Bark River Bravo 1 on going review.

WARNING! Wall of text ahead.

First off.

The blade geometry. This is my favorite blade geometry off all of my knives so far. It's simple, elegant and razor sharp. The convexing is not as bulbous as a Fallkniven H1 or A1 it can almost lay from grind to edge on a strop but not on a flat stone.

This grind is alot like a Finnish Puuko knife which has a high full grind to the edge but is not necessarily convexed.

The knife came with what looked like a micro bevel. a small reflection of light about the width of a hair was seen when looking perpendicular at the edge at a 20° angle.

Stroping with compound also didn't make it any sharper further confriming I was not reaching the primary bevel from the grind.

Out of the box it was able to cleanly cut printer paper and shave a few large hairs with effort.

I decided to regrind the knife to zero to remove the micro bevel.

Waterstones are essential for this. I can't imagine doing this on a Spyderco Sharpmaker.

Zeroing a convex starts by regrinding a primary bevel then blending that into the grind this involves changing the angle lower and lower to remove the all the shoulders and blend it perfectly into the grind. Most sharpening on waterstones by hand is convexing the bevel over time it just a matter of blending with a convex ground knife.

This is done with a back and forth motion on stone terrecing each angle and then a rocking is added while grinding back and forth to blend it all in.



Zero grinding, This is what really brings out the performance. Arm airs "popped" off when shaved and wood was cut like a laser. The amount of joy this brought was immense and at the same time creepy because of how obsessed I've become about knives. I'm sure someone saw me giggling shaving hair and carving wood and was quite disturbed haha.

Steel performance- its a carbon tool steel with no corrosion resistance. It does have more corrosion resistance then 1095 however. It does stain and patina easy. The exposed areas on the tang have taken a patina from caustic hand oils.

This steel sharpens fast. The metal almost reads your intentions and jumps off the knife.

That means easy field sharpening with a bare bones kit.

It polishes well and takes a very keen edge. However, much like my Mora Laminated in O1 it will micro chip and roll from use carving wood, but it actually strops back with compounds to a sharp edge. Impressive. This knife was made to be stroped it seems
It doesn't dull from the edge deformation but it does get toothy. It still sharp can still make fine curls in wood and cut paper.

It's good steel but leaves me much more curious about performance increases with s35vn and 3v.

But the price is good on A2. I figure I'll wait until the burl wood I want comes in on a rampless Bravo 1 LT in 3v.

The handles are just beautiful. I'm so blinded by there beauty that I don't care that they are smallish for large glove sive hands.

I didn't think I would like the smooth handles but after carving for a few hours it was quite comfortable. I did get a muscle cramps in my hand from the narrow area before the palm swell. That's OK it's designed for medium to small hands. I hate finger guards. This is a very large and comfortable one though.

The ramp is pointless for my needs. The jimping is very grippy, A lot like the high end Spydercos. The front of the ramp can be uesd as a ferro notch but I prefer to use the tip anyways. I could have it sent in but I just don't care to go through the time, cost of shipping, and effort involved.

Despite the drawbacks this handle is just too beautiful for me to care. Love it.

The worst part is that they are not interchangeable handle scales meaning if you see scales you really like, one has to buy a whole new knife!

Even worse...

They are so beautiful I'd buy two of the same knife just to get the scales I want hahahaha. Oh god help me.
 
I should have never went to Knivesshipfree. Once I saw these Handle scales. I lost it. Had to have it.

That's the best part about Bark River in general. The scale options are incredible. This is the greatest combination of art and performance at a obtainable price I've seen.
I wish the picture could do it justice.


I wish all knives had red liners.
 
He is one of my top guys as well, alot of people criticize his technique but man he knows how to get a screaming sharp convex edge. Between virtuovice and jdavis882 they inspired me to freehand instead of buying a guided system. Now that I think I'm fairly decent at freehand I'm thinking of getting an edge pro apex for my knives that I want that clean v edge on.

Sorry for the ramble, virtuovice has me sold on a bravo as well but I'm torn between bravo and esee. I'll get both eventually but trying to decide which one first is tough.
 
Korben_Dallas said:
Now that I think I'm fairly decent at freehand I'm thinking of getting an edge pro apex for my knives that I want that clean v edge on.
Click to expand...
If you do, you will also get much better than you ever thought possible at freehand - the EP Apex teaches you.

Nice review, this particular BR is one of my favorites!
 
I've always been infatuated by the edge pros results. However freehand sharpening is the most rewarding way to sharpen. The freedom and ease in set up is liberating. I can reprofile anything as I see fit. Of all the grinds, convex grinds seem to deliver the most performance from the stones and and become very beautiful when polished.

Pure toughness goes to the ESEE.

Pure performance with robustness is the Bravo 1.

The Bravo will out carve the ESEE all day.

The ESEE can take a better beating. Sharpens quick and easy even with improvised field tools.

Convex grinds don't seem like much but make a huge difference when carving.

Both are great though.

Id rather have the Bravo. I enjoy cutting performance the most. If I need to dig or breach entry, I'll just carve a big stick to use.
 
DeadboxHero said:
Pure toughness goes to the ESEE.

Pure performance with robustness is the Bravo 1.

The Bravo will out carve the ESEE all day.
Click to expand...
If you ever get the Bravo in 3V, you'll have the best of both worlds, far tougher than the 1095 the other knife uses, and not hard at all to sharpen.
 
Nice, I was going to purchase the 3v but once I saw those burl wood handles in person. I lost it.

I'm currently holding off on the review until I get some more use and experience with the knife.
 
Beautiful. Mike sure knows how to do knives right. A2 is one of my favorite steels
 
DeadboxHero said:
Nice, I was going to purchase the 3v but once I saw those burl wood handles in person. I lost it.

I'm currently holding off on the review until I get some more use and experience with the knife.
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That burl is drop dead gorgeous. I'm anxious to see your review, I'm sure you will like it. A lot.
 
I see these are now up for sale. Do you need to update review? If it's a cash need issue, I certainly understand. If you just decided they were not for you please update and tell us why. May help us decide whether we really want a Bravo 1. Thanks.
 
The Bravo 1 is an excellent knife.

They are up for sale because of life changes.

It's always difficult when life interfers with our passions. Life is an adventure; a dangerous and exciting journey with an unknown outcome.

Sometimes this journey demands that we put our passions on hold for a moment to give our attention elsewhere.

I apologize.


I'll have to buy another in the future.

Shawn.
 
Life does have a way of throwing us all curveballs. Just when you start to get comfortable where you are, then here comes the curveball. No apology necessary. Just wondered if you decided you didn't like it. Glad your ownership was a good experience. Good luck on your journey. Keith
 
DeadboxHero said:
The Bravo 1 is an excellent knife.

They are up for sale because of life changes.

It's always difficult when life interfers with our passions. Life is an adventure; a dangerous and exciting journey with an unknown outcome.

Sometimes this journey demands that we put our passions on hold for a moment to give our attention elsewhere.

I apologize.


I'll have to buy another in the future.

Shawn.
Click to expand...

Sorry to hear that. I own a Bravo 1.25 (CPM-3V) and a 1.5 (CPM-35VN) and I like them both. Very nice knives IMHO.
 
Hahahaha YES! I'm back from the brink!




And I was able to keep my most prized knives, which includes this Bravo 1 A2.

Hard work always pays off. Life is full of Peaks and valleys.

Nuff 'bout me,

On with the review!



I've been incredibly busy with working numerous jobs and duties. But I have been taking the time to play around with my Bravo 1 and build more experience with the steel.

It begs for a patina and will stain from hand oils if left uncared for.

With each steel in Bark Rivers line up having special attributes. It's easy to say that A2 is just an entry level steel in the line up.

Not so

A2 strops and sharpens the fastest.

Bark River really embraces maintaining knives with strops.

The A2 steel is very response to stroping compared to some other knives in my collection.

With the micro bevel on the knife stroping with the bevel laid on the leather will not reach the apex. The knife must be lifted to a higher angle but not directly at the angle of the micro bevel, just slightly behind it. Doing this returned my A2 Bravo 1 to hair popping sharpness.

If one enjoys freehand sharpening the Bravo 1 is a playground. Choose any angle suited for the knifes use from steep to shallow. Then blend it into the grind and mirror it on the stones.

This beauty mirror polish can be maintained in the field with a leather belt and various compounds.

If one doesnt care to freehand on waterstones. A2 can be maintained with the Black coarse compound and sent off to Bark River for sharpening when stroping is no longer effective.


A2 is great steel that is overshadowed by the awesome steels in Bark Rivers line up.


I'm definitely a stainless snob. I always prefer it.

But I remember going through my grandfathers kitchen knives. And finding an old carbon Sabitier kitchen knife. I was mesmerized by its thick black patina with no discernable pattern yet there was beauty in it.


The beauty of untold stories long forgotten that arroused a sense of carrying on where the last user left off. I hope one day my grandchildren get that feeling from this knife when I'm long forgotten and dead.



Hahaha on a lighter note the rain has come. My favorite time to go camping in the Northwest. I'll write up a good field review then.

Shawn.
 
The stock geometry on the Bark River has a micro bevel at ~40-45dps per side

It leaves more to be desired.
Especially when my other heavy duty knives like my Fallkniven A1 and BK 2 pop hairs
It scrap shaves hair. It s just too obtuse

This same geometry on my Bark River Gunny is way sharp.

But because of the thickness of the Bravo 1, its a meh.



I reprofiled the knife virtuevoice style.


Unlike the Fallknivens geometry that is more bulbous.

If you take a stock Bark River Bravo 1 and lay it flat on a stone, its convex is super shallow.

The scratchs reach all the from the micro bevel shoulder to 1mm below the shonogi line.
The game plan is to keep grinding until a burr is formed on both sides and the microbevel is no more.

Grit progession
Chosera 400
King 1k
Suehiro 3k
King 6k
Bark River White compound
Flitz metal polish.

2 hours later
Sharpest knife in my collection.
Tree tops hairs, wow.


I went to for an overnight tarp camping trip in the foothills of Mt Hood.
The performance was great.
I cleaned the campsite of pine branches and was showing my wife how to safely make tent stakes.

The performance was great.

Upon inspection of the edge however.


Massive damage

If one was to lay the Bravo 1 flat on a stone and sharpen away the microbevel, the geometry is just too thin for wood carving.


So the current plan is to start with a 15dps secondary then blend that into the primary in series of terreces that will then all be blended into the primary.


I'll update with progress
 
I use A2 steel frequenly when woodworking. I have A2 plane irons and chisels. I too got the same chipping out and had to resharpen at higher angles. That did fix it, but my conclusion was that A2 is not ideal for a good thin knife edge. I will never buy a knife in A2.
 
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