I've owned several Bark River knives and they've been fantastic. My Bravo1 is go go to woods blade. I can do ANYTHING i need with that blade. I've battonned with it, feathered with it, it's a good big game processing blade, i can start fires with it. It'll never leave. I may be a fanboy, but in this case, it's warranted. Their knives are excellent and they take care of their customers
Nice to see that Bar River has the courage to work with superior Swedish Steel like ELMAX (PM Steel), and you are the proof that it's possible to sharpen everything with the right attitude :-) well done !
Rob, I agree with you totally about his methods and customers would not like their knives scratched up like he does, he butchers game with his and it seems to work! I like your edges and am going to send you an Elmax 0562 soon! God bless..
KnivesShipFree is the best place to buy knives. Period. That is fact. Not a slogan. If you had asked me, I would have set you straight. :) Love the videos, Rob!
Very nice! I have on with brown Maple Burl handles on the way. I actually put a V grind on my North Star EDC and am happy with it. Thanks for the vids!
Can't wait for mine to arrive. I am abig fan of brkt elmax. I have a bravo lt in elmax which I love very much after removing the microbevel. The featherweight fox river will cut like crazy and stay super sharp if you shallow the convex. Because of your steep angle convex, the repeated stropping will make it duller with repeated stropping.
I have carried an adventurer and a feathereeight hunter as an EDC a lot. I use the allegheney pocket sheath and slide a leatherman PS4 in the small pocket. it makes for a an excelent EDC package.
Great review. Am looking at one of these in 3V. I'm no expert, but my one Elmax blade takes a wicked slicey edge. (Enzo Trapper 95 scandi that I've convexed) I would say a couple of things: Get past the factory edge which might be a bit crappy due to power sharpening. Get a loupe to see exactly what is going on with your edge. I use Peek domestic metal polish on my belt after regular stones. Only my 2c - you undoubtedly have a lot more experience! (Edit - just made it to 19:00 and I would suggest attacking paper along it's length rather than across the grain. Works for me.) All the best - enjoyed yr vid.
I love the ultralight bushcrafter and carry it everyday but I'm planing on trying out this and the bravo edc to see if they slice better than mine which is in 3v and is amazing the Elmax I'm still weiry about
You're wife has excellent taste . The mosaic pins really set it off and elevate it to a new level , Too bad about the grind . Are they all like that ? I haven't EDC'd a fixed blade in over 30 years (An Almar Fang & a Gerber Guardian) but that sure is pretty .
I'd love to see your opinion on the Bark River Adventurer as a fixed blade EDC. It's different than almost all their offerings, being a Murray Carter design... but it's a great little knife. With it's handle design, it's a four-finger-knife even with a small blade.
Hi Rob! I am considering this knife for small EDC role - with a smaller folder and a bigger survival/utility blade at times. At this point this is the winner before the Pro scalpel 2, Mini aurora, Lil' Canadian, Northstar EDC (...God this will be a pricy trip in the long run:D) My question is: why the "maybe" in the title? Great video as always.
Great video on a nice looking knife. Have you had any issues with Elmax chipping? I'm considering getting one in 3V because I have another BRK in elmax that has chipped with pretty light use.
I have a couple bark river's in A-2 and love the steel it has served me well and is very easy to sharpen considering the performance I get out of it. I am considering trying one of their knives in CPM-3V. I have never had a knife if CPM-3V what are you thoughts/experience with CPM-3V?
I'm like you, a folder guy, but I love Bark River knives as well. This one reminds me a little of one of my Boker knives, but the Boker is much bigger and more tactical. The green Micarta with a red mosaic inlay is aesthetically very pleasing. My only gripe with my A2 steel Fox River is that it rusts too easily. How does this Elmax compare to A2?
Elmaxx can take a really fine edge. Its one of my favorite modern steels. One of my sharpest knives has Elmaxx and isn't the thinnest profile either..Great stuff
I was also looking into Bark river knifes for an EDC fixed blade option, I really gravitate towards the Featherweight Hunter. You had them in your hands, how does the hunter compare to the fox river? Would it be anyhow possible to EDC the classic drop point hunter? Because this one for sure will suppost a full 4 finger Grip, i have fairly large Hands. Would the Blade be too Thick? I mean 4mm...
Hey Rob, would you recommend this, Adventurer 2 or Bravo EDC for a daily carry? It will also be used for small camp chores like batoning 1x1 pine into smaller kindling and feather sticks
Bought this same knife for EDC but in 3v, kinda wish I would have got the elmax for what I use it for in my daily tasks. I might be selling it however because where the blade meets the first finger grove, the blade was ground to high so it is not straight across instead its like notched up. This really bugs me for my first knife from bark river costing well over the 200 dollar mark. Still I like their knives but I think this knife should have not been sold with this flaw in geometry. Also, my 3v seems to go from scary sharp to kinda dull after one days use, just cutting boxes and plastic banding material for skids. I believe elmax prolly would hold up better but I thought 3v would give me at least a week before touching up. I wonder if the heat treat was messed up on it? Or is it typical to have to touch up 3v daily from card board cutting?
miwhitetailhunt has it been staining really easy? And were u cutting cardboard all day? How many plastic straps? Put a bead of water on and see how fast it turns color. a2 should be really fast(couple hours tops) 3v should take alot longer to change color( end of whole day or two).
Ps convex blades in general any steel a water stone is the best finish you can get with black compound on a strop my personal opinion anyway and my finish water stone is a soft Arkansas stone around 10,000 grit 👍
I have seen his vids. I'm quite sure his methods are adequate and effective for chefs' cutlery, working knives to be specific. But I have two issues with his results. First, his cut tests after sharpening generally aren't super impressive (copy paper is easy to cut with almost any edge). Second, if I shipped a customer knife back to its owner with that hodge podge of grind lines, most customers would be furious. I sharpen for performance, durability and appearance. I'm not saying he sharpens wrongly, or that he's not good at it, but I couldn't feel good about doing customers' knives his way.
I certainly can. I've done two customer knives already. They come out great. I do grind a small sharpening notch, like on a pocket knife. It looks fine and makes the base of the edge much better.
I think my ZT hinderer was one of the first knives you sharpened in Elmex and you warned me you weren't very experienced with it, I have come to not like it very much.
I wouldn't write off Elmax because of that ZT. They didn't really know how to grind / sharpen it without destroying the heat treat when they started with it. Even ZT has made some great blades in Elmax recently, but Bark River's Elmax is extremely well done.
+KnifeRev They're different, but so close I can't really pick one. The Bravo EDC is better in an overhand pinch grip, but the FFR is better in a saber grip. I prefer the thinner blade on the FFR for EDC tasks though.
It bites and cuts deeper than both of those. S good scandi is better for feather sticking though, because of that very thing. The scandi grind lets you control your bite depth more easily, like a chisel. But for flat out cutting performance in wood, the convex grind wins.
+TheApostleP Really? I was mistaken on this subject then. I thought Scandi and full flat are best for woodworking and convex was great at things like Batoning but not detailed work. I have never owned a convex so my perception of it is screwed by UA-cam videos. My "after Christmas" purchase is right around the corner and this is very important information. I plan to get an under 5.5 inch (or so due to Texas carry law) blade as my "main" blade for camp/bushcraft/hiking and I would like to get this purchase right. So you would suggest a scandi for that a blade of that useage?
+TheApostleP LOL, The last sentence was supposed to ask if you thought I should get a convex but you answered that indirectly anyway. Do you have suggestion on a fixed blade?
and stroppinng elmax should be done with coarse compound like smurf poo etc and just a couple og passes. but better is strop omce or twice each side on 800
I would have agreed with you until I listened to Mike Stewart explain how he "manipulates the heat treat" of this steel. Shockingly, it takes a 0.5 micron edge quite well and keeps it far longer than I would ever have expected. it will get toothy all by itself under prolonged use though.
+TheApostleP jupp it takes easily a mirror shine but cause of how the steel n carbides is ive heard both from bohler uddeholm that makes the steel several high end custom makers that if you polish the relief/non cutting bevel as good as you can at say 10 degrees each side then put a very small micro bevel at say 400-800grit at 15-18 per side thats the best. but elmax just works almost anything you do with it. its easy to get better than working sharp and a little tricky to get stupid sharp hehe
+Modernbushcraft Yeah, that was the shocker -- I was experimenting with it on this knife, and it took nearly as keen a polished edge as A2, comparable to 3V actually, and it has held it a very long time. I believe Mike is a Haitian voodoo steel priest who is in clever disguise as a white guy!
+TheApostleP hehe jupp but try it with a coarser edge too try both se what you like best. ive found that microbevel around 400grit is very good and rest as polished as one can but elmax is extremely hard to get too a true mirror its nearly always hazy my favorite steel is m4 it just works dang it around do what ever you want and it works hehe
I bought one of these and I must say it is the best fixed blade knife Ive ever owned.
very sharp out of box and holds a great edge.
fantastic
I've owned several Bark River knives and they've been fantastic. My Bravo1 is go go to woods blade. I can do ANYTHING i need with that blade.
I've battonned with it, feathered with it, it's a good big game processing blade, i can start fires with it. It'll never leave. I may be a fanboy, but in this case, it's warranted. Their knives are excellent and they take care of their customers
ApostleP, I just got this knife. It’s amazing. It is an incredible EDC. Thank you for the video and amazing recommendation
Nice to see that Bar River has the courage to work with superior Swedish Steel like ELMAX (PM Steel), and you are the proof that it's possible to sharpen everything with the right attitude :-) well done !
Rob, I agree with you totally about his methods and customers would not like their knives scratched up like he does, he butchers game with his and it seems to work! I like your edges and am going to send you an Elmax 0562 soon! God bless..
KnivesShipFree is the best place to buy knives. Period. That is fact. Not a slogan. If you had asked me, I would have set you straight. :) Love the videos, Rob!
Beautiful little knife. I especially like that sheath, it's really handsome & sets the whole package off.
Very nice! I have on with brown Maple Burl handles on the way. I actually put a V grind on my North Star EDC and am happy with it. Thanks for the vids!
Can't wait for mine to arrive. I am abig fan of brkt elmax. I have a bravo lt in elmax which I love very much after removing the microbevel. The featherweight fox river will cut like crazy and stay super sharp if you shallow the convex. Because of your steep angle convex, the repeated stropping will make it duller with repeated stropping.
She is a keeper......Merry Christmas
I have carried an adventurer and a feathereeight hunter as an EDC a lot. I use the allegheney pocket sheath and slide a leatherman PS4 in the small pocket. it makes for a an excelent EDC package.
The convex edge is the reason for buying a BR, that is a nice little knife!
Great review. Am looking at one of these in 3V. I'm no expert, but my one Elmax blade takes a wicked slicey edge. (Enzo Trapper 95 scandi that I've convexed) I would say a couple of things: Get past the factory edge which might be a bit crappy due to power sharpening. Get a loupe to see exactly what is going on with your edge. I use Peek domestic metal polish on my belt after regular stones. Only my 2c - you undoubtedly have a lot more experience! (Edit - just made it to 19:00 and I would suggest attacking paper along it's length rather than across the grain. Works for me.) All the best - enjoyed yr vid.
Keep practicing your feather sticking great video thanks for making me buy one of these
Beautiful knife.
You may have just sold me on this one. I've been going back and forth on which BRK I want to be my first and it's down to this or the PSK
Ordered mine from KnivesShipFree tonight. First Day of Summer 🎁 😁Natural Canvas Micarta - Green Liner (last one in stock)
I love the ultralight bushcrafter and carry it everyday but I'm planing on trying out this and the bravo edc to see if they slice better than mine which is in 3v and is amazing the Elmax I'm still weiry about
Bravo edc in elmax is my edc since december 2018 and its a great one!
You're wife has excellent taste . The mosaic pins really set it off and elevate it to a new level , Too bad about the grind . Are they all like that ? I haven't EDC'd a fixed blade in over 30 years (An Almar Fang & a Gerber Guardian) but that sure is pretty .
I wouldn't say they're all like that, but it is a free hand operation, one side at a time. Perfect symmetry is rare in this area on BRK's.
+TheApostleP That is the reason slight imperfections don't bother me here. Completely hand ground as opposed to CNC. Love Bark River knives.
Saw you have several small Fixed EDC knives. Whats your favorite and any with an IWB clip sheath option? Great vid.
I'd love to see your opinion on the Bark River Adventurer as a fixed blade EDC. It's different than almost all their offerings, being a Murray Carter design... but it's a great little knife. With it's handle design, it's a four-finger-knife even with a small blade.
Stay tuned... I have one on the way!
Hi Rob!
I am considering this knife for small EDC role - with a smaller folder and a bigger survival/utility blade at times.
At this point this is the winner before the Pro scalpel 2, Mini aurora, Lil' Canadian, Northstar EDC (...God this will be a pricy trip in the long run:D)
My question is: why the "maybe" in the title?
Great video as always.
Great video on a nice looking knife. Have you had any issues with Elmax chipping? I'm considering getting one in 3V because I have another BRK in elmax that has chipped with pretty light use.
I have a couple bark river's in A-2 and love the steel it has served me well and is very easy to sharpen considering the performance I get out of it. I am considering trying one of their knives in CPM-3V. I have never had a knife if CPM-3V what are you thoughts/experience with CPM-3V?
I'm like you, a folder guy, but I love Bark River knives as well. This one reminds me a little of one of my Boker knives, but the Boker is much bigger and more tactical. The green Micarta with a red mosaic inlay is aesthetically very pleasing. My only gripe with my A2 steel Fox River is that it rusts too easily. How does this Elmax compare to A2?
Very good corrosion protection, better edge retention, much harder to sharpen, less ultimate sharpness
Nice knife! :)
I've been meaning to ask you what kind of watch you are wearing. Keep catching glimpses here and there, looks nice.
Elmaxx can take a really fine edge. Its one of my favorite modern steels. One of my sharpest knives has Elmaxx and isn't the thinnest profile either..Great stuff
I was also looking into Bark river knifes for an EDC fixed blade option, I really gravitate towards the Featherweight Hunter. You had them in your hands, how does the hunter compare to the fox river? Would it be anyhow possible to EDC the classic drop point hunter? Because this one for sure will suppost a full 4 finger Grip, i have fairly large Hands. Would the Blade be too Thick? I mean 4mm...
Nice! North Star EDC....
Hey Rob, two years in, how's the Elmax been holding up? Chippy at all? Just curious your thoughts on Elmax on this blade, vs the 3v option....thanks!
would like to see a video on you sharpen a convex from beginning to end. thank you
Hey Rob, would you recommend this, Adventurer 2 or Bravo EDC for a daily carry? It will also be used for small camp chores like batoning 1x1 pine into smaller kindling and feather sticks
Definitely the Featherweight Fox River. I just can't get comfortable on the Adventurer 2.
Bought this same knife for EDC but in 3v, kinda wish I would have got the elmax for what I use it for in my daily tasks. I might be selling it however because where the blade meets the first finger grove, the blade was ground to high so it is not straight across instead its like notched up. This really bugs me for my first knife from bark river costing well over the 200 dollar mark. Still I like their knives but I think this knife should have not been sold with this flaw in geometry. Also, my 3v seems to go from scary sharp to kinda dull after one days use, just cutting boxes and plastic banding material for skids. I believe elmax prolly would hold up better but I thought 3v would give me at least a week before touching up. I wonder if the heat treat was messed up on it? Or is it typical to have to touch up 3v daily from card board cutting?
miwhitetailhunt has it been staining really easy? And were u cutting cardboard all day? How many plastic straps? Put a bead of water on and see how fast it turns color. a2 should be really fast(couple hours tops) 3v should take alot longer to change color( end of whole day or two).
Hey, how do you (or anyone else watching) compare this to Bradford guardian?
Ps convex blades in general any steel a water stone is the best finish you can get with black compound on a strop my personal opinion anyway and my finish water stone is a soft Arkansas stone around 10,000 grit 👍
Hello Rob! How can we arrange to have one of my knives sharpened? Whats usually your turn around time?
Check the UA-cam vid link above, where he discusses all his sharpening services/info
+Donald Evans Where? I don't see a link.
If you haven't seen any UA-cam video by Virtuovoice you should if you like bark river. He's a Japanese guy and a convex edge sharpening master.
I have seen his vids. I'm quite sure his methods are adequate and effective for chefs' cutlery, working knives to be specific. But I have two issues with his results. First, his cut tests after sharpening generally aren't super impressive (copy paper is easy to cut with almost any edge). Second, if I shipped a customer knife back to its owner with that hodge podge of grind lines, most customers would be furious. I sharpen for performance, durability and appearance. I'm not saying he sharpens wrongly, or that he's not good at it, but I couldn't feel good about doing customers' knives his way.
BEE-A-UTIFUL!!!!
If you are able to convert it to a V grind, I might consider having you convert mine. (hope Bark River doesn't read this)
I certainly can. I've done two customer knives already. They come out great. I do grind a small sharpening notch, like on a pocket knife. It looks fine and makes the base of the edge much better.
Beautiful handles, won't buy anymore Bark Rivers because of there blade grinds! I feel for the price those blade grinds should be more symmetrical.
I think my ZT hinderer was one of the first knives you sharpened in Elmex and you warned me you weren't very experienced with it, I have come to not like it very much.
I wouldn't write off Elmax because of that ZT. They didn't really know how to grind / sharpen it without destroying the heat treat when they started with it. Even ZT has made some great blades in Elmax recently, but Bark River's Elmax is extremely well done.
Hello sir, do you buy your strops or make your own?
Now that you have had it for a while what do you think of it?
Love it!!! I'm actually a bit shocked at the high level of performance from that thin Elmax blade.
+TheApostleP Do you prefer it over the Bravo EDC? Reason I'm asking is because I'm debating which one I would like to get.
+KnifeRev They're different, but so close I can't really pick one. The Bravo EDC is better in an overhand pinch grip, but the FFR is better in a saber grip. I prefer the thinner blade on the FFR for EDC tasks though.
+TheApostleP Thanks for the info Rob.
While watching you work on the wood, I wondered how convex compares to scandi or full flat for woodworking?
It bites and cuts deeper than both of those. S good scandi is better for feather sticking though, because of that very thing. The scandi grind lets you control your bite depth more easily, like a chisel. But for flat out cutting performance in wood, the convex grind wins.
+TheApostleP Really? I was mistaken on this subject then. I thought Scandi and full flat are best for woodworking and convex was great at things like Batoning but not detailed work. I have never owned a convex so my perception of it is screwed by UA-cam videos.
My "after Christmas" purchase is right around the corner and this is very important information. I plan to get an under 5.5 inch (or so due to Texas carry law) blade as my "main" blade for camp/bushcraft/hiking and I would like to get this purchase right. So you would suggest a scandi for that a blade of that useage?
+Michael Reed Just me, but in an all purpose fixed blade, scandi would be my last choice. I'd go either FFG or convex.
+TheApostleP Thanks for the info
+TheApostleP LOL, The last sentence was supposed to ask if you thought I should get a convex but you answered that indirectly anyway. Do you have suggestion on a fixed blade?
I really wish this knife was made in CPM 3V. I don't like Elmax.
elmax has larger carbides than say a2 so it better at coarser edges like 800grit.
and stroppinng elmax should be done with coarse compound like smurf poo etc and just a couple og passes.
but better is strop omce or twice each side on 800
I would have agreed with you until I listened to Mike Stewart explain how he "manipulates the heat treat" of this steel. Shockingly, it takes a 0.5 micron edge quite well and keeps it far longer than I would ever have expected. it will get toothy all by itself under prolonged use though.
+TheApostleP jupp it takes easily a mirror shine but cause of how the steel n carbides is ive heard both from bohler uddeholm that makes the steel several high end custom makers that if you polish the relief/non cutting bevel as good as you can at say 10 degrees each side then put a very small micro bevel at say 400-800grit at 15-18 per side thats the best.
but elmax just works almost anything you do with it.
its easy to get better than working sharp and a little tricky to get stupid sharp hehe
+Modernbushcraft Yeah, that was the shocker -- I was experimenting with it on this knife, and it took nearly as keen a polished edge as A2, comparable to 3V actually, and it has held it a very long time. I believe Mike is a Haitian voodoo steel priest who is in clever disguise as a white guy!
+TheApostleP hehe jupp but try it with a coarser edge too try both se what you like best. ive found that microbevel around 400grit is very good and rest as polished as one can but elmax is extremely hard to get too a true mirror its nearly always hazy
my favorite steel is m4 it just works dang it around do what ever you want and it works hehe
How do you get your sheath nice and brown shiny like that?
Ohh frank
The constant touching the blade and then wiping your prints away is annoying, if you don't like it stop touching it!