Bark River Knives closing?

[da1cyclist]

I haven’t seen anywhere how they “got caught”

[Ramonade]

Back when I was still watching every movement of every brand to learn more about the knife world and knife business, I went into sort of a deep research on some brands like Medford, Hinderer and Bark River.

It was in 2020 or so, and what I've learned is that customers often had issues, and they were met with a not-so-good response from Mike directly, pretty often. I've also seen big orders that had been paid, ending up not being met by Bark River and the guys who paid several thousands of dollars just got a net loss on these.

I understand that running a business in this era is not for the faint of earth. Social media makes it so that everyone can make a LOT of noise, and you have to defend your work. But I've seen Mike be really disrespectful to the face of it's own customers dozens of times. Even if these customers were just asking politely for help with an issue that should by taken care of by customer service under their own warranty.

[StuntZombie]

I haven’t seen anywhere how they “got caught”

One of their creditors seized a shipment going to them, and it turned out to be knife blanks from China. Plus, employees started posting on Facebook about what was going on.

[Michal O]

Good lesson for everyone, to be honest and fair with customers and employees. I hope that justice is going to reach Stewart.

[kennethsime]

I haven’t seen anywhere how they “got caught”

One of their creditors seized a shipment going to them, and it turned out to be knife blanks from China. Plus, employees started posting on Facebook about what was going on.

Man, I also missed this. Do you have a source by chance?

[kennethsime]

Here's an interesting one.

The Bravo was arguably BRK's signature model. I have a 1.25 LT, and it's my most-used fixed blade. Probably the one I'd keep if I could only have one.

Mike has claimed, quite vocally over the years, that the Bravo was developed with special forces, or at least with special forces in mind. Their website currently claims:

The Bravo 1 Has a long history with Bark River Knives. It is one of our most popular Designs. Bark River Have produced over 10,000 of this model and it’s variations. the Bravo 1 Was designed in hand with Representatives from Force Recon and Mike Stewart.

This kind of origin story isn't really unique in the knife world - in fact it's quite commonly used to bolster sales. In this case, my bet is that the story is a complete fabrication, and I wouldn't doubt if similar stories were often fabricated.

Questions: are there any examples of similar stories that are true? How often do military leaders get involved in knife design? How often do unit leaders requisition specific knives for their soldiers?

[kennethsime]

KnivesShipFree has posted an update.

What about the remaining BRK models?
So far, a few independent tests have come back as genuine USA steel, and we're working on expanding this. From our remaining inventory, we have now tested Bark River blades using an XRF spectrometer. These tests have included:
A2
CPM-3V
CPM-MagnaCut
CPM-CruWear
CPM-154 (from a different model than the list above)

These results matched the expected alloy compositions. To validate our results, we also tested equivalent steels from other manufacturers, and each of these matched up with our Bark River tests. We'll continue updating this page as more testing is done.

I have seen a few XRF results in the Facebook groups that have so far confirmed the compositions match up well enough with their labeled steels.

[standy99]

Questions: are there any examples of similar stories that are true? How often do military leaders get involved in knife design? How often do unit leaders requisition specific knives for their soldiers?

Worked with the USMC at Camp Pendleton and a unit all had a knife made by “TOOR Knives” in San Diego. A retired member or two was now working there. Picked one up before I left. Guys at TOOR were great and gave me a tour of workshop and even gave me the USMC military discount (probably the first TOOR knife in Australia)

Worked with another US Navy unit in the Philippines many years earlier and they all carried Spyderco Pacific Salts

[Naperville]

Here's an interesting one.

The Bravo was arguably BRK's signature model. I have a 1.25 LT, and it's my most-used fixed blade. Probably the one I'd keep if I could only have one.

Mike has claimed, quite vocally over the years, that the Bravo was developed with special forces, or at least with special forces in mind. Their website currently claims:

The Bravo 1 Has a long history with Bark River Knives. It is one of our most popular Designs. Bark River Have produced over 10,000 of this model and it’s variations. the Bravo 1 Was designed in hand with Representatives from Force Recon and Mike Stewart.

This kind of origin story isn't really unique in the knife world - in fact it's quite commonly used to bolster sales. In this case, my bet is that the story is a complete fabrication, and I wouldn't doubt if similar stories were often fabricated.

Questions: are there any examples of similar stories that are true? How often do military leaders get involved in knife design? How often do unit leaders requisition specific knives for their soldiers?

I'm willing to believe some of these stories. Weapons get submit and weapons are sought.

But you have to remember!

S.E.A.L.S. alone
There are eight conventional, active-duty U.S. Navy SEAL Teams (Teams 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, and 10), along with two reserve teams (17 and 18) and the specialized Naval Special Warfare Development Group (DEVGRU or SEAL Team 6). These teams are organized under Naval Special Warfare Command and comprise roughly 3,000 active-duty personnel.

Also....
There are approximately 70,000 total military and civilian personnel within the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), encompassing all elite units from the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps. Within this broader number, there are estimated to be around 5,500 to 6,500 active-duty Army Special Forces ("Green Berets").


AND it is well known that knife makers meet with and submit weapons for use or are asked to submit weapons for use.

Soooooooooooo how unbelievable is it that one credentialed special forces operators out of 100,000 who is around weapons all day and needing weapons, might contact a weapons manufacturer to make something?

It is an honor for all around to work together.

[TazKristi]

Here's an interesting one...

Questions: are there any examples of similar stories that are true? How often do military leaders get involved in knife design? How often do unit leaders requisition specific knives for their soldiers?

Hi, kennethsime:
Our original Jumpmaster was developed in close cooperation with the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division jumpmasters. That entire project was started at the request of a Major with the 82nd Airborne. Sal traveled to Ft Bragg to meet, and the design was in development and testing for a considerable time - the testing was done by jumpmasters from the 82nd.

So, while it's not a daily occurrence, it happens more than one might think.

Kristi

[JoviAl]

A little update on BRK -

I found this in my spam folder to my complete surprise. Looks like the statements from Mr Stewart about another company handling warranty claims in future was a fiction.

[JoviAl]

Here's an interesting one...

Questions: are there any examples of similar stories that are true? How often do military leaders get involved in knife design? How often do unit leaders requisition specific knives for their soldiers?

Hi, kennethsime:
Our original Jumpmaster was developed in close cooperation with the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division jumpmasters. That entire project was started at the request of a Major with the 82nd Airborne. Sal traveled to Ft Bragg to meet, and the design was in development and testing for a considerable time - the testing was done by jumpmasters from the 82nd.

So, while it's not a daily occurrence, it happens more than one might think.

Kristi

Given how much I treasure and use my JM2 the original has become a bit of a grail knife for me. Hopefully one day I’ll find one for sale somewhere - designs don’t come much more purpose driven than that

[electro-static]

A little update on BRK -

IMG_6771.jpeg

I found this in my spam folder to my complete surprise. Looks like the statements from Mr Stewart about another company handling warranty claims in future was a fiction.

Looks like there was at least one decent person working at bark river, just not mike or jim.

[JARHEAD]

Agreed!

[WilliamMunny]

A little update on BRK -

IMG_6771.jpeg

I found this in my spam folder to my complete surprise. Looks like the statements from Mr Stewart about another company handling warranty claims in future was a fiction.

That’s awesome, I would send him $20 just for for the effort if he would take it. Otherwise you may have never seen your knife again.

For all the people that jumped on the bad, hopefully the good people in the company could be praised.

[StuntZombie]

I haven’t seen anywhere how they “got caught”

One of their creditors seized a shipment going to them, and it turned out to be knife blanks from China. Plus, employees started posting on Facebook about what was going on.

Man, I also missed this. Do you have a source by chance?

Not sure how the forum folks feel about cross forum posting, so I'll shoot a link to you via pm.

[JoviAl]

A little update on BRK -

IMG_6771.jpeg

I found this in my spam folder to my complete surprise. Looks like the statements from Mr Stewart about another company handling warranty claims in future was a fiction.

That’s awesome, I would send him $20 just for for the effort if he would take it. Otherwise you may have never seen your knife again.

For all the people that jumped on the bad, hopefully the good people in the company could be praised.

I’ve offered to cover the shipping back to Singapore as it’s heinously expensive but no response as yet. It cost me ~$65 to send it in for warranty in the first place

[Fireman]

Was it only the 154 that was the issue? Mine are Magnacut and 3V (I hope)

[Flash]

Was it only the 154 that was the issue? Mine are Magnacut and 3V (I hope)

154 is the only one Mike Stewart is admitting to.
Currently he is the only one who knows how far the lies go with the steels, but there are people running tests.

We have cases of “chippy” 3V, poor edge retention, stainless steels rusting, Carbon steels not rusting. I don’t think it’s too far fetched to assume 154 is just the tip of the iceberg and there’s all kinds of weird and wonderful steels out there under the Bark River Knives name which have been mislabelled as premium cutlery steel.

[jdw]

Was it only the 154 that was the issue? Mine are Magnacut and 3V (I hope)

154 is the only one Mike Stewart is admitting to.
Currently he is the only one who knows how far the lies go with the steels, but there are people running tests.

We have cases of “chippy” 3V, poor edge retention, stainless steels rusting, Carbon steels not rusting. I don’t think it’s too far fetched to assume 154 is just the tip of the iceberg and there’s all kinds of weird and wonderful steels out there under the Bark River Knives name which have been mislabelled as premium cutlery steel.

I have a BRK in 3V and one in Magnacut. For reference I have a Hinderer fixed blade in 3V and a Military 2 with Magnacut. Completely anecdotal but the BRK 3V always seemed exceptionally soft to me and the BRK Magnacut developed some staining (clearly not an issue with DLC). I always thought this was a difference in heat treat or some steel property that I don’t understand but I now have serious doubts about the authenticity of the steel in each.