Ok, I have to admit that I am absolutely fascinated with the fantastic knife designs produced by Bark River Knives (formerly known as Bark River Knife & Tool). Located in the Upper
Peninsula of Michigan, BRK is a family owned business operated by
veteran knifesmith Mike Stewart who employs a group of skilled
bladesmiths to create some of the finest production knives in the market
today.
The BRK Bravo II is
an excellent wilderness survival knife design that features an overall
length of 12 ¼” with a 7” drop point, deep sabre grind blade made from
3/16” A-2 non-stainless tool steel that has been hardened to
58 Rockwell.
This BRK model also features a full tang construction with an
extremely ergonomic handle design and handle slabs made from your choice
of several different handle materials ranging from several different
colors of Micarta to natural materials such as bone, horn and antler.
Plus, the knife is supplied with a heavy-duty leather sheath.
When I first looked at this knife, I thought it had a straight spine
but, then I got to looking at it much closer and I realized that it
actually has very gradual drop to the tip. Also, the way that the flat
of the blade is ground almost creates a clip on the tip of the knife. Thus, I personally find the shape of the blade on the BRK Bravo II to be very appealing with its subtle lines and perfect length.
The blade’s long, straight edge combined with the perfectly shaped
sweep from the belly to the tip and the choil at the back of the edge
make this knife blade shape very utilitarian. In fact, with a 7” blade made from A-2 tool steel,
this knife is easily capable of handling light chopping tasks and yet,
it will also allow you to strip bark, sharpen stakes and carve notches
with ease.
In addition, the spine of the knife just behind the plunge line is
slightly raised with horizontal “jimping” in order to provide the user
with greater leverage when carving with the back of the blade. In
addition, the nearly flat grind to the blade gives it an extremely sharp
edge which the A-2 steel will hold very well and thus, it is also an
excellent hunting knife.
Furthermore, although the A-2 tool steel is not a stainless steel it
is very tough. It is a hard steel that contains 0.95% – 1.05% carbon,
4.75% – 5.5% chromium, 1.0% manganese, 0.90% -1.40% molybdenum, 0.30%
nickel, and 0.15% – 0.50% vanadium.
Consequently, the carbon transforms the iron into steel and the
chromium produces hardness and better edge-holding qualities when
combined with other alloying materials. Also, molybdenum increase
hardness in tool steels and combines with chromium during the forging
process to form hard double carbide bonds which help improve the
abrasion and corrosion resistance of the steel.
Nickel adds strength and toughness to steel and vanadium helps to
produce a fine grain structure during the heat treating process and also
improves the wear resistance of the steel for both good toughness and
the ability to sharpen to a very keen edge. In fact, many people report
that they are able to get knives using steels that contain vanadium
shaper than they can non-vanadium steels such as ATS-34.
Furthermore, instead of merely being shaped, the handle slabs on the BRK Bravo II are
sculpted to fit the human hand with an integral quillion to prevent
your finger from inadvertently sliding forward onto the blade’s edge.
Thus, in my opinion, the BRK Bravo II is yet another example of an excellent wilderness survival knife design from the mind of the bladesmiths at BRK. Like their many other designs, the Bark River Bravo II is
both thoughtfully designed to fill a specific purpose and meticulously
crafted to withstand the rigors of an extended stay in the wilderness.
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