Bark River Knives Shuts Down in Disgrace

[wyojdubya]

Looks like Bark River Knives closed its doors for good on Friday, amid pressure over unpaid bills and with the stunning announcement it used Chinese steel in certain knives it marketed as USA made CPM 154.

I always liked the look of their blades. But widespread disdain for the owner throughout the knife discussion boards always kept me from buying. Anyone here have any 'quality control' problems with their BRK blades?

Michigan Knifemaker Closes Shop After Admitting to Using Chinese Steel and Labeling It USA-Made

A well-known American knife maker has closed after admitting to using Chinese steel and labeling the blades as 'Made in the USA.'

www.outdoorlife.com

 

[adamm88]

I never had had any quality control issues. I own around 15ish Bark river knives knives from kitchen to my deer gutting knife to bushcraft.

I do have one of the Chinese mini Manitous, I haven't used it a whole lot yet, It was going to be in my back pack next year for the fall season but probably not now. Out of the box that knife was one of the sharpest knives i have ever owned. I was hoping to get some pheasants or rabbits to gut with it but due to how the snow hit and stayed around i didnt get back out hunting or get anything to test it on.

Most of my knives are magnacut from bark river, I have 1 cru ware, 2 cpm154, and i think 1 3 v and the chinese steel mini manitou. None of the handles were fancy i think they are all black canvas or or green canvas micarta. Nothing fancy just user knives.

Its a shame how it went down, they build unique knives from collector pieces to users. I know DLT trading is testing a knife out off all his knives in stock but he is pretty certain they will all come back with properly labeled steels as he paid for the steel for mike to make them so he felt most the knives will come back as the proper steel.

 

[sthorne19]

I have around 30 Bark Rivers and have owned well over 100 through the years. I have had nothing but great experience with them and attended a Grind in a few years ago as well. FYI I believe both DLT and KSF will refund your money or give you store credit for any of the Chinese steel knives. Jim Steward has also communicated he will make it right once he has a shop up and running. It's a shame and could have been avoided with some better business decisions even if it meant selling the company. There are a couple of good Facebook groups with a lot of information but be prepared for serious negativity, bashing and overall douchbagery.

 

[adamm88]

I have around 30 Bark Rivers and have owned well over 100 through the years. I have had nothing but great experience with them and attended a Grind in a few years ago as well. FYI I believe both DLT and KSF will refund your money or give you store credit for any of the Chinese steel knives. Jim Steward has also communicated he will make it right once he has a shop up and running. It's a shame and could have been avoided with some better business decisions even if it meant selling the company. There are a couple of good Facebook groups with a lot of information but be prepared for serious negativity, bashing and overall douchbagery.

I follow the facebook groups pretty closely. I personally don't feel right asking for money back or returning the chinese knife and screw over the small businesses of ksf or dlt. Its 100% Fraud on bark rivers end and i couldn't in good conscious support Jim in any way in the future. Jim was second in command at a pretty small company, I get Mike was the captain but he knew of the financial struggle and this was a real possibility of them shutting down and the chinese steel coming to light. From the storys online Jim was a pretty big perv in the shop as well.

 

[doc holiday13]

................................
I do have one of the Chinese mini Manitous, I haven't used it a whole lot yet, It was going to be in my back pack next year for the fall season but probably not now. Out of the box that knife was one of the sharpest knives i have ever owned............................

Not trying to be an ass here, but what you said makes no sense.

Your logic is "I won't use this knife because despite it being the sharpest knife I own and I really like it; I won't be using it because its chinese stainless instead of the CPM154 i thought it was"

You still paid for the knife. You can't return it. Are you just so offended that you can't stomach the idea of using a blade and finding out if it performs well despite being chinese steel??? (not saying it performs well, but there is the possibility that it will)

 

[Floated_down]

How/why in the hell do you own "well over 100 knives"?

 

[adamm88]

Not trying to be an ass here, but what you said makes no sense.

Your logic is "I won't use this knife because despite it being the sharpest knife I own and I really like it; I won't be using it because its chinese stainless instead of the CPM154 i thought it was"

You still paid for the knife. You can't return it. Are you just so offended that you can't stomach the idea of using a blade and finding out if it performs well despite being chinese steel??? (not saying it performs well, but there is the possibility that it will)

Sorry for not being clear, It wont be the knife i rely on that lives in my pack, I have a Gunny lt in Magnacut that wont get bumped out of my pack,. Im assuming jason at DLT is testing these to see what they actually are and how comparable they are to cpm154. Even if it was truly cpm154 it problally wouldnt have bumped the Gunny Lt out of my pack permanently.

I have plenty of Chinese, Taiwan and knives from other county's. I actually prefer Japanese made kitchen knives.

I really bought the knife because i wanted a leather handled knife and liked the look of it, It was going to be a game knife for field dressing ect...Being chinese steel ect isnt the end of be all and ill still use it for somthing at some point.

 

[TheTone]

How/why in the hell do you own "well over 100 knives"?

I probably have around 50 and have maybe bought 10 of them. All the rest were either gifts or ones I have found

 

[sthorne19]

How/why in the hell do you own "well over 100 knives"?

I was a collector for about 10 years. There was/is a huge resale and trade market for custom knives. Bark River were a great value and were highly sought after especially in certain steels and handle materials. The obsession is much like that of guns.

 

[bikerj86]

Looks like Bark River Knives closed its doors for good on Friday, amid pressure over unpaid bills and with the stunning announcement it used Chinese steel in certain knives it marketed as USA made CPM 154.

I always liked the look of their blades. But widespread disdain for the owner throughout the knife discussion boards always kept me from buying. Anyone here have any 'quality control' problems with their BRK blades?

Michigan Knifemaker Closes Shop After Admitting to Using Chinese Steel and Labeling It USA-Made

A well-known American knife maker has closed after admitting to using Chinese steel and labeling the blades as 'Made in the USA.'

www.outdoorlife.com

There is a plethora of american made independent knife shops and also some amazing veteran owned, all american made knife companies out there to take their place. Being a retired veteran myself i love to support my brothers and sisters out there. One of my favorite is Semper Sharp LLC out of alaska. The owner is a Marine veteran with all american made products and in-house processes on dmaascus steel. They are pricey but beautiful and hold a edge like no other !

 

[Beendare]

Lying only works for politicians [sadly]....lying in business puts you under and leaves a bad taste in customers mouthes.

 

[mtwarden]

I owned a lot of Bark River knives over the years, I've slowly transitioned over to Fallkniven (and a few true customs)—more for a change than anything else.

Sometimes change is good.

 

[Lawnboi]

Iv had or used a lot of their knives and still have a good handful of kitchen knives. Their finish and edges usually left a little to be desired but was normally easy enough to fix.

As I got my hands on other higher end knives I got rid of most of them.

Still have a hand full in the kitchen that get used daily. But surprised to see considering the knife boom that’s still going strong.

 

[Shraggs]

I’m sad they are closed, disappointed in Mike immensely. I guess I still have 85 most older than 10 years old. I was told DLT will be testing all stock, which is a smart move. Was also told since COVID and then high inflation the demand for higher end had slowed and poor money mgt put them in a situation that lead to a very poor and unethical decision.

The ones I have minus 12 I’m selling are fantastic and I use them, so those knives are not tarnished in any way in my mind.

What I appreciated most was a full commitment to full convex (only other company that does is falkniven); good steels; and a lot of thought about the handle design (not an afterthought).

Also - was his historical study and knowledge of knives and other blade smiths. In his office he had tons of books and documents that helped shape his designs and replicas of noteworthy designs. His knowledge of a design and why it worked based the game or task, environment that design worked in, etc. he really was fascinating to talk with personally why something worked etc. they were the only or one or of very few that made knives made for skinning from historical designs used for centuries in some cases. Important to me as a hunter that doesn’t just gut. Most everything out there is a drop or clip point variant or tiny scaple - not ideal for boning out meat. IMO.

Alas he was gruff, abrasive and emotionally “to the point” his whole career and I feel it primed judgement for poor business decisions or mistakes. Without intimate knowledge - he’s best as a designer and manufacturer possibly not the fiduciary and leadership. The end products - his great designs and key replicas for me were a treasure and this event will overshadow those accomplishments.

My salute and vent…

 

[hunterjrg]

I had a bunch of Bark Rivers over the years. CruWear 3v Elmax etc. They were underperformers in my opinion. Poor edge retention, chipping, and even a couple where the edges rippled. I sold them all but a beautiful sambar stag drop point hunter. It’ll go down the road too at some point.

 

[justin davis]

Bark river knives are awesome. I have a few and love them. Hasn’t Mike done this same thing before? Similar with when he owned Blackjack knives