Bark river bushcrafter

[Rickyd]

I put a post about the spyderco the other day, and basically going to ask the same about this knife...
Im looking into buying one of these knives new or second hand. What's your views on this knife? I originally wanted the fallkniven f1d, but the horrid handle is putting me off. Do you think the bark river is a worthy buy?

 

[C_Claycomb]

Hi,

I didn't say anything on your Spyderco thread, since I thought it better that other people answer your question. Since you are still looking, I thought I would post some pros and cons here.

Handle Ergonomics:
So I designed the Spyderco and have four of them (2 wood protos, a first run wood and a current G10). I have carried and used one of the first prototypes and it is still my go-to for a Scandi knife. In the long saga that lead up to Spyderco producing their Bushcraft model, before Spyderco were involved, we approached Bark River about a BCUK forum knife. The knives that they offer now are far better and more suitable than the ones they offered back then. Their ideas of design have moved on a long way. Despite this, based on all the Bark Rivers that I have handled and all the pictures of current product, I am willing to bet that the Spyderco still has a better and more comfortable handle shape. In addition to my own thoughts, I have had strangers from far away lands come up to me at Blade Show and tell me that out of all the bushcraft knives they own, the Spyderco is the most comfortable to use.

The Spyderco has a wider handle than is usual on knives made with man-made materials. Most knives, and this goes for all the Bark Rivers I have seen (may not apply to all, but is sure to for their Bushcraft) use 3/8" or thinner handle material. That is the standard thickness that Micarta comes in. This limits what can be done in the way of sculpting a handle. Bark River also shape their handles on belt sanders, while Spyderco's manufacturer uses CNC milling. This appears to limit what can be done for shaping by BRKT.

Blade Steel
Clearly O1 is not CPM-3V. The former will be easier to sharpen, and will work on any water or oil stone or wet and dry, while the latter will be slower and tend to demand diamond or ceramic. I am not a fan of high carbide content steel for blades with a lot of bevel. Some people don't mind the extra sharpening work, but I do. The BRKT convex helps in this regard, but it is a bit shorter than I would like, I would like the design more if the grind went to the spine. Which blade is "better" will come down to your preferences, both will work, and both can be made to carve and feather sticks. The Spyderco might be biased a little more to wood work while the Bark River leans a little more towards general purpose. If I was going to be skinning game I would like the 3V over the O1.

Handle Material
If you search, the Bark River could offer a choice, but I am going to assume you will go for Micarta as the easiest to get option. Micarta is fundamentally a grippier material when wet, but the G10 isn't really slick, not as slick as I expected, or as slick as some polished stabilised wood I have used. The shape also helps with a good grip since there is a slight flare at the front of the grip. Micarta is also lighter weight, compared to G10.

Dimensions/weights
Despite what Heinnie says, the Spyderco does not have a 4mm thick blade. It is speced at 3.6mm. The G10 though does put the weight higher than the BRKT, 221g vs 188g.

 

[mark.177]

what size hands do you have? small? large? if you buy a bark river and select one with liners the handles will be a little wider than without
the only thing i dont like about the bark river bushcraft knives is i find the handles a little small and the contour/radius around the index finger is a little too large and feels a little 'vague' i prefer a tighter radius that fits the finger better. plenty of makers here that can make what you want or struggling to sell good knives.

 

[C_Claycomb]

I was trying to think how to phrase this, but in the spirit of full disclosure...

If I was looking for a knife for the sort of expedition and camping that I do, I would not have either the Spyderco or the Bark River. My ideal has a hidden tang to keep weight down and remove exposed steel for either cold or moisture. I like flat grinds with convex edges for the more general purpose work I do (not as much wood carving as I would like, but most of my trips are not crafting focused). I have a bunch of O1 knives, none in 3V, so am curious about the latter. In a flat grind and convex edge I wouldn't be worried about maintenance of edge. I have tended to gravitate to stainless (ATS34, RWL34 and 12C27) for my own use.

I think the key thing about buying a factory knife is that there is a greater understanding of what you will be getting, they all tend to be the same, one to the next, whereas it is much harder to know how a hand made or custom will feel to you before it is in your hand. That and there is no feeling of guilt if you buy a factory knife and have to send it back, or pass it on immediately. Thing is, I can't tell you what factory knife I would choose. I see lots that look nice in pictures, but can't think of any that tick all the boxes for what I am looking for.

Best of luck!

 

[Rickyd]

I think I just need to handle a few in person, the Aurora is probably more suitable, I didn’t realise the grind difference.

 

[kard133]

I have both a Spyderco Bushcraft ( one of the seconds with the flawed wood scales) and a Bark River Bushcrafter in black micarta from the first production run. The handle ergonomics in the Spyderco are better, especially for larger hands, and whilst I agree with Mesquite on the other thread, that the Mears / Aland Wood type scandi grind are not perfect given the thickness of these blades, the low scandi / convex on the Bark river makes it much too thick compared to the Spyderco, i.e the Spyderco can push cut and carve much easier. Now, that being said, I have seen some full height convex ground Bushcrafters, and the grind height on Bark River knives can vary from knife to knife, and it may be that newer ones have a thinner grind compared to mine.
Not that I use either very often, since I prefer a high saber or full flat with a convex secondary

 

[daveO]

Bark River have an interesting range of knives. The bushcrafter always looks the least versitile to me though. I guess it depends on what you want it for but the Gunny and Bravo look like they'd be better knives. I'm lusting after a fox river lt or maybe a bird and trout though

 

[kard133]

The Bravo one is thicker, but the height of the grind makes it a very good all rounder, and the A2 steel is easier to sharpen than the 3V.

Here is a picture of the Spyderco and the Bark River side by side, sorry for the poor lighting:

 

[bradleybuckman]

I have the Spyderco BushcraftUK and the Bark River Bushcrafter. They are pretty similar in size as far as handle and blade length. I have to agree that the Spyderco handle is far better and more comfortable than the Bark River. When I first got my Bark River and had a chance to use it, I decided quickly that I didn't like the "Scandivex" grind on it and sent it back to Bark River to turn it into a full height convex. That resulted in a much better blade geometry and cutting ability. I'm not the biggest fan of 01 steel, and I feel that the CPM3V is enormously better than the 01 on the Spyderco. The Spyderco also feels much heavier in hand than the Bark River. As has been mentioned, the Spyderco is better suited for working with wood and the Bark River is better suited for general purpose use. Below is a picture of the Sypderco and the Bark River. I like them both and don't regret buying either, but really it comes down to personal preference on which is better.

Spyderco BushcraftUK/ Bark River Bushcrafter by Bradley Buckman, on Flickr


However, if given the choice between the Spyderco BushcraftUK and Spyderco Proficient, I would choose the Proficient everyday. It has better materials, is much lighter weight and I'm considering taking it from a flat grind to convex.

Spyderco and Bark River by Bradley Buckman, on Flickr

 

[Wihglah]

You cannot go wrong with a CPM-3V Aurora. It is a little longer than is ideal for game preparation, but that extra length makes it excellent at batoning . The first photo has an Enzo trapper 95 for scale (and my homemade survival knife) My glove size is large and the Aurora fits perfectly.
I am not a huge fan of the sheath though.

 

[Janne]

You wanted a knife made by Fällkniven.
Fällkniven make a couple of models with a blade almost identical to F1, but with a much nicer handle.

 

[Robson Valley]

There is a convenient measure of size for knife handles. It explains why I make all of my own for wood carving.
Palm up, fist grip, hold the tool handle.
The tips of your second and third fingers should just touch the fat ball part of your thumb. This is the "Kestrel Constant." What's not to like?

I learned that the handle blank size for me must be 7/8" x 7/8". Any smaller than 3/4" hurts my old hands.
Any bigger than 1" just becomes a fat fistful.
I've learned also that exactly the same applies to an elbow adze and also a D adze handle. www.kestreltool.com.

Find some scrap wood, prune it with your hatchet and see for yourself.

 

[Janne]

The Fällkniven Thermorum handles are made for small hands.
My hands are wide with short-ish fingers but still a tad to lsrge for those handles.
The other ones, stacked leather or wood, are perfect though.

 

[Robson Valley]

I'd really like to hold any and every knife before I buy.
My old hands are becoming arthritic and handle size makes more of a difference than even when I was 50.

Without hurting myself, my stretched handspan is almost 9.5".
I'm really happy with the Kestrel Constant as a sizing guide.
Even moreso when I made the handles and hafted the adze blades.
I've hafted 15+ crooked knife blades.
You can see the one that's under 3/4" and the "fat boy" of more than an inch.
I keep forgetting to do them over.

A Sitka gutter adze blade from Kestrel is going to set me back more than $100.00.
Have the wood (birch) for the elbow handle that I'll peg and cross whip. Probably cut it at 55 degrees.
Since the hand position has some definition as well (Holm Constant), I know I can carve the grip size to suit me.

 

[equest]

I don't own either the BRK Bushcrafter, nor the Aurora (just a Bravo 1 which is very comfortable to use), but I got the chance to handle both side by side for a while. Of the two, I seemed to prefer the Aurora in any possible way. Hope this helps.