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

[Billy-o]

I think I've been lucky. I've still got three, only two of which (city knife and someting else with a Maple handle) I use now. The big Bravo, got superseded by others. But, the Maple one is a very old one in 12C27 with a 3 3/4" convex blade. I still like to use it, and the convexes on them all have been super easy to maintain. They've been as good as you expect for the price paid. They are just not 'great' knives, you know. A couple of tiddlers I had in the past were also good. I do recall some years ago a friend buying a Canadian and the edge was dramatically chippy. I guessed at the time that it might have just got too hot in the grind and lost its temper.

 

[hughtrimble]

I think I've been lucky. I've still got three, only two of which (city knife and someting else with a Maple handle) I use now. The big Bravo, got superseded by others. But, the Maple one is a very old one in 12C27 with a 3 3/4" convex blade. I still like to use it, and the convexes on them all were have been super easy to maintain. They've been as good as you expect for the price paid. They are just not 'great' knives, you know. A couple of tiddlers I had in the past were also good. I do recall some years ago a friend buying a Canadian and the edge was dramatically chippy. I guessed at the time that it might have just got too hot in the grind and lost its temper.

Oh yes, always liked the look of the city knife. Nimble little fixed blade yet substantial enough for some tougher stuff. Always held off as it looked like it needed a little bit of a finger guard.

 

[Stew]

Huh - by chance I used my North Star last night. Definitely on the slimmer end for the handle and the lanyard loop long ground off. Mine was a first production run so a tapered tang which meant that loop was way too thin. I much prefer the handle on my Chris Claycomb custom. Just thought I needed to point out that I have one!

 

[Chris]

Probably worth noting that it’s not really fair on Tony to post rumours which could potentially amount to libel on the forum - there are enough facts to be annoyed about without adding rumours to the mix.

 

[Toddy]

I'm a busy Mod today

Please don't post stuff that could cause bother for the Boss. We like this bit of sanity on the net

I don't know how to inform on stuff like rumours without leaving BcUK open to libel.

I'm going to @Tony ask Tony to have a read of the thread and see if he has concerns.

M

 

[Billy-o]

Here they are together, and looking like they could do with a bit of a scrub.

The Maple-handled one is a Mini Montana - took me a bit to remember. It is an OK knife. In 5mm stock but can still cut a carrot, so pretty accurate in what you want it to do. It'd be better in 1/8".

It's well-ground; dead flat and then convexed. It behaves much the same as any other 12C27 knife. Stainless and sharpens up quick. May even survive the 'old-bang-it-into-a-tree-and-bend-it-in-half' test. Do people still do that sort of beat it to death thing on YouTube?

I have been meaning to move the 3V Bravo on for a while now. Haven't got round to it.

 

[Tony]

Thanks to Mary for editing the thread/posts that were inappropriate

To those of you who posted rumours and stuff that's not actually factual, please refrain in future, it's not just that it could cause us problems legally, it's just wrong to put stuff on the forums that has no actual evidence or is made up of ill-informed opinion. So, there's a legal and a moral reason not to post it. I'd appreciate everyone taking both into consideration.

 

[Billy-o]

I see one well-known knife site in the US closed their thread on the topic on Sunday. Seventy pages of (presumably moderated) commentary.

 

[chimpy leon]

Some of their 3V knives reported as being chippy from some basic cutting tasks - rope, cardboard etc. Certainly not characteristics you would expect with 3V. Also incidents of A2 that wouldn’t rust, stainless steel which rusts too readily.
The small number of knives mentioned in Mike Stewart’s social media post that were mislabelled was likely just the tip of the iceberg. It wouldn’t surprise me if mislabelled steel extended through their range during the entire time they were selling knives.

 

[alphaburner]

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.

Did you see the one where he drained his swollen knee. Complete beast!

 

[hughtrimble]

Did you see the one where he drained his swollen knee. Complete beast!

I did not!
He's a fascinating guy, and quite bonkers.

 

[chimpy leon]

I didn’t see any of his own surgery videos but I enjoyed his sharpening, bushcraft and fishing videos a lot, and I never did buy that D6 Farid after watching him trying to re profile his for hours.

It’s a shame you don’t hear much from him anymore.

 

[Stew]

He's probably still sharpening it....

 

[chimpy leon]

I think it may have been the same video where he basically worn the tip of his fingers down from sharpening on the whetstone.

 

[Longstrider]

This answers the questions in my mind ! I recently 'fettled' 3 supposedly identical BRKT knives for a client and the way the hones felt on them told me that they were definitely not the same as each other. 2 of them were very obviously softer. One of those was a pig to get a good edge on that I trusted to last more than one animal (they were to be used for gralloching deer) before needing attention beyond a wipe-down.

Only the obviously far older knife of the three was something I would be happy enough carrying.

The hones do not tell lies