Bark River Knife Closes

[Birdbander]

I was surprised to see this:

https://www.yahoo.com/finance/markets/stocks/articles/michigan-knifemaker-closes-shop-admitting-233612137.html

 

[recon6036]

My neck of the woods. Wasn’t aware of this although I do not own one of their knives nor do I know anything about the business
Rapid River Knife Works seems to be much more popular in the area.

 

[Wild Bill]

My uncle has used Bark River Knives for as long as I can recall.
Seemed like good knives. He’s had his since the late early 90s I believe. Unsure if it’s Chinese or American.

 

[Brad]

Not surprising. There aren't enough baby boomers left buying knives. The world has moved on.

 

[Birdbander]

Not surprising. There aren't enough baby boomers left buying knives. The world has moved on.

It's not THAT they closed, its WHY they closed. Purchasing trends change over time, that's not unexpected.

I just thought it was an interesting article worth sharing.

 

[Perlodid]

My neck of the woods. Wasn’t aware of this although I do not own one of their knives nor do I know anything about the business
Rapid River Knife Works seems to be much more popular in the area.

Yeah I hadn't heard of this either. Got nothing but good things to say about Rapid River though, I know a bunch of guys who have Rapid River knives that love them. I'm cheap (and I tend to lose knives), otherwise I would have one or two myself.

 

[rmyoung1]

Financial stress can make people do weird things.

 

[Nicoli7153]

My neck of the woods. Wasn’t aware of this although I do not own one of their knives nor do I know anything about the business
Rapid River Knife Works seems to be much more popular in the area.

Is Rapid River the former Marbles?

 

[Brad]

It's not THAT they closed, its WHY they closed. Purchasing trends change over time, that's not unexpected.

I just thought it was an interesting article worth sharing.

Of course, absolutely worth sharing... I was just sort of thinking out loud about my generation. Didn't mean to offend. However, the two could be tied together - Bark River turned to Chinese mfg/steel to stay afloat because sales were slumping, and they were losing money - ie, "There aren't enough baby boomers left buying knives." Dunno.

 

[Birdbander]

Agree 100% @Brad

 

[Jbotto]

I’ve been watching a couple of Bark River FB groups for awhile as I liked a few models BRK made. Pretty sad to hear some of the past stories and employee testimonials of what many thought was a great company. Might keep an eye out for a deal on one of the knives I wanted to grab, still but the reputation is definitely destroyed.

 

[recon6036]

Is Rapid River the former Marbles?

Nope. Different.

 

[recon6036]

Yeah I hadn't heard of this either. Got nothing but good things to say about Rapid River though, I know a bunch of guys who have Rapid River knives that love them. I'm cheap (and I tend to lose knives), otherwise I would have one or two

Yeah I hadn't heard of this either. Got nothing but good things to say about Rapid River though, I know a bunch of guys who have Rapid River knives that love them. I'm cheap (and I tend to lose knives), otherwise I would have one or two myself.

Rapid River Knife is about 10 miles from me and I’ve been to their Big Buck nights a couple times, but I don’t own one of their knives. My wife did win one at the last Big Buck nights, however, she won’t let me use it.
I still have several Marble knives though.

 

[NR_Hunter]

I went on their website to see if they had any close out deals but it appears there have been some changes to their website by their metal suppliers.

 

[Trail&ErrorAK]

It is pretty sad.Used there stuff for a while - was in some of their groups and forums.
Left because there was a bad culture emerging where people who had issues with less than stellar quality would be shamed and attacked for bringing up issues with their $300+ dollar knife.

Sad to see this happen, and some of the stories coming out from the fall out.

I don't think that their sales have dipped down that much but I could be wrong - there was an initial lul after covid but then knife market ramped way up post covid. They were making several hundred thousand knives a year and selling them to dealers all over.

 

[NDGuy]

Of course, absolutely worth sharing... I was just sort of thinking out loud about my generation. Didn't mean to offend. However, the two could be tied together - Bark River turned to Chinese mfg/steel to stay afloat because sales were slumping, and they were losing money - ie, "There aren't enough baby boomers left buying knives." Dunno.

Not only that, word was they were buying premade steel blanks and labeling them as premium stuff from here.