At the behest of The Big Lebrowski, here is my little review of the Bark River Bravo-1 factory Rampless, supplied by theknifeconnection.com, a seller also recommended by Al, and who gave very good service.
This knife is a little under 6mm thick, full convex with a blade length of 105mm from tip to choil, made of A2 Tool Steel and it came shaving sharp, a .75 Longstrider at least, (0 = butter knife, 1 = Longstriders, "supplied with a plaster", finest).
Here it is in hand, the notches on the spine, which replace the ramp, are meant to strike a fire steel according to the specs, however they do not seem to work on my LMF, and they are quite sharp, digging painfully into my thumb when it is pressed against them as in picture 6.
The thickness of the blade and the convex grind means a little learning curve to make a feather stick, but it can perform this quite well, even with my meagre skills. Carving should be possible with a minimum of fuss for simple things.
Here it is next to my Enzo Trapper, the knives are placed next to the feathers they carved
One thing the thickness does lend itself to is push cutting, here it is next to a Mora 511, which is approximately 2mm thick:
And next to the Trapper, which is about 3.5mm.
And the cut I made, using very little pressure:
The grip is quite comfortable in a variety of grips:
My palm is approximately 95mm across.
The sheath, whilst functional, and strong, seems to have been made with less than perfect QC, although I must stress that this does not affect its function, here you can see some dimpling and what appears to be press marks below the lip ging down both sides:
And here is where an inclusion in the leather used to make the stack wasn't picked up before assembly and shaping.
It is very secure, and grips the knife well:
Overall this is a very good knife, with good fit and finish, sharp edge. I have yet to use this in the wild, as it were, but first impressions are very good.
I hope you find this review useful, Al, thanks for the nudge to the Bark Side, look forward to seeing you at Dartmoor 5 whenever this may be, to every one else on the forum I wish you a Happy New Year and all the best.
Note: I do not work for theknifeconnection, I am merely a satisfied customer.
This knife is a little under 6mm thick, full convex with a blade length of 105mm from tip to choil, made of A2 Tool Steel and it came shaving sharp, a .75 Longstrider at least, (0 = butter knife, 1 = Longstriders, "supplied with a plaster", finest).
Here it is in hand, the notches on the spine, which replace the ramp, are meant to strike a fire steel according to the specs, however they do not seem to work on my LMF, and they are quite sharp, digging painfully into my thumb when it is pressed against them as in picture 6.
The thickness of the blade and the convex grind means a little learning curve to make a feather stick, but it can perform this quite well, even with my meagre skills. Carving should be possible with a minimum of fuss for simple things.
Here it is next to my Enzo Trapper, the knives are placed next to the feathers they carved
One thing the thickness does lend itself to is push cutting, here it is next to a Mora 511, which is approximately 2mm thick:
And next to the Trapper, which is about 3.5mm.
And the cut I made, using very little pressure:
The grip is quite comfortable in a variety of grips:
My palm is approximately 95mm across.
The sheath, whilst functional, and strong, seems to have been made with less than perfect QC, although I must stress that this does not affect its function, here you can see some dimpling and what appears to be press marks below the lip ging down both sides:
And here is where an inclusion in the leather used to make the stack wasn't picked up before assembly and shaping.
It is very secure, and grips the knife well:
Overall this is a very good knife, with good fit and finish, sharp edge. I have yet to use this in the wild, as it were, but first impressions are very good.
I hope you find this review useful, Al, thanks for the nudge to the Bark Side, look forward to seeing you at Dartmoor 5 whenever this may be, to every one else on the forum I wish you a Happy New Year and all the best.
Note: I do not work for theknifeconnection, I am merely a satisfied customer.
but there is no micro bevel that I can see or feel with my thumbnail.
