Bark river knives

[lafayette]

Hello,

I don't know much about those knives. They look pretty good and have a very good reputation. I would be interested in puchasing their Golok knife. Their Hudson bay camp knife looks pretty good too.
Does anyone of you have pieces of information about these knives (or this brand generally speaking) ?
Thanks in advance.

[Noss]

Well I'm getting ready to d-test three of them. The ones I have look nice and they are very sharp. The handles are very slick on them. If you have wet hands they are hard to hold on to but this can be fixed. This is about all I can tell you about them at the moment.
I have done very little with them so far.

[Izan]

While scouting for my 3" blade I did some fact finding on these knives. I know they offer a lifetime warranty for any break not completely intentional. The guy who makes them posts on knifeforums quite a bit and seem like a good dude.

Like Noss said, the handles seem a bit slippery for my tastes but they are a good looking blade. Along the lines of a Helle or Fallkniven.

We will see how they handle hard use after Noss gets through with them :rockon:

[lafayette]

Thanks for your answers mates

[NervusNorvus]

I own a Bark River "Aurora" model. On this and some other models like the Bravo I, there are palm swells. This goes a long way toward maintaining a good grip despite the polished handles.

[lafayette]

NervusNorvus : important info, since thee is no guard.The grip has to be good!

[NervusNorvus]

I own a Bark River "Aurora" model. On this and some other models like the Bravo I, there are palm swells. This goes a long way toward maintaining a good grip despite the polished handles.

NervusNorvus : important info, since there is no guard.The grip has to be good!

UPDATE:--
In addition to light and moderate cutting, I've been doing some hard stabbing into pine 4X4 and piles of magazines. I used a Bark River "Aurora" with micarta handle slabs and Extrema Ratio "Schrapnel OG" with forprene (rubberized) grip for comparison.

In light and moderate use, the palm swells on the Aurora are ergonomic and prevent the hand from sliding onto the blade. But in hard stabs, coming to an abrupt stop, my hand slides toward the blade, no matter what the grip.

With the rubberized grip of my Schrapnel OG, sliding is not a problem. With decent grip pressure, no matter how hard I stab, my hand stays put.

[Savagesicslayer]

I own 3 Bark River knives.Gameskeeper,Bravo-1 and a Mountain man.The Bravo-1 gets regular use.I washed my handle with dish liquid then sanded it with steel wool.Now it grips very well.

[culpeper]

They make a ton of different knives with a nice variety of handles. The company has its own set of groupies. Not that there is anything wrong with that.

[theonew]

I'm by no means a Barkie fan boy but I will say that my primary woods blade is a Barkie Aurora and has been for the last 7-8 months. Previous to the Aurora my favorite woods knife was a Busse SJTAC. There were two reasons I switched. One was weight. And the other, which is why I'm not as enamored with INFI as I first was, is the performance of the edge at very acute angles. Basically with almost every knife I've owned I keep thinning the edge with each sharpening until I notice denting, rolling or chipping with the usual tasks I use the knife for. I don't do convex sharpening on the cutting edge, just a basic v-grind. I may convex the shoulders a bit but that is all. With INFI I found that when the edge was thinned to less than 10 degrees per side, edge rolling and denting occurred much too easily. My Busse Cultellus had its edge roll cutting open a plastic clamshell package and my SJTAC dented cutting a branch that had some dirt embedded in the bark. OK so I'm insane, with even a slightly thicker edge INFI performs dramatically better. But with my Barkie Aurora in A2, I'm down to less than 8 degrees per side and have noticed no edge deformation doing rough tasks. I've also batoned the hell out of the knife, using both wood and rocks as a baton and haven't broken the knife yet. I really look forward to seeing how this A2 stands up to Noss's tests though. If it fails at the same point that the Reeve A2 did then I will definitely start looking for my next woods knife. If on the other hand it at least makes it to the flex test I will continue to carry it and be very happy. I'm seriously looking forward to your tests Noss. Thanks.

[NervusNorvus]

Savagesicslayer: Delighted to hear that steel wool roughed up the handle slabs of your Bravo-1 so nicely. I'm going to give my Aurora the same treatment for a better grip.

theonew: I guess a whole bunch of us waiting to see how well an A2 Barkie stands up to destruction testing. Barkies are some beautiful, functional knives but their ultimate toughness potential is yet to be revealed.

I believe the CR Green Beret model was in S30V and the CR Project One was in A2. So whatever problems the two knives share, probably do not relate to the type of steel used.

[lafayette]

I bought an Aurora few months ago and I am very satisfied : it is a great cutter, it is very easy to sharpen . This knife is design for small tasks but it is thick enough to rough it up. And it gets a beautiful patina. In fact, I think I am going to get a Hudson Bay River, I like its old fashion looking and it looks efficient. Does anyone own this knife?

[CloaknDagger]

I'm not sure if this thread is active still, but it popped up with a google search for "Bark River Aurora". I found everyone's posts interesting, but I felt the need to respond to a few things. NervousNorvus pointed out that the Aurora's handle provided insufficient grip during hard, abrupt stabs. That's fair, and probably accurate, but the criticism does require some context. The aurora is not a fighting knife. Its not a breaching tool (i.e. Busse, which I love dearly). Its not a chisel. It's a bushcraft blade, which is a knife in the purest sense of the word. When used as it is intended (for bushcraft), a knife has no need of a guard because you would never really need to make hard stabs into wood. If you feel that you may need to use you knife under unusual circumstances (stabbing crap), there are tons of great tactical survival knives out there (Busse Kin, Fehrman, Becker, etc). Bottom line, you can't quite criticize the Aurora for failing at a task that it was never intended to be used for.

[G. Scott H.]

That's a fair enough assessment. Mike Stewart has discussed his feelings about guards at various other forums, so I know he's given it lots of thought when designing knives, taking into consideration their intended uses, etc. :cool:

[culpeper]

I had a Bravo-1 for a short time just to check it out. It looked like a good knife. I sold it and didn't do any testing at all.

[trib trekker]

I have a Bravo-1. Actually, it's the newest addition to my "collection" (and I use that term loosely). Sweet little knife, and surprisingly sturdy. Zero grind convex is standard. I have a hard time considering it the ultimate all around survival knife, as the hype story about the "Force Recon" claims. I'd like a lot more info about their comparison, tests, and criteria. Great little knife, but if I need cash, it'll be the first to go. Within that size range, I'd feel much more confident with my Fehrman Last Chance or SAR 4. Yes they are a bit bigger, but that's my point. But for now, I enjoy playing with the Bravo-1, with it's black and red micarta handle and the kick-ass petina I put on it using a wad of string soaked in vinegar. I have no doubt that in normal to semi-hard-use, it'll last a lifetime. I think NOSS well demonstrate some nice chipping in the concrete chopping, though. BTW, cuts fingers like butter!

[97guns]

i guess you can call me one of those groupies, kina off and on. i have around 40 bark river pieces.

[winbag338]

i guess you can call me one of those groupies, kina off and on. i have around 40 bark river pieces.

I dont that many knives, period. Holy smokes!

[97guns]

i guess i have gotten a little carried away, im on around 50 benchmades too.

[culpeper]

The BRK Boone II did well in the D-test. But the Bravo is the so-called queen of the line. Personally, my benchmark on Noss's tests is the Air Force survival knife by Ontario. It did 'so-so' during the test. If a knife tests worse than the Air Force survival knife than forget about it. As for Mike Stewart, I've had a couple of run-ins with him in the past. Lately, we just avoid each other. I find it an appearance of a conflict of interest for a "knife manufacturer" to be a moderator on any knife related forum. The fucker is all about bias and censorship. That is bad medicine. Nevertheless, he will accept an apology but I've never seen him apology for anything, myself. He will only thrive in places he has some sort of control. His ego is writing checks it can't cash.

Okay, I've taken Mike's inventory enough for one day...:) Lets talk about my own shortcomings...:jerkit:

[Falcor]

Bro Culpeper, seems your shortcoming is being a regular guy with old fashioned American values ... like free speech ... but please mind your language, you're making be blush!! he he he he

[Noss]

i guess you can call me one of those groupies, kina off and on. i have around 40 bark river pieces.

That's more knives than I own all together. Including all my crappy kitchen knives.

[97guns]

yeah, but thats because you broke them all :D

[culpeper]

That's more knives than I own all together. Including all my crappy kitchen knives.

Agree 97!

Hell, you break all your knives. Stop crying...:D

[Noss]

Very true. :D But I didn't Have a big collection to begin with. I started buying most knives after I started this site and most of those knives have been destroyed. I've never been a knife collector buying everything in sight. Over the years I spent most of my money on firearms instead.

[Falcor]

Noss, I love it when you talk dirty - firearms are my first passion too...

[Noss]

:D Nothing like buying a new gun. :thumb: I don't have much will power when it comes to firearms. I see it, I like It, I buy it on the spot. I just wish firearms were as cheap as knives.:D

[winbag338]

Brkt is making very good knives, if you can stand giving money to mike stewart.

[97guns]

:D Nothing like buying a new gun. :thumb: I don't have much will power when it comes to firearms. I see it, I like It, I buy it on the spot. I just wish firearms were as cheap as knives.:D

dont get me started on guns, that is my first love - knives are secondary. my last count stood at close to 80 pieces and ive probably picked up another 6-8 since then.