Which Bark River?

S

steelscout30

Joined
Aug 1, 2006
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There are a lot of really appealing Bark River models out there, and I've been meaning to pick one up, preferably an A2 model with a micarta or stag handle, though I do like the Blackwater Boot Knife, which is in a Sandvik steel, I believe. Either way, I'm looking for a nice, small-to-medium sized fixed blade to pack on my belt or inside a pack pocket for use as a camp knife and to use for hunting and fishing purposes. Maintenance for carbon or tool steels is not a problem for me, so if I'm using the knife to fish it doesn't have to be a stainless. I like the blade design of the Rogue Bowie and the Bosnian Skinner, also, if anyone has specific opinions about those. Any experience with the sheaths and how well they retain the knife would be appreciated as well. Thanks in advance.

God bless you, America, and our men and women overseas.

KATN,

Wade
 
Perhaps you might want to narrow it down to just a couple of models - you've left it so wide open, I've no idea where to start!

If you want to see what's currently available, check www.knivesshipfree.com or www.dlttradingcompany.com.

These two sites have about the widest selection of currently available Barkies, and both accurately list the steel type used on each knife, as well as give an explanation of its intended use.
 
Yes it is a bit wide-open.

Yet, whatever Bark River you choose you will almost certainly be delighted.

The Blackwater is a finely made small stainless knife in a kydex sheath (which I don't think suits it at all and has a clip that is not up to it)The knife itself is a jewel and a fine carry, but small as it should be.

Try a Highland Special in stag scales, both practical and attractive.The Woodland I have is a mite smaller but is a deadly serious knife,punches far above its weight and can be carried anywhere.Recommended:thumbup:

Also have a Classic Lite Hunter in stainless an excellent field choice or fisherman's friend,top user.

I have two Nebulas which are hidden tang stainless, ultra practical and despite being large are not heavy or cumbersome knives.All Barkies carry well as they are relatively light BUT NOT lightweight in construction, they are sturdy and let me tell you,watch that edge they are razors:eek:

The sheathes are OK but not to my taste.I don't like natural coloured leather I prefer black or dark brown or ox-blood, just personal.They are tight(bit TOO tight at first so drawing the knife can be awkward)but a secure carry certainly.They have a fire-steel holder as well and BRKT offer Swedish fire-steels in a range of finishes to match your scales, nice:thumbup:

Final word of warning.They are addictive and in limited quantity but in a mass of scale options...you and your money will soon be parted:eek: Worth it in my view.
 
I have a Woodland. Nice smaller knife. It's sheath is okay, but not exactly a custom. Retention is fine.

Have been thinking of trying a Gameskeeper or its offshoot, the Bravo-1.
 
Steelscout30 - i am with you. It is hard to pick from a picture. It would even help if they would take some pictures at different angles. I would love to handle all of them in one place, and make my choices. :)
Dave.
 
I just received my Bravo-1 today from another forum member and I haven't been able to put it down. A lot of people complain about the small handles on Bark River Knives, but this knife fits my hands perfectly.
I am not too fond of the kydex sheath that comes with the knife. As WillGoy said before they are very tight and make it difficult to draw the blade. I've had my eyes on this sheath for awhile, since i now have both knives. It seems like that would be a great combo to toss into you pack when going for a hike. Good luck choosing just 1 knife. Once you start you can't stop :p
 
I have a mini-Canadian, two mini-Skinners, the Bravo-1, and a new Highland Special. The Highland has a 4" A2 steel blade with Impala horn scales....nice medium-sized knife. The Bravo-1 is huge (by my standards...I do not own a Ranger, Scrapyard, or large Ontario), with 4.5" of A2 steel. I liked the Bravo over the Gameskeeper because the Bravo didn;t have a bolstered fingerguard... I prefer it without.

As someone said, BRKT knives are addicitive. If I had to recommend a "medium-sized" knife to you, I would say the mini-SKinner (12C27 stainless) or the A-2 carbon Highland SPecial for something just a little larger. I know the mini-SKinner is small, but I'm just throwing it into the medium category, probably at the very lowest end.

One thing about Barkies is, their handle scales are smooth....as in, lacking grip or texture. The Impala Horn is my first one with semi-grippy scales, but I imagine the Antique Stag (imitation), or the Sambar Stag or Bighorn Sheep would have a similar texture. Unlike many knife manufacturers offering canvas or linen Micarta that grips your palm and fingers, and even improves with moisture, the Barkies are well-endowed with epoxy or other resin, so they're very smooth. Their wood (maple, myrtle, elder, etc) scales are also finished very finely and smooth. You should bear that in mind.

You don;t say if you're familiar or not with the convex grinds. Be prepared for a slight learning curve keeping these beauties sharp. I say slight because, while it takes some learning, it ain't tough. My BRKTs are the sharpest knives I have and, believe me, I'm a beginner. I was whittling and hacking away last night with the new Highland on a piece of Mexican elder (not a very hard wood) and managed to take the razor out of most the 3.6" long edge. It was still sharp and would shave hair, but it lost its razor. Just a half-hour ago, I swiped it a few times on 2000 grit, stropped with green rouge, and now it's sharper than it was upon arrival.

Both site listed above are good for Barkie-hunting, with DLT being by far my favorite. BUT......for a much more comprehensive idea of all the Barkies available, and complete specs on every knife, visit the BRKT club site, and click on "Current Production" in the right-hand pane:
http://www.barkriverknives.com/home.html (You can;t buy knives here)

Even Bark River's own site (you can;t buy the knives there) doesn't have as much specification information. Their site is:
http://www.barkriverknifetool.com/

The two site might be both sponsored, run, or managed by BRKT, I don;t know.

I absolutely love and admire these Bark River knives, but you probably couldn;t tell that.
 
I have (and love) a Mini Canadian, which I edc in a hip pocket sheath from A.G. Russell. The sheath it came with wasn't great, unfortunately. There is a lot of variation in the sheaths I hear, as Bark River changes sheath suppliers a lot. It is knife enough for most tasks, but I'd like to get another Bark River in the 4" blade range like the Highland Special. The convex gind on most of their knives is sharp and easy to maintain.
 
DavidZ said:
Steelscout30 - i am with you. It is hard to pick from a picture. It would even help if they would take some pictures at different angles. I would love to handle all of them in one place, and make my choices. :)
Dave.
Click to expand...

Dave,
You've just got to dive in (maybe you already own a few, I dont know). Try the club site I listed above for better spec listings. The Bark Rivers are smaller than most people think, based on my own experiences and what I've read here at BladeForums. But I have yet to be disappointed. :thumbup:

The Bravo-1 is an exception. Even the scales are long and thick, fitting my medium-large hands with room to spare. They make larger knives too, but I don;t have experience with them. As you said, you just can't find them in any old knife shop so you can "fondle" them. Trust and believe..... and I don;t think you'll find them lacking.
 
Foilist said:
I have (and love) a Mini Canadian, which I edc in a hip pocket sheath from A.G. Russell. The sheath it came with wasn't great, unfortunately. There is a lot of variation in the sheaths I hear, as Bark River changes sheath suppliers a lot. It is knife enough for most tasks, but I'd like to get another Bark River in the 4" blade range like the Highland Special. The convex gind on most of their knives is sharp and easy to maintain.
Click to expand...

Foilist,

The day after Father's Day, USPS brought a priority mail package to the homestead. Mama ordered a Highland Special in Impala Horn! It feels to me like it's what you've been talking about wanting for the last couple of weeks.

I hope to be able to post some pictures soon. I'll take lots of different angles of the ones I have....with my hand in the picture or some other "size comparitive" model along with the knives. Also, "Yours Truly" made some sheaths that I'm dying to show off to the BRKT fans who, like me, don;t get horny over Bark River's sheaths.

I have to give credit here: A while back I was considering a BRKT knife too, but I hadn't taken the plunge. FOILIST announced he had a mini-Canadian for sale. I bought it and have to give him credit for getting me hooked. My wife wnats to meet him (so she can punch him and cuss him out)
(((:D)))
 
StretchNM - I did have only one - a Wolf River model. Sharpest knife out of the box I ever got, but the handle was way too small for my hands. That is why I would love to handle them all. Are any of there models stick tang? or are all of them slab style?
Thanks,
Dave.
 
For a general purpose camp/fishing/hunting model, I would go with a Highland, Fox River, or Canadian Special.
 
I'm pretty sure I've seen a model or three that are not full-width tang, but I certainly can;t remember which one(s). I'm not at the BRKT club site so I don;t remember whether or not they list tang specs. I might have seen stick-tang at the actual Bark River site.

I know what you mean about the small handles. My hands are not huge, but they're large. I've adjusted to the mini-Skinner, and now, it feels great in my hand. The mini-Canadian also doesn;t feel too bad, but it's my daughter's knife (((:D)))

EDIT: Ok DavidZ, the tangs are listed along with each knife at http://www.barkriverknives.com/home.html
Click on "Current Production" and all specs are there. They call them Hidden, Exposed, and Full Exposed.
 
I drool over some of the nicer looking Huntsman and Journeyman knives almost daily. I'd prolly have one if the goober had showed up at Blade.
 
I have a bunch of the knives, and I can recommend any of them.

To address the handle smallness and slipperiness that people mention...
Mike designs the handles with complete utility in mind. Unless you have ridiculously large hands, just try using them. I think you will find that the size is just perfect. For grip, I have never had a problem with slippage, and I don't like rough handles. If you use a knife with rough handles for any period of time, it tears your hand up.

I have a Blackwater Boot, Mikro Canadian, and Micro Slither. All three make excellent in the pocket knives.

For a general unbreakable camp/survival knife, you certainly won't go wrong with the Bravo-1. The sheath is tight on the knife, but it is purposefully designed that way with the utmost in retention in mind. I strapped mine to my pack, and backpacked for an entire weekend with it upside down to test it out. No problems at all.

For an all purpose utility knife, my personal favorite is a Journeyman. My Journeyman is in fact my favorite Barkie. Everything seems to be just right about it, and even though it is not a full tang knife, I have batoned with it, and done other stuff as well that would have broken a lesser knife.

Do a lot of drooling, and then pick your first. It won't be your last! :D

David
 
Wade, knifeworks are selling out his Bark River inventory and he has some nice pieces left last I checked, actually he sold out nearly all his inventory except for 2 models, the Lil' Boone and the Hedgehog. I got a Nebula for a good price here too.
 
steelscout30 said:
There are a lot of really appealing Bark River models out there, and I've been meaning to pick one up, preferably an A2 model with a micarta or stag handle, though I do like the Blackwater Boot Knife, which is in a Sandvik steel, I believe. Either way, I'm looking for a nice, small-to-medium sized fixed blade to pack on my belt or inside a pack pocket for use as a camp knife and to use for hunting and fishing purposes. Maintenance for carbon or tool steels is not a problem for me, so if I'm using the knife to fish it doesn't have to be a stainless. I like the blade design of the Rogue Bowie and the Bosnian Skinner, also, if anyone has specific opinions about those. Any experience with the sheaths and how well they retain the knife would be appreciated as well. Thanks in advance.

God bless you, America, and our men and women overseas.

KATN,

Wade
Click to expand...

I am very fond of my Rogue bowie, but it is already a large knife for most purposes. I have started to prefer smaller and smaller blades for hiking, but the Rogue will beat a smaller blade when batoning. For serious chopping it is not heavy and more importantly not heavy enough, even though it tackles smaller jobs just fine. I was very impressed with the sheath. Holds the knife well and if you use the strap it is very secure. For General purpose though, I woud prefer something like the Settler.
 
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