I've thrown at them without issue, and I'd get another without hesitation if the pattern struck my fancy
 
I do not understand why people insist on trying to cleave wood with high rockwell knife blades when froes are the appropriate tool for this.

A froe should be made from a low to medium carbon steel, so it can be bashed and twisted without breaking.
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Apx as follows. If you have a better tool when you desperately need to get to the dry interior of a wet hunk of wood, by all means use it. But if all you have is a knife . . .

And if you think you may need that option, practice is not totally crazy.

Folks in say Kingman will have a hard time connecting with that argument. Those from Seattle . . .

Those who carry Thermite grenades need not concern themselves.
 
I am not sure this is even an opinion- but a Dozier skinner in D2 is going to be a much better blade for the task at hand. I almost think like the above poster, that your going to spend the same money on a Barkie- and in A2- that is inferior to me at least re: grade of steel. Yes, A2 is easier to sharpen then D2, but I just think D2/ATS-etc is a far superior grade of steel. Some barkies are nice and I own a few- like the one you mentioned, and that will do the job just fine- but I am also surprised your not overly satisfied with your Doziers. I have a few and one of the things I love about them is that they typically come scary face shaving sharp. If your just wanting to try something new- pull the trigger on a BR and Im sure you will not be disappointed. GL w/ your selection and for the season bro!
 
James0723 said:
Recently one of my friends on Youtube suddenly deleted all the Bark River reviews he had done and sold all his Bark River knives. He was angry about something but wouldn't go into details.

[youtube]29yZ_pmpwnA[/youtube]
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Haha.. Lets just say some laundry stinks too much when you try and air it.

I personally did not have any major issues with the functional quality of the items for the money spent. Design issues maybe.. an occasional edge ground too thin. on the whole fine..

My issues are with the company attitude more than the company product and how they treat people that arent in their "family"
 
CR33 said:
I am not sure this is even an opinion- but a Dozier skinner in D2 is going to be a much better blade for the task at hand. I almost think like the above poster, that your going to spend the same money on a Barkie- and in A2- that is inferior to me at least re: grade of steel. Yes, A2 is easier to sharpen then D2, but I just think D2/ATS-etc is a far superior grade of steel. Some barkies are nice and I own a few- like the one you mentioned, and that will do the job just fine- but I am also surprised your not overly satisfied with your Doziers. I have a few and one of the things I love about them is that they typically come scary face shaving sharp. If your just wanting to try something new- pull the trigger on a BR and Im sure you will not be disappointed. GL w/ your selection and for the season bro!
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Oh, no doubt if Dozier had all of his models freely available all the time, I'd go ahead and get more of them, but it's almost impossible to find certain models (the ones I want, typically) for sale, and if you do you will pay quite a bit more than what they cost from Dozier, which is high enough. A G Russell sometimes has some, sometimes not. The BRK models are just a bit less, from what I see, so I wanted to know how they would compare, cause I like the looks of several of them. I've pretty much decided that I'm going to get a Fallkniven F1 instead of the BRK, though. It looks just about right for the kind of things I do with my knife, and it's a bit cheaper than either of the above choices.
 
I seem to see quite a few people disliking the a2. I think you're all forgetting that there are models in cpm154, 3v, 52100, and offerings in s35vn coming soon just to name a few
 
KyleyHarris said:
Haha.. Lets just say some laundry stinks too much when you try and air it.

I personally did not have any major issues with the functional quality of the items for the money spent. Design issues maybe.. an occasional edge ground too thin. on the whole fine..

My issues are with the company attitude more than the company product and how they treat people that arent in their "family"
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Kyley I hope that this doesn't mean the end of your posting over there as I have always enjoyed your input and reviews.
 
I've got both a Bravo 1 and a Trail Buddy and am well pleased with both of them.


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Here's another of the B1 without the missing tip.
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Both are scaled in elder burl
 
SpartanSaint said:
Oh man that trail buddy is wicked... damn bills
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It is pretty sweet. I actually use it in the kitchen quite a bit, don't know if I should admit that or not but it darn sure does the job. For serious use though the Bravo 1 is one of my all time favorite fixed blades plus it's easy on the eyes.
 
jvan said:
Kyley I hope that this doesn't mean the end of your posting over there as I have always enjoyed your input and reviews.
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Thanks for that..

I wont be posting there anymore.

perhaps I'll try putting some more time in here. ;)
 
I have the Bravo 1 and I love the knife. It is my most favored camping style knife. Cuts well yet is big and strong for more tough work such as light splitting. I plan on doing the west coast trail this summer and it is the blade I will be taking :)
 
I have no idea what the deal is with the contraversy about Mike Stewart. I must have missed it along the way somewhere and don't give enough of a crap to search it out. I tried finding it in the four pages of this topic but it was just alluded to without explanation again.

What I will say about BRKT is they don't eff around with the warranty.

During a drunken debauchery of camping, my friend threw a log in the fire that my knife was jabbed into after cutting steak and veggies. I posted over on the forums that has the BRKT stuff on them and asked if it could be fixed and rehandled. Some of the members chimed in and said it was junk because the heat treat had probably been hurt. I was fine with that and figured as much but i thought it was worth a try to have it repaired and refinished but whatever. It wasn't a huge deal and my buddy had offered to buy me a replacement. Mike Stewart then posted on there that the heat treat had probabaly been ruined but he wasn't sure. It didn't matter anyways because he was still going to warranty it. I didn't send it in because I didn't think it would be the right thing to do. The point is, he would have still warrantied it. That's kind of nice.

oh here is a picture
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I've sent other knives in for "spa" treatement and re handling with different scales and what not and it's always fast and easy. I like his knives, but i'm no expert on knives. I camp a lot and use his knives when I do and they haven't broken. I have a Golok and a Kephart now and the burnt up one.
 
^^ I'm sorry your knife got burnt. I would have been furious!

But I have to say, damned hilarious story.
 
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