The Bark River debacle; where to go from here?

Jaybees said:
What a way to ruin an establish brand and completely crush its fans. On one hand I feel gutted. On the other hand, the writing was on the wall. I am so relieved that all of my Bark River knives are pre-2019. The one's I'm currently using I'm reasonably sure are the correct steel listed (the way they feel when cutting and sharpening). With that said, trust is everthing in any business, You lose that, you eventually lose everything. If money meant more to Mike Stewart then the reputation of his hard built business, then I have to say good riddance. The real shame is that his son Jim Stewart will have to wear that tarnished legacy as well from now on. I don't think the knife community will forget or ever forgive this betrayal. I suspect his foray into the knife business will be short and bittersweet. We will have to wait and see.

Maybe I'm just being niave, but if you make something to sell, and you stand by that product, you at least should be honest about what it is and what it's made from. There was no need to lie or decieve. There are proper and legal ways to deal with insolvency. It's not like Bark River was just a fly-by-night start up company failing in it's early years. It was well known. It had quite a number of happy, loyal customers (also had some disappointed one's too, but that is to be expected). In it's golden years it did produce decent quality, reliable, and really pretty knives, and if it kept that up it could have eventually made legendary status in the knife world. Now, in it's twilight, Bark River is simply dust in the wind, a mere speck of what it once was and can never be again.

Good bye Bark River Knives, thank you for the good years and for the exceptional knives that I currently use and enjoy.

Now it's time to rest in peace.
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Please refrain from buying from Jim Stewart. He's as guilty as his father; he said nothing when he could've and was only second to Mike in running the company; steer clear of the Stewarts.
 
Jaybees said:
What a way to ruin an establish brand and completely crush its fans. On one hand I feel gutted. On the other hand, the writing was on the wall. I am so relieved that all of my Bark River knives are pre-2019. The one's I'm currently using I'm reasonably sure are the correct steel listed (the way they feel when cutting and sharpening). With that said, trust is everthing in any business, You lose that, you eventually lose everything. If money meant more to Mike Stewart then the reputation of his hard built business, then I have to say good riddance. The real shame is that his son Jim Stewart will have to wear that tarnished legacy as well from now on. I don't think the knife community will forget or ever forgive this betrayal. I suspect his foray into the knife business will be short and bittersweet. We will have to wait and see.

Maybe I'm just being niave, but if you make something to sell, and you stand by that product, you at least should be honest about what it is and what it's made from. There was no need to lie or decieve. There are proper and legal ways to deal with insolvency. It's not like Bark River was just a fly-by-night start up company failing in it's early years. It was well known. It had quite a number of happy, loyal customers (also had some disappointed one's too, but that is to be expected). In it's golden years it did produce decent quality, reliable, and really pretty knives, and if it kept that up it could have eventually made legendary status in the knife world. Now, in it's twilight, Bark River is simply dust in the wind, a mere speck of what it once was and can never be again.

Good bye Bark River Knives, thank you for the good years and for the exceptional knives that I currently use and enjoy.

Now it's time to rest in peace.
Click to expand...
Sorry man, there's proof of it going back to 2006
 
Btw does any of you know about Medford knives? Are they legit or just other scammers selling overpriced crap?
 
The closed thread in General should have the links to other threads documenting BKT’s nefarious behavior in the Hall of Shame as a “permanent record”. As a record of the Stewart et. al. nefarious behavior it would also serve as a “buyer beware” function for the exchange.
 
y53p said:
What brands have you found to be most reliable qc and price to performance wise? Nowadays it looks like everything's being bought by some faceless firm outsourcing labor; everything just feels both cheaper yet more expensive than just 10 years ago.
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Carothers, Busse Combat, Chris Reeve Knives and Arno Bernard...
There are others to be sure especially some cool custom makers but these examples come to mind quickly!
 
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