Bark River Aurora initial thoughts

[Wihglah]

The Bark River Aurora isn't cheap. With shipping and import fees I paid..... oh god - how much?

Anywho..

The knife feels awesome in the hand. I realise the scales are a bit out there - but I wanted something unusual and I'm not a big fan of natural materials anyway.

Out of the box it's a razor. and the build quality is very good - not exceptional, but very good. The Corby pins are almost flat to the scales (you can just feel them if you try hard), the sabre/convex blade is ground perfectly and the length feels just right for wood processing. The belly may be a little shallow for field dressing of larger game efficiently, but I am sure it will work. The spine is sharp and strikes a ferrorod nicely.

The sheath is a tad unimpressive. It's a simple friction fit affair and does what it says on the tin. Light weight and minimalist is the best description - no dangler (which would be my preferred carry). The knife is certainly not going anywhere once it's in.

I created the Ferrorod myself, it's an exact match to the scales and fits the sheath loop perfectly.

This is my first CPM-3V blade, so I am looking forward to trying it out in a few weekends time, more news then.

 

[Nice65]

I like that very much. I'm a fan of the Barkie convex, it's a useful grind that offers the wood cutting ability of a scandi, and a lot more.

Handle is Kirinite I take it? It's too brittle to use as a knife handle for me personally, I like G10 and micarta. I had one ping off the grinder a few years ago and it shattered.

But, for pure jazz in a knife handle, yours is fantastic.

 

[Klenchblaize]

You won't lose it!

K

 

[Janne]

I like the design of the blade and grind. The handle colour is an 'acquired' taste I guess, but easy to find in case you drop it.

 

[Wihglah]

Fits right in between my Enzo and my custom Beast

 

[Wihglah]

Update.

I spent the weekend at the Woodland Ways Bushcraft School (Friday evening to Sunday midday) and gave the Aurora a bit if a work out.

Before I go on, I made some adaptations to the sheath - adding a D ring and a dangler loop made from 25mm webbing - simple sewing job. I also gave it 4 coats of sno-seal.

I also gave the blade a mirror polish

I batoned a fair bit of fire wood, started the odd fire, gutted a trout, made an 'A' frame shelter and generally used the knife at every opportunity.

It came back having performed flawlessly and has no edge rolls or chips and is still hair popping sharp.

Hurray for convex grinds.

The handle is extremely comfortable and offered good purchase during the food 'prep'.

I had to remove the lanyard I made though - soaked in fish guts.....