No happy end: an iconic US knife maker CLOSES FOREVER

Comments · 326

• CB

  @CBRxLIVE · 6 months ago · pinned

  Bark River Knives officially ceased operations on March 20, 2026.<br>Key Takeaways:<br>• The Scandal: Owner Mike Stewart admitted to using Chinese steel blanks in models marketed as USA-made CPM-154.<br>• Affected Models: Camp Bolo, Fox River Skinner, Highwayman 4, Mini-Manitou, Gladstone Hunter, Bitterroot Caper, and 2025/26 Club Knives.<br>• Financials: Closure follows reports of unpaid wages and mismanagement.<br>• Warranties: BRK is gone, but Jim Stewart is reportedly launching a new venture to honor outstanding warranty claims.

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• DO

  @Dont_Poke_The_Bear · 6 months ago

  Anyone who has been around or near the bushcraft scene for the last decade has been talking about BRK pulling this crap. &nbsp;Too often their legitimate concerns were drowned out by the cult-like fans and sycophants that Mike was somehow able to build around him, even after the previous disastrous knife business blunder.<br><br>Somehow, this guy has been able to carry on with shady practices in the industry for years and never really been held accountable or had to pay for ripping people off. &nbsp;To now watch threads where people are practically thanking him for ripping them off is mind blowing.<br><br>What&apos;s worse is that he ruined it for his employees and progeny as well.<br><br>Nobody in the knife industry is going to touch them career-wise, and any business venture they strike out on their own with will always be clouded by doubts of legitimate practices.<br><br>Good riddance to an awful and cancerous blight on the industry that should have been excised a decade ago.

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• VI

  @violino2003 · 5 months ago

  Bark River has created the best advertisement for Chinese counterfeit knives.

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• DA

  @davidbock1801 · 6 months ago (edited)

  I recently bought a BRK Petty Z on sale at KnivesShipFree. Supposedly, it&apos;s CPM-154. But after exactly two uses in the kitchen (just cutting vegetables, not even citrus), the knife has stains. There&apos;s no way that should happen. I guess now I know why.<br><br>PS: There&apos;s zero chance that Mike&apos;s family (Jim, etc) didn&apos;t know the steel scam was happening. Zero. Chance.

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• BU

  @Bullpup92 · 6 months ago

  Now I&apos;m really hoping my 3V Gunny from 2022 isn&apos;t made of some old scrap they found in their back yard...

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• MI

  @mikececconi2677 · 6 months ago

  It&apos;s going to turn out it&apos;s a lot more than the knives he admitted up front. This is him negotiating the damage so that he can try to rise again through his son&apos;s next &quot;independent&quot; company or whatever. Scammers always scam. They&apos;re like if sharks stop swimming, they die. He can&apos;t not scam.

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• J.

  @j.shorter4716 · 6 months ago

  After my previous experiences with bark river I can’t say I’m too upset.

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• LU

  @Lucysdad66 · 6 months ago

  This makes me mad i have a lot &nbsp;of bark river knives but all mine are older one&apos;s 2015 and older and none on the list but this scandal hurts the collective values.

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• PR

  @PrettyGoodShot · 6 months ago

  I ALWAYS felt something was fishy with Bark River. Cruising DLT&apos;s site, they were dropping WAY more knives than any &quot;maker&quot; or commercial brand, often multiple models and variants a week, some with suspiciously affordable prices for what the product was on paper. After a 3 minute google search, I saw complaints of shit performance from what should have been high end steels. Glad I went with my gut and didn&apos;t give them a penny. <br>DLT owes their customers an apology for pushing these guys as a premium brand, literally ahead of Spyderco, Microtech, Hinderer, CRK, and Medford (its still on their site).

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• PR

  @projectblitz7290 · 6 months ago

  Holy smokes I did not see this coming. I heard rumors that the owner of bark Rivers had engaged in another knife company venture way back when that failed due to fraud and other things but that the owner had good receipts to refute most of those claims and that the business simply went under cuz it wasn&apos;t profitable. But I guess all the rumors were true and that the guy with a scumbag from beginning.

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• FL

  @flapxjackson · 6 months ago

  A few weeks ago, DLT Trading put the Bark River Kitsune on sale. It was a very good price. I had not bought a Bark River in years. But I was tempted. But I didn&apos;t pull the trigger. Even though the Kitsune isn&apos;t on the list, it is listed as CPM-154. It is also coming out that back when the company started, it is alleged that they used Japanese blanks for some of their early models. The Kitsune may be a fully American Made knife. But I have a feeling as time goes by, we will learn that the list Mike Stewart gave us isn&apos;t complete.

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• SP

  @SpareSpacesuit · 6 months ago

  1999–2000: Bank fraud case<br>2001: Guilty plea / sentencing<br>2001: Starts Bark River Knives

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