Bark River Knives (BRKT) out of business - Chinese blades marked Made in USA

[trashcanman1984]

Who is really going to trust Jim's new company?

Agreed....not me

 

[Danceswithhelicopters]

Mike Stewart posted this on Facebook.


LET'S MAKE THIS OFFICIAL .This is a Long Read but Important.
BARK RIVER KNIVES IS NOW CLOSED.
All business was concluded on Friday Afternoon March 20th 2026.
This Closing was long overdue - I should have done this over 2 years ago.

I need to say that all of this is 100% totally my responsibility.
As you have seen from the tons of posts I have been taking the heat since Friday.

There are many factors that lead to this but ultimately I'll take the Blame.
Please do not Blame Lesley Stewart or Jim Stewart for any of this.

In addition to my Mismanagement the Choice to use an Alternate Chinese Steel was my choice - not anyone else's Blunder.

Over the last 25 years we have made well over a million knives.
This blunder of mine only effected a few models
Here is the List of them.
Camp Bolo.
Fox River Trailing Point .
Highwayman 4.
Mini-Manitou.
Gladstone Hunter.
Bitterroot Caper
The Last two Club Knives as well.

We tested the steel it had almost the same edge retention of CPM 154.
It had the same toughness as CPM 154
It had even more Stain Resistance than CPM 154.
All of these were reground with our Convex Geometry.
All were reshaped them to a Bark River Shape
All were processed in our Shop by our Crew.
All of the handle materials were materials we currently use
All of them were etched just like all our models
All were inspected and boxed like all of our models.
By doing over 5 operations on each knife - they meet the criteria of Made in U.S.A.
Yes the steel was mis-marked.
Let me be clear that None of our Dealers knew about any of this and are 100% Blameless for this situation.
It is 100% my Fault.
Let me also clearly state that all other Bark River Knives have been made with the Steel that is marked on the blade - This use of import steel was only for a very short period of Time to keep our Employees working.

IN OTHER DEVELOPMENTS.
Jim Stewart will be opening his own Knife Company
100% Independent of Bark River Knives.
Jim has agreed to take over all of the Warranties that would normally go to Bark River.
When he is ready I'm sure he will make the Official Announcement.
I will not have a hand in his new Company.

All I can do at this point is Offer a Very Sincere Apology and with much regret fade out of the knife industry that I have spent the last 50 years in.
I want to thank all of the Folks that have Reached out to me privately to offer their support. It has meant a lot to me.

I wanted to wait to post this until our Dealers had a chance to react and post their positions.
I also wanted to make sure that all of our Employees were paid for working last week. I did that this morning.

My recent Health Problems and Lesley's Health Problems did play a part in all of this but I am not using that as any kind of excuse.

At least an old school Mea Culpa.

 

[Nice65]

Who is really going to trust Jim's new company?

He doesn't stand a hope in hell of starting a new American knife company.

 

[hughtrimble]

Definitely don’t mean the Aurora, which came later. Was definitely the North Star, and what you said is almost verbatim what I said, with the addition that the front of the handle was too narrow to spread load.

Gotcha! Bonkers approach from him.

 

[hughtrimble]

Have been reading BF, and taken this from one of the posts...

At the moment, I'd argue that at least with knives made in Bark River's goldern era (pre-2019), should at least hold their value or slightly dip for a few months. Probably as time goes, those knives will start to increase bit by bit. As long as the knives are legit steel (A2, 52-100, 5160, 3V) they should be good to retain their value. Stainless models might get a bit more scrutiny



I agree with the above statement, and pleased that mine are pre-2019. My Canadian camp 2 is a most likely the 3v steel, it has been completely abused (in a good way), the edge is stable and really holds it. Same for the bushcrafter lite I have.

Yet to use the Aurora 2 as it should be, and that is a early 2019 purchase, but again in use that it has had, it is performing as expected....?

That to me sounds like someone who has a big collection of pre-2019 models and wants to make a few bucks in the coming months. Golden era of BRKT, based on what? Sounds like just this person's spending habit is the guide.

I'd suggest their golden era was well before then before they made such a ridiculously enormous range that they stopped making sense. And no, I don't have any at all left in my possession, sadly!

 

[hughtrimble]

Who is really going to trust Jim's new company?

I don't really see why not. He was in an impossible position, it's all his dad, IF what's been said is to be believed. I suggest his new company will be under so much scrutiny that it'll need to be whiter than white to get traction anywhere, so it should keep him on the straight and narrow.

I have always wondered about steels claimed by any company in their knives. Who ever keeps them in check? We just base it all on trust, but they could be doing the same as this lot and it may never be found, unless someone does whatever the necessary analysis is that can determine if it's really what it says it is. Poor edge retention and toughness etc. so often get blamed on a bad batch of heat treatment, or burnt edges during manufacturing, but seldom is the claimed steel questioned.

 

[Stew]

I don't really see why not. He was in an impossible position, it's all his dad, IF what's been said is to be believed. I suggest his new company will be under so much scrutiny that it'll need to be whiter than white to get traction anywhere, so it should keep him on the straight and narrow.

I have always wondered about steels claimed by any company in their knives. Who ever keeps them in check? We just base it all on trust, but they could be doing the same as this lot and it may never be found, unless someone does whatever the necessary analysis is that can determine if it's really what it says it is. Poor edge retention and toughness etc. so often get blamed on a bad batch of heat treatment, or burnt edges during manufacturing, but seldom is the claimed steel questioned.

Tricky one, innit.

My line is that I can forgive the workers on the production line. They blatantly knew but I think there's a different level of responsibility versus getting a wage.

Of course Mike will take all the blame as it gives that pass to everyone else rather than all suffereing but, to me, Jim is responsible too. He was down as a more senior role so unless there can be something saying that they full on fell out about it or similar then sorry but it's a no from me.

 

[hughtrimble]

Tricky one, innit.

My line is that I can forgive the workers on the production line. They blatantly knew but I think there's a different level of responsibility versus getting a wage.

Of course Mike will take all the blame as it gives that pass to everyone else rather than all suffereing but, to me, Jim is responsible too. He was down as a more senior role so unless there can be something saying that they full on fell out about it or similar then sorry but it's a no from me.

An entirely understandable stance. I'm mostly being devil's advocate given the context of my having not bought a BRKT in a long time, at least 10 years. So I'm not likely to be buying one regardless unless it's something very cool, or they branch out into folders.

So it's likely a no from me too regardless!

 

[Chris]

From Heinnie:

 

[C_Claycomb]

Where was that Heinnie statement posted? Couldn’t find on website, but maybe it was elsewhere?
At this moment the only BRKT knives they have for sale are the GLADSTONE HUNTER and the Bravo 1, and only the former is marked down…so no need to get excited over bargains!

 

[Chris]

Where was that Heinnie statement posted? Couldn’t find on website, but maybe it was elsewhere?
At this moment the only BRKT knives they have for sale are the GLADSTONE HUNTER and the Bravo 1, and only the former is marked down…so no need to get excited over bargains!

It was in one of their daily emails, underneath some Twisted Assist utility knives.

 

[Keith_Beef]

From Heinnie:

View attachment 102354

Heinnie could do with a copy editor.

 

[FerlasDave]

From Heinnie:

View attachment 102354

And they’re already sold out of all the remaining Bark River knives.

 

[chimpy leon]

Good riddance! Rubbish knives, rubbish company, rubbish people running it.

It is said that Jim Stewart (Mikes Son) is starting his own knife making business.
Jim Stewart was their production manager - he absolutely knew everything regarding the production of their knives and where they came from.
Good luck with the new venture Jim, you’ll need it because people wont forget in a hurry.

 

[Pattree]

I have no interest in the knives but Snugpack survived a similar decision by being sort of open about it.

The Crysalis and Softie sleeping bags were made in China for a while. but they got a lot of flack. You couldn’t get more British than Snugpak.

I am still suffering from a Chinese Snugpak and treat the zip as if it were a fragile flower.


Attached to my Crysalis was a label that outlined the decision and told the buyer that it had resulted in the departure of one of the founders. However this was not made clear before purchase.

Snugpak have survived by making excellent sleeping a bags since.
I see no reason why this the emergent knife company shouldn’t do the same in time - It will however take time.

Edited!

 

[chimpy leon]

I remember Virtuovice on YouTube (a brilliant channel if you've not come across it before, but related to game processing and he seldom posts now) evaluating loads and loads of Bark River knives, and finding their claim of zero convex grind being often incorrect, given the presence of marked secondary or at least micro secondary edge bevels.

I bought a Gunny A2 off the merit of Virtuovice, as many others did.
He did absolute wonders to fill Mike Stewart’s pockets over the years, and for that he now he is now sitting on a million or so yen worth of Bark River Landfill. Poor bloke.

As for the Gunny: Handle was comfortable, sheath was well made (outsourced I believe) but the blade lost its edge exceptionally easily working wood.
Poor edge retention = poor heat treat (if it even was A2!)
Poor heat treat = rubbish knife.

I’m glad Ive never even considered another Bark River since.

 

[hughtrimble]

I bought a Gunny A2 off the merit of Virtuovice, as many others did.
He did absolute wonders to fill Mike Stewart’s pockets over the years, and for that he now he is now sitting on a million or so yen worth of Bark River Landfill. Poor bloke.

As for the Gunny: Handle was comfortable, sheath was well made (outsourced I believe) but the blade lost its edge exceptionally easily working wood.
Poor edge retention = poor heat treat (if it even was A2!)
Poor heat treat = rubbish knife.

I’m glad Ive never even considered another Bark River since.

Disappointing you had that experience with yours.

As for Virtuovice, I didn't get the impression he was too worried about blade money! He seemed to just love the process of reprofiling almost every knife he bought. I'd pay a premium for one of his regrinds even if it's AUS8 masquerading as A2.

Did you see the video where he cut his hand really badly whilst deer dressing out in the sticks, and then filmed the process of him suturing himself up at his clinic? Absolute Dr Madman, in an excellent way.

 

[Nice65]

Good luck with the new venture Jim, you’ll need it because people wont forget in a hurry.

And tell me Mike was the only person who knew about this?

 

[Toddy]

MOD HAT ON....

While I agree that news like this ought to be widely disseminated, please remember that there are laws about libel. Please don't leave BcUK vulnerable while you discuss a knife company failing.

 

[Nice65]

Apologies.